Brings together for the first time over four hundred aphorisms and twenty-six aphoristic poems by one of America's most essential poets of the twentieth century. In keeping with Stafford's varied interests, the aphorisms in Sound of the Ax explore many topics - war and peace, involvement, ageing, appearances, fear, egotism, writing, nature, animals, suffering, faith, living an ethical life, and so on - with his incisive view.