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From Amazon
The Making of a Poem is among the best how-to-read-poetry titles. Edited by two of our greatest living poets, one Irish and female, the other American and male, it is both an exploration of poetic forms and an anthology. Eavan Boland and Mark Strand each offer an introduction and then give us a series of chapters devoted to particular verse forms--the sonnet, the ballad, the sestina, the villanelle, blank verse, the stanza--as well as a long section devoted to what they somewhat vaguely call shaping forms. This refers to poetic structures established not by a specific rhyme and/or metrical pattern but by content: the elegy, for example, or the pastoral or ode. The book then concludes with a section on open forms. Each chapter is conveniently subdivided, each topic simply defined: a single page gives "The Ballad at a Glance" (or, for that matter, the pantoum) as a quick overview of the form's structure. A page or two on the history of the form follows, along with a brief comment on "the contemporary context." Then a chronological anthology of poems demonstrates the particular form. In the sonnet's case, for instance, we are treated to 23 brilliantly chosen examples--everything from Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" to Seamus Heaney's "The Haw Lantern" to Mary Jo Salter's playful "Half a Double Sonnet." The section then concludes with another brief analysis of one example. In this spot, the villanelle features Elizabeth Bishop's classic heartbreaker, "One Art," and blank verse gives us far too brief a take on Robert Frost's tantalizing "Directive." Itself worth the price of admission, the poem begins:
Back out of all this now too much for us,One can readily see both the advantages and the limitations of such a format: definitions are kept lean, at times approaching the sound bite, and the short sentences and brief paragraphs often seem designed for a readership more accustomed to journalism than to the complexities of Dante (see, for example, the one-page history of the sestina). All of this looks like an attempt to reach an audience of both college students and general readers. While more information might help (brief comments on why certain poems in the anthology are defined as odes, pastorals, or elegies, for example), the bottom line is that The Making of a Poem does an excellent job of taking the inexperienced reader inside the mystery of poetic form. In these terms the volume succeeds, giving us a way into the history of poetry, along with an excellent anthology as a starting point for a deeper exploration of the glories of the genre. --Doug Thorpe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Back in a time made simply by the loss
of detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off
Like graveyard marble sculpture in the weather,
There is a house that is no more than a house
Upon a farm that is no more than a farm
And in a town that is no more than a town.
From Library Journal
If example is the best teacher, than students new to traditional poetic forms can learn much from this collection of villanelles, sestinas, sonnets, elegies, pastorals, ballads, pantoums, odes, and other familiar structures that have shaped English poetry since Beowulf. Each chapter focuses on a single form, but explanatory material is kept to a minimum: a concise list of formal characteristics, a summary history, a short discussion of the form's contemporary context, and a brief "close up" on an individual poem. Most useful are the selections themselves, which illustrate how particular forms have been employed over time, from canonical classics by Chaucer, Shelley, and Elizabeth Bishop through newer pieces by Hayden Carruth, Michael Palmer, and Thylias Moss. The concluding section on open forms seems somewhat uncertain and conservative, barely straying from much of what precedes it, but that's to be expected given the tastes of the editors, each of whom provides a lively and personal introductory essay that young poets should find quite instructive.DFred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib. Ithaca, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth your money,
This review is from: Making Of A Poem (Paperback)
There is definitely a need for such books on poetic forms today, but this book does not fill that lacuna adequately. As has been noted, the editors are not poets of the first rank (despite the fact that Mark Strand was a poet laureate of the US) and are not unquestionable masters of form. So, while this book may serve a scant few beginners, there remain better other options.I would suggest checking out John Hollander's excellent short work "Rhyme's Reason". He goes over more forms and in a better style than in this book. If you are a poet yourself, definitely you should choose Hollander's book over this one. However, if you want an easy and light read, maybe this book is better, since it provides longer "readings" of certain poems. But if that's what you're after, you'd be better served by Harold Bloom's "How to Read and Why", a very good book written by a top scholar and yet readable by virtually anyone interested in literature.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Introductory Tome,
By "joystjohn" (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Making Of A Poem (Paperback)
I have enjoyed learning about these forms, some for the first time. I have enjoyed using this book in my writing groups. Some of the examples chosen are certainly exquisite. ... Though I will likely look into other more developed treatments. Nonetheless I heartily recommend this one; the authors balance enthusiasm with scholarly laissez-faire.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books on poetry,
By
This review is from: Making Of A Poem (Paperback)
There are many books about "what poetry is," especially in this time when Contemporary American poetry has taken off. This one is one of the best and should be included in all poetry collections. This book is the only one I have found that shows the poetic forms and their contemporary contexts (after all, free verse borrows from the forms). This book also joins the Contemporary and Modern poets with the Romantics, Classical, et al. Both Strand's and Boland's essays and views should be embraced for their insight and knowledge--did the negative reviewers actually read this book? The Making of a Poem is a treasure that acknowledges and celebrates poetry, moving past what the title implies.
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