An Interview with Richard Hugo

The Presence of Space in Richard Hugo's Montana Poems

“…So I don't think w e'll run out o f losses. 28 H ow ever, ra th e r th an lam ent this kind o f loss, H ugo p u t it to a different k ind o f poetic use, w h at G a rb e r has te rm e d " elegic conservatism " -"p o uring over the past o f the enduringly m inim al, finding significance in the rem ains o f w hat is no longer quite viable." 29 Entire tow ns can ap p ear to be "no longer quite viable," though in w hat H ugo once said "m ay very well be the best poem I've ever w ritten "30-"Degrees o f G ray in Philipsburg" (The Lady, pp.…”