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The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within [Paperback]

Stephen Fry
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
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Book Description

6 Sep 2007

Stephen Fry believes that if you can speak and read English you can write poetry. But it is no fun if you don't know where to start or have been led to believe that Anything Goes.

Stephen, who has long written poems, and indeed has written long poems, for his own private pleasure, invites you to discover the incomparable delights of metre, rhyme and verse forms.

Whether you want to write a Petrarchan sonnet for your lover's birthday, an epithalamion for your sister's wedding or a villanelle excoriating the government's housing policy, The Ode Less Travelled will give you the tools and the confidence to do so.

Brimful of enjoyable exercises, witty insights and simple step-by-step advice, The Ode Less Travelled guides the reader towards mastery and confidence in the Mother of the Arts.

(20050217)

Frequently Bought Together

The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within + Poetry in the Making: A Handbook for Writing and Teaching + An Introduction to English Poetry
Price For All Three: £20.46

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow; New Ed edition (6 Sep 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099509342
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099509349
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.5 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"Fry's extraordinary book is an idiots' guide to the writing of poetry, a primer, a tutorial with funny turns, an earnest textbook... You can't but marvel at Fry's easy familiarity with the rictameter and the rondeau redoublé and applaud the energy of his evangelistic zeal" (Independent on Sunday )

"With his usual wit and occasional obscenity, he takes us through an array of metrical forms and poetic structures, talking to us like a cajoling hearty teacher" (Sunday Telegraph )

"Intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed" (Observer )

"A smart, sane and entertaining return to basics" (Daily Telegraph )

"Funny and instructive" (Spectator )

Book Description

Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled provides us with a witty and entertaining guide to the mysteries of writing poetry. (20050217)

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written and Extraordinarily Useful 27 Oct 2007
By Mrs. K. A. Wheatley TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I did a degree in Literature, specialising in poetry, and never did really understand how metre works. This book is the first explanation of poetic terminology and the technical aspects of metre, rhyme etc where I have both read and understood fully what I have been reading. Not only that, Fry writes in a way that makes it enjoyable to read his work rather than the usual dusty tomes one gets on the subject. It is wide ranging in subject matter, talking not only about English poetry but also with a great section on genres such as Japanese poetry, particularly Haiku and Tanka, and other forms from round the world. Each chapter comes with exercises to do for the aspiring poet, with examples written by Fry himself. The informality of his approach, i.e. poetry is easy and you can do it too, is a breath of fresh air and I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to know anything about poetry.
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66 of 67 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Homeric Ode to "The Ode Less Travelled" 15 May 2009
By Katron
Format:Paperback
How can I extoll this book?
I'm struggling to find a hook.
No words in me I have to serve,
To fete this book as it deserves.
Suffice for now for me to say
With practice, I will find a way.
And on that day the bells on high,
Will ring "God bless you, Stephen Fry!"
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172 of 176 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The book I have wanted since I was 14 2 Nov 2005
Format:Hardcover
No-one teaches metre. Absolutely no-one. I had some excellent English teachers, but they all seemed to be bound by some Masonic vow not to disclose its secrets. I know a published poet, naturally gifted, a mobile library of learning, and utterly unable to communicate enjoyably even the basics of the lost rules of verse.

Stephen Fry steps in like a concerned uncle and jovially dismisses the nonsense preventing us from growing up and writing proper poetry, better, he accompanies us beyond the foreword so that this, if you ever had any doubt, is never a dry book. He imparts something at least as valuable as laughter (also included), a sense of achievement gained through real knowledge that you can apply, not mere trivia.

Even if you already write free verse and won’t give it up by the end, even if you never really intend to write poetry at all, this is an invaluable aid to understanding the great poets; your hat size will increase, other British people will be grudgingly impressed and grateful sons, daughters, and cute English students will want to spend more time with you, doing their homework for them.

Encouraging the population to write poetry could be a toxically dangerous thing to do, but not, I think, if they read this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Funny Stephen Fry got me through my Open University Course with a lot of humour and left me fully understanding cadence, alliteration, and many other phrases which were unbeknown... Read more
Published 14 days ago by nicola power
5.0 out of 5 stars If Oscar Wilde was your English Teacher...
If Oscar Wilde was your English Teacher...

This is an absolute gem of a book. Get it if you are studying English at any level, get it if you want to appreciate the... Read more
Published 15 days ago by FantasyWriter
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best
The only book anyone will need to explore, understand and create the art of poetry.My gratitude to Mr. Stephen Fry.
Published 1 month ago by David K Graham
5.0 out of 5 stars Unlocking poetry
Fabulous introduction to the art of poetry. I bought this at the same time as I was studying poetry as an undergraduate and this easily outdid any course books we had! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alex B
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book
Previously, I had read a lot of poetry and written quite a lot of free verse, but never really plunged into the study of poetic structures and forms. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jay Fraser
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for budding poets!
When reading, you can almost hear the voice of Stephen Fry (which is a bonus!). It is written with fun and passion- which is, at the end of the day, what poetry is all about. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jane B
5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry
A necessary adjunct to the course books available from the open university Stephen Fry tends to write as the man in the street reads
Published 2 months ago by fogarty
4.0 out of 5 stars Ode less travelled
Very techinical and insiteful - a great tool for the wannabe poet -helps you understand our great language from a different perspective with commentry that enlightens you and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr A Welsh
5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry explained - thank you Stephen Fry!
A few of us students of creative writing were struggling a bit until someone suggested reading this book! A book on poetry for real people.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. L. Mclaren
5.0 out of 5 stars A readable introduction it poetry for poetry-lovers
Witty, friendly, thorough and helpful- even if you think you already know about rhyme, stress and modernism you will certainly learn more without any trappings of pomposity and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Senex 72
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