The poems of Ranald Macdonald show a unique imagination at work. His subjects are diverse, from the classical world of Egypt and Greece, to a celebration of nature, to the intimacies of personal relationships, all handled with a light, expert touch. The exploration is probing, but always sensitive, with an exquisite eye for the bright original image. From the entirely transparent, direct, statement, to complexities which take us into new emotional and intellectual territory, these poems have an impressive agility. There is a metaphysical quality to them which excites the mind, but their fine,...