ITHACA, N.Y. -- Considering the radiance of the day, that so many would sit inside a public library for bit of "Bosh and Flapdoodle" only proved that the work -- as well as the memory -- of the late A.R. Ammons is very much alive.

An April 17 gathering in the Tompkins County Library's Borg Warner room drew a panel of friends and former students of the Cornell poet to mark publication of two new books by and about Ammons: "Bosh and Flapdoodle," the first posthumous collection of poems by Ammons, and "Considering the Radiance: Essays on the Poetry of A.R. Ammons," co-edited by David Burak, a Cornell alumnus, and Roger Gilbert, Cornell professor of English. Both titles were published by Norton in March 2005.

Burak and Gilbert presided over the panel, which included: Ken McClane, Cornell's W.E.B. Dubois Professor of Literature; Alice Fulton, the A.S. Bowers Professor of English at Cornell; Minfong Ho, author; Cory Brown, Ithaca College professor and poet; and Ingrid Arneson, an English language teacher at Cornell.

Phyllis Ammons, wife of the legendary bard, joined an audience of about 50 people, among them: James McConkey, the Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature emeritus; Alison Lurie, Cornell's F.J. Whiton Professor of Literature emerita; and Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters at Cornell.

Ammons died in February 2001 at age 75, having won virtually every major prize for poetry in the United States, including two National Book Awards -- one in 1973 for "Collected Poems, 1951-1971" and another in 1993 for "Garbage."

"Bosh and Flapdoodle" was written from Halloween to about Christmastime in 1996 and shows Ammons at play in the field of the word, from lowdown to lofty, dead serious to super silly, at once mindful of the clock, the turning leaf, the bosh and the flapdoodle of carbon-based life forms and the exhilarating complexity of nature.

Fulton describes it as "... wisely funny, irreverently reverent, outrageously alive... 'Bosh and Flapdoodle' might be his most moving book -- and that's saying something."

But can even the mighty Ammons get away with a book of poems called "Bosh and Flapdoodle?" A book for adults?

"Not everyone has been thrilled with this title," said Gilbert, who is currently working on a critical biography of Ammons, funded through a Guggenheim fellowship. He said Ammons jotted an alternative title -- "No Time Soon" -- that was "more somber but still has a touch of sardonic humor."

The folks at Norton opted for "Bosh." The title, Gilbert said, "certainly reflects a characteristic streak of silliness that runs through his book."

In comments about the book, poet David Lehman -- who launched The Great American Poetry series in 1988 -- writes: "Don't be misled by the ironic self-mockery in the title. This is a wonderful book by a major American poet -- full of wisdom, pathos, humor, mortal longings and intimations of mortality."

Lehman's comments proved accurate as each panelist read a favorite poem or two. Brown chose "Widespread Implications," a more somber piece; Fulton read a fun poem called "Hooliganism" -- although what it had to do with hooligans is anybody's guess.

Panelists shared anecdotes about Ammons and his morning coffee klatches in the former Temple of Zeus. Burak spoke about his relationship with his former teacher and his admiration for the essayists whose works on Ammons he helped to compile in "Considering the Radiance."

"Radiance" addresses every phase of Ammons's oeuvre, from his beginnings in the 1950s to his late masterpieces "Garbage" and "Glare." In it the contributors, at least a handful of whom were present, explore the personal side of a poet whose keen intelligence and abstract vision have thrown some would-be admirers for a loop. The book includes essays by Harvard University's Helen Vendler, Harold Bloom of Yale University and poet John Ashbery.

"They each present such wonderful perspectives," said Burak, who conceived and chaperoned the daunting project with help from Gilbert and a grant through Philip Lewis, then dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "I believe it serves as a cartography of his [Ammons'] poetic career."

Shortly after Ammons' death, Burak arranged a memorial reading of a selection of Ammons poems that was aired on public access television in Ithaca.

"Archie had been a close friend, an adviser, a mentor and an inspiration to me and many others," Burak said. "The reading helped to keep the Ammons spirit vibrant and was followed by a very moving memorial service in May (2001)."

Compelled to do more, Burak, who teaches in Santa Monica, Calif., did the requisite legwork to produce an Ammons memorial that would endure. Vendler and Bloom responded almost immediately, and the essay project took on a life of its own. The collection grew to more than 20 essays that together serve as a very accessible primer on a poet whose stature rivals that of Whitman and Emerson and whose full impact on American letters is yet to be charted.

The event was co-sponsored by the public library and The Bookery in downtown Ithaca, where "Bosh and Flapdoodle" and "Considering the Radiance" are available.