The Poesy Ring: A Love Story

Graham (Home in the Rain) takes as his subject a gold poesy ring, “given for friendship and love,” with the words “Love never dies” inscribed on its inner face. The opening endpaper bears an image of a woman on a rearing horse and the tantalizing words “County Kerry... 1830./ Bitter tears were shed,/ and a ring was thrown.” Lovely, sweeping views take in all that happens to the golden ring after it lands in a seaside meadow. A nearby acorn becomes an oak; the ring gets wedged in a fawn’s hoof, nabbed by a starling, then swallowed by a fish. A fisherman recovers it and sells it at a New York City pawn shop, where, in 1967, a street musician buys it and slides it onto his partner’s finger before the two walk the city in the snow. Graham focuses on the passing of time and the slow action of the natural world; in contrast to the sweet, pudgy human figures, softly tinted landscapes are airy and graceful. And the ring’s survival through space and time is a powerful symbol for the enduring force of love. Ages 2–5. [em](Dec.) [/em]