Studying Poetry (00 Edition)

This accessible and compact guide helps students to understand and appreciate poetry as a genre, to develop an informed and articulate response to individual poems, and to become aware of the larger concerns involved in reading poetry. The first part of the book, "Form and Meaning," deals with the formal characteristics of poetry, such as metaphor, symbol, image, meter, rhythm, and rhyme. The second section, "Critical Approaches," explores the relationship between reading poetry and key concepts in critical theory, focusing on the poem as an object, the idea of the author, and the role of the reader. In part three, "Interpreting Poetry," the discussion explores such issues as political poetry, the poem in history, and the limits of poetry. Studying Poetry refers to a wide range of poetry and poets and offers stimulating readings of individual poems.

A comprehensive approach to studying poetry. Beginning with the formal aspects of poetry (metre, rhythm, rhyme), it proceeds to give an overview of fundamental critical issues and theoretical approaches to reading poetry. Each chapter works through a specific poem, illustrating specific points.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [168]-169) and index.

' Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I: FORM AND MEANING

1. Poem and form

2. Poem and communication

3. Poem and tradition

PART II: CRITICAL APPROACHES

4. Poem as object

5. Poem and author

6. Poem and reader

PART III: INTERPRETING POETRY

7. The poem in history

8. Public poetry

9. The limits of poetry

Further reading

Glossary

Index

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