The Poetry of Martha Baird

“Martha Baird proves herself, in her poetry, a genuine personality in art, sensitive and unique. The strict parsimony of her expression here takes the form of parables-in-little, intellectually modest to the point of demureness in their manner of presentation, yet filled with larger intimations….Here is a quality so pure and so innately of the character of the poet, that any who cannot distinguish between authentic metal and alloy, and who may, therefore, try to imitate her, should beware.”

“There comes, every now and then, a book of verse which, after you have lived with it a while, causes something to take place in you, and you become aware of some all but imperceptible sprouting and branching. For me, Martha Baird’s NICE DEITY has been such a book…. Martha Baird’s poems provide a rather large amount of both delight and wisdom.… Let those who think they can improve upon the diction, the syntax, and the form of these poems…, have a fling at it, just for fun. I suspect that it will prove an extremely difficult task if not an impossible one. Martha Baird, in NICE DEITY, has done justice to the idea of poetry.”