An Introduction to Poetry [Paperback]

X. J. Kennedy (Author), Dana Gioia (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321470346 | ISBN-13: 978-0321470348 | Publication Date: December 8, 2006 | Edition: 12th

Kennedy/Gioia's An Introduction to Poetry, 12e continues to inspire students with a rich collection of poems and engaging insights on reading, analyzing, and writing about poetry.  This bestselling anthology includes more than 500 of the discipline's greatest poems, blending classic works and contemporary selections.  Both noted poets themselves, the text's editors X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia write of their subject with wit and a contagious enthusiasm.  Informative, accessible apparatus presents readable discussions of the literary devices, illustrated by apt works, and supported by interludes with the poets.  This edition features more than 50 new poems, a new masterwork casebook on T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Songs of J. Alfred Prufrock," extensively revised and expanded chapters on writing, and a fresh new design.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The poems of X.J. Kennedy were first collected in Nude Descending a Staircase (1961). Since then he has written five more collections and seventeen books for children, including two novels. He has taught at Michigan, North Carolina(Greensboro), California(Irvine), Wellesley, Tufts, and Leeds. Dana Gioia has published three collections of poetry including Daily Horoscope (1986); The Gods of Winter (1991); and Interrogations at Noon (2001) He has taught at Johns Hopkins, Sarah Lawrence, Wesleyan (Connecticut), Mercer, and Colorado College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 12th edition (December 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321470346
• ISBN-13: 978-0321470348
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is A Textbook?, May 25, 2004

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Poetry (Paperback)

Maybe I shouldn't have even used the term "textbook". After all that word generally connotes a book that is tedious, dry and full of obscure jargon. This is a different book, however. It is indeed a sprightly introduction to poetry that informs and entertains. It has sections on Irony, Tone, Words, Metaphors, Sound, Rhythm, Form, Symbol, Myth, and Narrative, just to mention a few.

The discussion of each topic is illustrated by the provision of relevant poems. The poems are generally analyzed, and the reader is asked pertinent questions about them. I can't praise the authors enough for their choice of poems. Most are relatively brief works, but they are excellent examples of the topic at hand.

What could be a better poem exemplifying Irony than this little classic deploring child labor written by Sarah N. Cleghorn in 1917:

The golf links lie so near the mill/That almost every day/The laboring children can look out/ And see the men at play.

There are many other goodies in this book:

1. A chapter that provides poems and brief critical essays on the works of Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson.
2. A section that provides brief but informative biographies of many of the poets represented in the book.
3. A large chapter of more poems for reading and enjoying. These are very accomplished poems that are generally very accessible to the general reader.
4. A section on literary criticism. Yes, I know that is a dreaded term, but the authors do a good job of clearly presenting the material -even when deconstructionism is the topic- and provide brief extracts from noted literary critics.
5. At the end of the book is a convenient glossary of literary terms.
6. For those who become enthused about writing poetry there is a chapter covering this topic.

There are other introductory books on the market (such as "The Poetry Reader's Toolkit", by Marc Polonsky, and the venerable "Understanding Poetry" by Cleanth Brooks), but this is a truly astounding work. It's a big book of over 700 pages that is guaranteed to make any reader a poetry lover..

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry clearly explained by poets, September 15, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Yakima, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Poetry (Paperback)

A very usefull text for any level of student from Middle School to Phd- clear explanations of terms and traditions followed by excellent, provocative examples and follow up questions make the book work in the classroom (and as a means to teach yourself) what you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful textbook on poetry., November 3, 2006

By 

Robert Browning (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Poetry (Paperback)

This was a wonderful book, very easy to read, and including hundreds of poems of all eras and genres... it provides a good education on poetic forms and ideas, with each chapter including many examples of the topic being discussed... and at the end there is a huge anthology of poems, many of which were new to me, which made it a real bonus.