The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms

First, the good news! - This book is an absolute must-have. It's well-written, clear, entertaining, educated, and manages to avoid being patronising while still managing to be both satisfyingly clever and thankfully simple. Anybody wanting to own a concise volume of poetic forms and techniques would do well to invest in this book. It covers the basics of some of the more interesting poetic forms and does it in a way that's easy to understand. Example (from page 5):- THE VILLANELLE AT A GLANCE: 1) It is a poem of nineteen lines. 2) It has five stanzas, each of three lines, with a final one of four lines. 3) The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the second and fourth stanzas. 4) ...etc etc It then goes on to give the history of the form, its place in the modern context, and finally a close-up of one of the leading exponents. In between all this brilliantness it regales the reader with cracking examples of some of the classics of the genre (staying with the Villanelle, it gives us Downson's "Villanelle of His Lady's Treasures", Dylan Thomas's breathtaking "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", and Wendy Cope's "Reading Scheme", among others). An absolute treasure-trove! The forms it covers are: The villanelle; The sestina; The pantoum; The sonnet; The ballad; Blank verse; The heroic couplet; and The stanza. It also spends time on the elegy, the pastoral and the ode. During all this the authors still manage to find the time somehow to open the readers' eyes and introduce me, at least, to some true literary gems I'd never seen, such as Anthony Hecht's "The Book of Yolek", Miller Williams' "The Shrinking Lonesome Sestina" and (I'm almost ashamed I didn't know these) Edna St. Vincent Millay's "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why". As a surprisingly powerful extra, the authors add their own personal stories to their journeys in poetry to bring these possibly abstract structures to life. But there is some (slightly) bad news. After the first few chapters, the authors either lose the motivation or the scope to closely analyse the poetic forms: we're treated to logical breakdowns of the villanelle, the sestina and the sonnet, for instance, but rather less in the way of the same by the time we get to the stanza. This may be because the stanza is not so rigorously constructed as the villanelle, but this in itself brings me to the next 'criticism'... Thorough and far-reaching as this book is, it's by no means exhaustive, which makes the difficulties of rigorously analysing a stanza to the same degree as the villanelle all the more glaring. Why not, after all, stick with those forms that can be so analysed, such as the haiku, the acrostic or the dansa? But this isn't so much the book's problem, more perhaps its genius - it simply leaves me wanting more, and frustrated that the chapters don't go on forever. Perhaps there will some day be a Part Two?... This is a wonderful book. Learned, entertaining, and packed with both insight and argument, all crammed in between some of the greatest poems of the English language. To be thoroughly recommended!

This anthology, by two leading poets, strikes me as essential reading for anyone interested in exploring poetic forms. The book's structure makes the material easy to access and understand, and it certainly sparked my interest in learning more about about the craft of poetry and experimenting with forms that were new to me. Excellent.

Very interesting

In the introductory statement the writers say this book is intended to answer those basic questions such as how does a sonnet work, what is a Sestina & what rules govern it, how many lines make up a Villanelle & what is it's rhyme scheme? To do this they have traced the history of the various forms, in many cases back to the peasant origins and work songs of the countryside or the Balladeers who sung stories, spun the tales & spread the news through their communities and out to a wider audience. By answering these questions, by providing an overview of the major poetic forms, their history and the rules that they follow, bend or break, they hope to provide the reader with a key that will open the path to what will be a lifelong journey, with this book as a guide and map. After the introduction, both editors state their case for poetry via their own personal experience, first as readers, discovering the art and on to the status they later achieved as poets in their own right, it's this experience, insight and passion that stops this book being a dry academic exercise and makes it a suitable aid at what ever level you want to use it for, whether a university student or just someone wishing to understand more. What's wonderful about this book is the amount of poetry within the pages, easily outnumbering the pages of text, example after example used to demonstrate form and just there to be read. This isn't just a text book, it's an anthology of poetry with writers such as Mathew Arnold, Elizabeth Bishop, Louise Gluck, Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, Charles Simic, Sylvia Plath, W.S. Mervin and Gwendolyn Brooks, plus hundreds of others, it also ends with a fantastic series of biographies on the featured writers & a suggested reading list, making this a book that any lover of poetry, or even someone getting into poetry for the first time, will find a useful addition to their bookshelf, either as a reference tool or as a collection of poetry to be dived into when the mood takes.

I asked one of my University lecturers what he thought of this text and after a prolonged perusal he declared it an excellent starting point for anyone who was interested in poetry. I like it because it explains the terminology clearly and walks you through the initial stages of creating a poem. It doesn't do it for you but it shows you the way. Buy this and take your first steps . . .

This is a serious look - even a very serious book - at poetry - a great text book for both tutor, teacher and scholar. Not really for the beginner poet. I found it a great help in defining the different types of poetry but it was, and still is, tough going but a great reference book.

This is an anthology of poetic forms, and not bad as it is. The 'forms' are very traditional - villanelle, sestina etc - and this is a useful collection. There are good notes on the poets, a glossary and suggestions for further reading. The editors introduce the process by which they became poets - perhaps this explains the first part of the title. This introduction is highly personalised - and not entirely to my taste but others may find it more congenial. I bought it as a reference book on poetic forms, and as such it is not quite what I needed. but any anthology has its merits., and ordering this one by form is distinctive.

Well written and presented. All major forms are discussed, with examples. A must-have if you are studying poetry, or just want to learn more.

Suggested reading in understanding verse...

A nice introductory piece to poetic forms, meters and genres, with voluminous poems as examples included that poets and enthusiasts will absolutely relish in reading. Learned a lot, and after every chapter I just couldn't help myself but write like a madman filled with creative fever (villanelle, sonnet, sestina etc).

Purchased as a university text. Informative.

J'aime beaucoup ce livre, je l'ai utilisé pour réviser mes partiels de littérature anglaise et franchement il m'a bien servi! Je recommande! :)

Interesting book, Goes through the major poetic forms with examples. Good book for those serious about the form