At the center of this book is a suite of poems inspired by Virgil's Georgics, or "poems of pastoral instruction." In Rosen's case, he is more the student than the teacher. Likewise, five short sections of haiku continue his meditation on-or mediation of-art and nature. As he has written, "Haiku provides a brief and mirror-like calm in the choppy waters-in the undertow-of current events: a stillness in time where more than our singular lives can be reflected."

Illustrated with two dozen pages from the author's own journal, Every Species of Hope is the consummation of decades of observation, humility, and awe.