"[Robert Bly] is . . . the most recent in a line of great American transcendentalist writers."― The New York Times With poems ranging from the ghazal form to free verse, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey is Robert Bly's richest and most varied collection. In the title poem, Bly addresses the "donkey"―possibly poetry itself―that has carried him through a writing life of more than six decades. from "Talking into the Ear of a Donkey" "What has happened to the spring," I cry, "and our legs that were so joyful In the bobblings of April?" "Oh, never mind About all that," the donkey Says. "Just take hold of my mane, so you Can lift your lips closer to my hairy ears."