"Donna Seaman, reviewing Hirshfield's ninth collection, "Ledger", described Hirshfield’s “carefully weighted tone as she reckons with our constant subtraction of Earth’s life forces and incessant addition of carbon to our atmosphere, acid to our seas.”  Hirshfield has become an increasingly visible spokesperson for peace, justice, and environmental issues.In a review of her seventh collection,"Come, Thief", Afaa M. Weaver wrote that her poems "find a middle ground between the larger landscape of political conflict and the personal landscape of our need to connect with one another."