Customer Reviews

Wonderfully Written - By: , 31 May 2003
This book has enchanced my appreciation for Poetry. It is both precise & detailed & never really boring, all the information is relevant & none of it seems out of place or confusing.

Apart from the wonderful writing it is divided into well chosen sections that follow the questions that one would ask. An introduction followed by section 1. Verse Form, II. Meter, III. Shaping Forms & IV.Open Forms. For each of these there are ample examples (types of Poems such as Senstina, Villanelle, Pantoum, Heroic Couplet, Elegy, Ode, etc.). Eor each of those examples there is & overview & history text which allows the reader to become more familar & envolved with the poems & helps to better the understanding & the poet's intentions.

The first line of the book's Introductory Statement says it all really: "This book looks squarely at some of the headaches & mysteries of poetic form."

A must have for all Poetry fans & Language teachers/professors of simply lovers of language.