Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #901227 in Books
• Published on: 1987-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
Explains poetic diction, cadence, line division, accentual meter, alliteration, end rhyme, imagery, and symbolism and such approaches to poetry as the sonnet, blank verse, and free verse.

Customer Reviews

The first book that a budding poet should read. Period.
I have been a poet for over twenty years. This is the first book that I give to people who say to me, "I'd like to write some poetry. Where do I start?" It is a technical manual which explains in clear and easily understood language the tools of poetry. Jerome defines poetry as "metrical writing" and defines all the different types of metre and shows you how they can be used. If you were a budding carpenter this book would explain the parts of the hammer and the adze and the different types of nails and woods and how to make right-angled corners and how to make strong and lasting constructions. They say that genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. This book shows you how to work for that 99%. Once you have mastered this book, there are others that are useful for the toolbox (the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, The New Book of Forms [Turco], How does a poem mean? [Ciardi]) and others that will help you find that 1%, but this book is the book that will move you from someone who has poetic thoughts to someone who is a poet. I grant www.amazon.com permission to use this review at their website.