- ISBN13: 9780156724005
- Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
- Notes:
Product Description
With passion, wit, and good common sense, the celebrated poet Mary Oliver tells of the basic ways a poem is built–meter and rhyme, form and diction, sound and sense. Drawing on poems from Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner imparts an extraordinary amount of information in a short space.Amazon.com Review
This slender guide by Mary Oliver deserves a place on the shelves of any budding poet. In clear, accessible prose, Oliver (winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for poetry) arms the reader with an understanding of the technical aspects of poetry writing. Her lessons on sound, line (length, meter, breaks), poetic forms (and lack thereof), tone, imagery, and revision are illustrated by a handful of wonderful poems (too bad Oliver was so modest as to not include her own). What could have been a dry account is infused throughout with Oliver’s passion for her subject, which she describes as “a kind of possible love affair between something like the heart (that courageous but also shy factory of emotion) and the learned skills of the conscious mind.” One comes away from this volume feeling both empowered and daunted. Writing poetry is good, hard work.
For more information: A Poetry Handbook
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“A Poetry Handbook,” by Mary Oliver, is a nonfiction prose text about the art of writing poetry. In the book Oliver, herself an excellent poet, gives a clear and painless introduction to some structural aspects of poetry. She defines many technical terms: alliteration, onomatopoeia, alexandrine, caesura, quatrain, persona, etc. She also discusses various poetic forms: sonnet, free verse, etc. Other topics addressed include imagery and diction. Throughout the book, Oliver illustrates her points with poetry by some of the greatest practitioners of the craft: Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, etc.
The book is aimed at both readers and writers of poetry. For the latter, Oliver reflects on such practical issues as revision and participation in poetry workshops. The book reflects Oliver’s own philosophy of poetry. She stresses that poetry is a craft that requires work and discipline, and encourages the reader to think of poets as constituting a “tribe” that transcends all geographic and cultural boundaries.
The book is not without flaws. I found it quite Eurocentric; she never discusses the haiku, a Japanese verse form that has been embraced by many in the English-speaking world. Other non-Western forms are similarly neglected.
Some of her opinionated pronouncements also seem open to debate. She notes that a poem “gives pleasure through the authority and sweetness of the language,” but I think some poems are effective conduits of rage or outrage and make use of unpleasant language to shake up the reader. Regarding the revision process, she notes that sometimes “it is simply best to throw a poem away” — but, I ask, who is to make that decision? Something a poet might want to discard may in fact be a great poem in another’s eyes.
Also, although she gives many good examples of good poems, it might have been interesting if she had included some bad ones to illustrate her points further.
Despite its flaws, however, I think that “A Poetry Handbook” would be a solid text for both individual reading and classroom use. And I think that some of Oliver’s questionable statements could trigger productive discussion! Ultimately, I appreciate Oliver’s declaration that poetry “is a life-cherishing force [...] as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.” Recommended as companion texts: Audre Lorde’s essay “Poetry Is Not a Luxury,” from her collection “Sister Outsider,” and Pablo Neruda’s prose collection “Passions and Impressions.”
Rating: 4 / 5
A Poetry Handbook
Mary Oliver’s poetry itself can do some teaching on its own, but we can be grateful she’s chosen to articulate the writing process so richly in this book. The book will almost certainly will wring some writing out of you; it will also inspire you to examine your work habits and technique. Oliver’s intelligence shines through, and will make you a better reader of poetry. Small note on the previous review: Mary Oliver does, indeed, teach, at Bennington College currently. If you can’t enroll there, this book is your next best choice.
Rating: 5 / 5
A Poetry Handbook
The book is a concise, brilliant guide for anyone interested in writing poetry or in understanding it better.
Rating: 5 / 5
A Poetry Handbook
Say what you will about her poetry, Mary Oliver clearly understands the technical aspects of the craft and in this small tome she conveys them brilliantly. With a clear voice and plenty of examples drawn from the masters of poetry, Oliver is able to bring great insights to the beginner or amateur poetry writer.
It may be going just a bit far to say that Oliver’s book is to poetry what Strunk & White’s is to prose, but for the non-expert it feels awful close.
Rating: 5 / 5
A Poetry Handbook
I’ll be the first to admit that my poetry reeks in a very teen-aged angst-heavy metal lyric-mushy kind of way. I thought that maybe I could find a way to string words together without using all that pesky grammar so I picked this one up at random. My story writing drastically improved. My poetry, well, let’s just say that even Douglas Adams’s Vogons would be mortally offended.
What do poets know that the average storyteller doesn’t? Words have sound. Imagine that. They have a feel that goes beyond connotation. There is a rhythm. And a sort of Dr. Suessian alilteration is available for 9.95 call within the next 10 minutes and shipping is free!
Ms. Oliver would be hard pressed to find anything redeeming in my poetry. She’d probably wonder if I even read her book or if I pulled the ol’ never touched the intern routine. I did– not the intern, the book! I even learned that “dipthong” is not a dirty word. Darn it.
Rating: 5 / 5
A Poetry Handbook