- Paperback: 238 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press (1 Aug 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0198711492
- ISBN-13: 978-0198711490
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.9 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 121,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
Lennard succeeds in being as exhaustive as he can possibly be... (Caroline Bertoneche, Universite de Provence )
Very readable... gives and excellent overview of poetry in English and will explain rhythm, metre and style. (The Observer, February 2006 ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Very readable... gives and excellent overview of poetry in English and will explain rhythm, metre and style. (The Observer, February 2006 ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Caroline Bertoneche, Universite de Provence
"Lennard succeeds in being as exhaustive as he can possibly be..."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
This is analysed as five feet, each foot consisting of an unstressed beat following by a stressed beat; I have a separated the feet with a vertical slash: When I I do COUNT I the CLOCK I that TELLS I the TIME This kind of foot is called an iamb (pronounced e-AMB) and there are five of them, so the line is an iambic pentameter (from the Greek word [pente], meaning 'five'). Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
This is analysed as five feet, each foot consisting of an unstressed beat following by a stressed beat; I have a separated the feet with a vertical slash: When I I do COUNT I the CLOCK I that TELLS I the TIME This kind of foot is called an iamb (pronounced e-AMB) and there are five of them, so the line is an iambic pentameter (from the Greek word [pente], meaning 'five'). Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book for those who want to know how poems work. It is primarily concerned with poetry's "nuts and bolts". And it handles that well. If you like Ruth Padel's "52 Poems" and "60 Poems", you will find a lot here to interest you.
When you have read it, it will remain a handy reference for terms used in poetry, for how to punctuate more or less anything, for information on layout and on lineation, for information on syntax, and so on - all in neat sections in the text, easy to find, clearly explained, and all necessary for the appreciation of poetry. The treatment of rhythm and rhyme is basic but good. On criticism and theory the book is a little light, limiting itself to three fairly short chapters, "History", "Biography", and "Gender".
I realise that a single book, even one called "The Poetry Handbook", will not be able to cover everything in depth. For this reason I would recommend that someone new to the study of poetry read alongside it another book to get a fuller picture, something like "Beginning Theory" by Peter Barry or even the "Very Short Introduction to Literary Theory" by Jonathan Culler.
This is not to put down this book at all. I still rate this book at four stars for what it achieves, because it does that very well; and its associated website should remain as useful as the printed text.
When you have read it, it will remain a handy reference for terms used in poetry, for how to punctuate more or less anything, for information on layout and on lineation, for information on syntax, and so on - all in neat sections in the text, easy to find, clearly explained, and all necessary for the appreciation of poetry. The treatment of rhythm and rhyme is basic but good. On criticism and theory the book is a little light, limiting itself to three fairly short chapters, "History", "Biography", and "Gender".
I realise that a single book, even one called "The Poetry Handbook", will not be able to cover everything in depth. For this reason I would recommend that someone new to the study of poetry read alongside it another book to get a fuller picture, something like "Beginning Theory" by Peter Barry or even the "Very Short Introduction to Literary Theory" by Jonathan Culler.
This is not to put down this book at all. I still rate this book at four stars for what it achieves, because it does that very well; and its associated website should remain as useful as the printed text.
15 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While this book is undeniably comprehensive, it is over-written and the author's voice is very intrusive and off-putting. The sub-chapters are not broken down into easy-to-use sections (I wanted to find out more about free verse and was left wading through pages of indulgent waffle); and for a book which claims to have been written as a 'crib' for students, I won't be using it as a reference book in future with any relish.
For beginners to intermediates, I would recommend Stephen Fry's excellent, witty 'The Ode less Travelled' which is much more accessible and enjoyable to read, and makes writing your own poetry pleasantly challenging. It's also much cheaper.
Terry Eagleton's 'How to read a Poem' is aimed at a similar, academic market to 'The Poetry Handbook' and I found that book far preferable and more persuasive, although admittedly not as thorough.
Overall, I was very disappointed with this book, particularly as I'd come to expect more from Oxford. If you have to read it, then good luck: if you don't, shop around first.
For beginners to intermediates, I would recommend Stephen Fry's excellent, witty 'The Ode less Travelled' which is much more accessible and enjoyable to read, and makes writing your own poetry pleasantly challenging. It's also much cheaper.
Terry Eagleton's 'How to read a Poem' is aimed at a similar, academic market to 'The Poetry Handbook' and I found that book far preferable and more persuasive, although admittedly not as thorough.
Overall, I was very disappointed with this book, particularly as I'd come to expect more from Oxford. If you have to read it, then good luck: if you don't, shop around first.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is written to answer all my questions. I am looking forward to using this book as a resource that will never go out of date. Other books I have bought to help me understand the technical aspects of poetry have been short of something I could not put my finger on, which was frustrating. In this book I am given answers to questions I could not put into words. So I believe the author to be a gifted and intuitive teacher. With questions to answer and exercises to complete I am given the opportunity to test my grasp of the teaching. There is no point in trying to fool myself.
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