Love Us" (49) art remains a constant and it is reassuring that poems are reliable even if people and life are not. But in "Nature Versus Art" (56) : "Permanence is a dream, the eternal/something we will never know" (56). he last poem in the section"In the House of No" (63) gives the final answer: it affirms the positive power of poetry to say "no" to evil people and practices: Our strategy is simple: we say no to everything you offer until the end of time. And this brings me back to Dudek. "In the House of No" seemsto show Norris choosing art over life, but in "Coming Through," the last part of the book, he turns the tables to show that art is important because it affirms life. I agree with Dudek that in this book "the triumph is in the recording of the tension," but I do not agree that "the danger is always the possibility of rejecting art," and more importantly, I do not think Norris agrees either. The danger lies in losing life in a sterile illusion of art's autonomy. he book ends with five powerful odes which indicate that Norris has "come through.". The first is addressed to his daughter and rivals "Frost at Midnight" as an expression of parental love and concern. The next four--"Ode Against Sadness" (83), "Ode to Joy" (84-85), "Ode to the Day" (86), and "Ode to the Common Man" (87-90) are all written "after Neruda" and all are affirmative, travelling in a widening circle of hope and love from one particular individual, his daughter, to embrace the whole race.