How to Write Poetry (Third Edition) [Paperback]

Arco (Author)

Book Description

Series: ARCO's Concise Writing Guides | Publication Date: January 25, 1998

An update of the classic guide that will bring out the poet in you!

Editorial Reviews

Review

...Bogen's cheerful and relentlessly encouraging little book is aimed at the do-it-yourselfer, and explains how poetry works from the inside. It teems with helpful hints like, "Don't say, My poem is too plain, I have to put some metaphors into it." Perhaps with this mechanic's handbook we could better understand the lofty heights of verse. -- Frederica Mathewes-Green, personal website

A very thin, unpretentious book that gives you tools, practice, and examples in the craft of poetry without getting extremely analytical...Practical exercises are dotted liberally throughout the book. No theory is introduced without lots and lots of hands-on application...It makes a valuable starter book, a valuable reference book (for forms, meter, etc.), and a valuable exercise book for ongoing poetry calisthenics. -- Anitra Dancing, Speakeasy website

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Arco; 3rd edition (January 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028622073
• ISBN-13: 978-0028622071
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,802,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive edition for asipiring poets!, July 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Write Poetry (Third Edition) (Paperback)

Very eloquently written! She places it in a nice and easy to read format, with several exercises during the chapter. By the end I was writing Shakesperian sonnets, Ottava Rimas...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concrete advice for the practical poet, July 5, 2002

By 

Geoffrey Halston (Woodbury, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to write poetry (Paperback)

Readers seeking page upon page of abstract fulff will not find it here. Also, this is a portable slim volume. The author's advice is both clear and concise from chapter one's Getting Started to chapter nine's Getting Started--Again. This is a hands on approach for those who wish to be free of academic jargon and approach the subject in an understandable way. There are exercises in each chapter and examples from past and contemporary poets. For the beginning poet, the author is very inspiring.

3.0 out of 5 stars Felt Academic, September 23, 2011

By 

Ohioan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Write Poetry (Third Edition) (Paperback)

This did not feel like a how-to book to me. I've read many how-to books on writing poetry, and the majority of them do feel like how-to's -- they explain things about poetry in varying order and take the reader through different steps. Each chapter in this book feels and reads more like a college classroom lecture than a series of instructions and suggestions. The poetry chosen is also poetry taught (over and over and over again) in college courses. The book seemed stuck in a time warp, as if the poetry of the last twenty or even fifty years didn't exist.

And somehow there isn't enough here. I'm all for brevity and succinctness, but I also want thorough explanations. In Chapter 8, on Free Verse, the author tries to explain line breaks by using William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow." When the lesson was over with, I really needed at least one more, preferably two more, poems in which the author explained line break decisions. In short, I wanted more.