Poetry Odds & Ends

GaryG48 · Mon May 17, 2010 9:52 pm


	GaryG48 wrote: Count me in. It will be good to discuss a book on BookTalk! And besides, I stopped reading 20th century poets at Frost so I have lots to learn.

Poetry in Person arrived three days ago. I have read the intro and the first three interviews with poets.
I am reading very slowly so stuff sinks in.
This is a really good way to meet poets for the first time. Of the 23 poets interviewed, I have only heard of two. That does not mean they are obscure, just I am deficient. I am anticipating a good discussion beginning the end of May.

Saffron · Mon May 24, 2010 9:24 am

Gary and anyone else interested: I need to get a copy of Poetry in Person and then I will set up a thread for us. Hopefully, I will pick up the book today.

oblivion · Mon May 24, 2010 9:41 am

I began reading it today, Saffron. I'm ready.

GaryG48 · Mon May 24, 2010 10:06 am

Great,

I have a ton of notes that are really just half-formed ideas (well, okay, half-baked ideas :wink:

) and am excited about starting this discussion.

oblivion · Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:15 pm

Do you think we can begin a discussion the beginning of next week and get it up and going?
Also, I just finished a magnificent book, "The Quickening Maze" by Adam Foulds. Beautiful, poetic, and literally haunting. The blurb on the back cover reads: "Epping Forest, 1840. Struggling with alcohol, critical neglect and his powerful imagintion, the poet John Clare is incarcerated in High Beach Asylum. At the same time, the young Alfred Tennyson moves nearby and becomes entangled in the ill-fated schemes of the charismatic asylum owner, Dr. Matthew Allen. Beyond the walls lies nature, Clara's paradise. For him, a locked door is a kind of death and Clare longs for home, redemption and escape. Based on real events, brilliantly re-imagined, the closed world of High Beach and Clare's vertiginous fall into madness are brought vividly to life." The book was (rightly so, in my opinion) shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2009.

Saffron · Tue Jun 01, 2010 1:28 pm

Hi Everyone,
I am sorry I have not put up the tread. I've been down with a flu like thing for about 5 days and can not do anything. It is a struggle to type. I promise as soon as I am well I will put it up.

Jackie

oblivion · Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:37 am

Not a problem at all......just get well!

oblivion · Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:28 am

I would like to recommend two more books on poetry, both concerning type, terminology,composition and form.
The first little tome is John Hollander's "Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse". It's a delightful little paperback explaining forms and composition in a very humorous way, being both entertaining and informative at the same time.
The second book is "The Making of a Poem": A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms" by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland, both poets themselves. Although not exactly humorous, the book is easy to read and explains terminology in a manner everyone can understand and appreciate. It is filled with examples of each type of poem and includes a checklist on each topic as well as a nice list of recommended reading.

Saffron · Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:09 am


	oblivion wrote: I would like to recommend two more books on poetry, both concerning type, terminology,composition and form. The first little tome is John Hollander's "Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse". It's a delightful little paperback explaining forms and composition in a very humorous way, being both entertaining and informative at the same time. The second book is "The Making of a Poem": A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms" by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland, both poets themselves. Although not exactly humorous, the book is easy to read and explains terminology in a manner everyone can understand and appreciate. It is filled with examples of each type of poem and includes a checklist on each topic as well as a nice list of recommended reading.

Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a trip to the library in my future.

GaryG48 · Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:08 pm

I second Oblivion's recomendation of Rhyme's Reason. I picked it up over the weekend and am about 1/3 through. [A case of great minds thinking alike?] It may be a bit basic for you Saffron but you may enjoy the humor.

I will look into the Strand-Boland. If I hang around here long enough you two are going to make me a competent poetry reader.

oblivion · Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:36 pm

You sound like you are already, Gary. And I am impressed....walking in and buying the book! Wow! The man must be a genius--making what could be rather cut-and-dry material actually highly enjoyable to read. I especially enjoyed the poem/explanation on page 50!

GaryG48 · Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:44 pm

I found The Making of a Poem at the library yesterday afternoon. I took a look at it last night and will spend some time with it this weekend. But, while I was looking for it on the library shelves I stumbled over Robert Pinsky's The Sound of Poetry: A Brief Guide. Since I am curious about the interplay of sound and meaning in poetry I took a look at it.

It is a small book, 119 little pages (it fits easily in my jacket pocket even though it is hard-bound). I popped it open and looked up 90 minutes later. I was seated cross-legged in the middle of the 800 aisle. I could hardly get up I was so stiff. I thought I had been there only a few minutes and did not even remember sitting down! I liked the Pinsky poem we will discuss in the other forum but this guy writes clear, clean engaging prose as well.

So, I'm very late getting home to dinner and thinking, "if I tell my wife I got lost in a book on poetry she will never belive me; better tell her I stopped at a bar."

oblivion · Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:06 pm

Darn! Yet another book to put on my list. Now I just need abvout 6 more hours to each day! Thanks for the recommendation!

GaryG48 · Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:57 pm

From Robert Pinsky's The Sounds of Poetry:

"If it can't be demonstrated [that the author's choice of line endings] is better, the question [of where a line should end] should be open.

Such demonstration requires thinking about what the poem means. By asking what, precisely, it is about, one can begin to form a judgment about how it should sound, and therefore about what arrangement in lines best brings out those vocal rhythms for the reader."

In other words, meaning dictates sound. I like that idea a lot but several of the poets we are reading about would not agree. In fact, one of them has said poetry is all about sound, meaning just happens and is of secondary importance. I find that strange to say the least.

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