Description
Book SynopsisFor anyone who has ever wanted to become fluent in the language of poetry, Invitation to Poetry will prove an essential guide. This book:
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- Teaches the serious student how to speak poetry' through an in-depth examination of the traditional features and technical vocabulary of poetic language;
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- Examines British and American materials from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries in order to give students a sense of a range of different period styles, poetic projects, and strategies;
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- Explicitly examines, questions and challenges the relationship of poetry to literary periods and canons;
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- Offers the technical tools essential for close reading and interpretation across a broad chronological spectrum.
Trade Review“One could not find a better guide than Steinman (Reed College) for developing a sound approach to reading poems. This eclecticism in examples proves to readers how a rigorous approach to reading can allow one to tackle a variety of texts from different eras. Written in a lively and engaging manner, this book is best suited to those embarking on literary studies or creative writing, particularly poetry. Highly recommended.” (
Choice Reviews, October 2008)
Table of ContentsPreface.
Acknowledgments.
1. Conceptual Syntax: An Introduction to the Way Poems Invite Different Approaches and Position Readers.
2. Speaking Poetry: Night Pieces and Intertextual Conversations.
3. The Gestures and Subjects of the Sonnet.
4. The Uses of Meter and Rhythm in the Sonnet.
5. The Form of the Voice: Tone and Diction.
6. Modes, Odes, and Odic Gestures.
7. What is Pastoral?.
8. Traditions, Legacies, and Individual Talents.
9. Forests and Trees, or Playing with Poems.
Index
