<DIV>With a distinguished career spanning more than sixty years, Richard Wilbur stands as one of America's preeminent men of letters. Collected Poems 1943-2004 is the comprehensive collection of Wilbur's astonishing, timeless work. It will serve as the most referenced trove of this beloved poet's best verses for many years to come.<br><br><b>In Trackless Woods</b><br>In trackless woods, it puzzled me to find<br>Four great rock maples seemingly aligned,<br>As if they had been set out in a row<br>Before some house a century ago,<br>To edge the property and lend some shade.<br>I looked to see if ancient wheels had made<br>Old ruts to which the trees ran parallel,<br>But there were none, so far as I could tell-<br>There'd been no roadway. Nor could I find the square<br>Depression of a cellar anywhere,<br>And so I tramped on further, to survey<br>Amazing patterns in a hornbeam spray<br>Or spirals in a pine cone, under trees<br>Not subject to our stiff geometries.<br></div>