The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms [Hardcover]

Mark Strand (Editor), Eavan Boland (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

The anthology uses example and explanation to demonstrate the excitement and entertainment of various poetic forms, including the sonnet, the ode, the elegy and the pastoral. Included are essays by the editors describing their own personal journeys to a form for their poetic voice. Above all this anthology shows that poetic form is a continuing adventure. Poetic form is illustrated not as a series of rules but as a passionate conversation in which every reader can become involved.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Making of a Poem is among the best how-to-read-poetry titles. Edited by two of our greatest living poets, one Irish and female, the other American and male, it is both an exploration of poetic forms and an anthology. Eavan Boland and Mark Strand each offer an introduction and then give us a series of chapters devoted to particular verse forms--the sonnet, the ballad, the sestina, the villanelle, blank verse, the stanza--as well as a long section devoted to what they somewhat vaguely call shaping forms. This refers to poetic structures established not by a specific rhyme and/or metrical pattern but by content: the elegy, for example, or the pastoral or ode. The book then concludes with a section on open forms. Each chapter is conveniently subdivided, each topic simply defined: a single page gives "The Ballad at a Glance" (or, for that matter, the pantoum) as a quick overview of the form's structure. A page or two on the history of the form follows, along with a brief comment on "the contemporary context." Then a chronological anthology of poems demonstrates the particular form. In the sonnet's case, for instance, we are treated to 23 brilliantly chosen examples--everything from Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" to Seamus Heaney's "The Haw Lantern" to Mary Jo Salter's playful "Half a Double Sonnet." The section then concludes with another brief analysis of one example. In this spot, the villanelle features Elizabeth Bishop's classic heartbreaker, "One Art," and blank verse gives us far too brief a take on Robert Frost's tantalizing "Directive." Itself worth the price of admission, the poem begins:

Back out of all this now too much for us,
Back in a time made simply by the loss
of detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off
Like graveyard marble sculpture in the weather,
There is a house that is no more than a house
Upon a farm that is no more than a farm
And in a town that is no more than a town.

One can readily see both the advantages and the limitations of such a format: definitions are kept lean, at times approaching the sound bite, and the short sentences and brief paragraphs often seem designed for a readership more accustomed to journalism than to the complexities of Dante (see, for example, the one-page history of the sestina). All of this looks like an attempt to reach an audience of both college students and general readers. While more information might help (brief comments on why certain poems in the anthology are defined as odes, pastorals, or elegies, for example), the bottom line is that The Making of a Poem does an excellent job of taking the inexperienced reader inside the mystery of poetic form. In these terms the volume succeeds, giving us a way into the history of poetry, along with an excellent anthology as a starting point for a deeper exploration of the glories of the genre. --Doug Thorpe

From Library Journal

If example is the best teacher, than students new to traditional poetic forms can learn much from this collection of villanelles, sestinas, sonnets, elegies, pastorals, ballads, pantoums, odes, and other familiar structures that have shaped English poetry since Beowulf. Each chapter focuses on a single form, but explanatory material is kept to a minimum: a concise list of formal characteristics, a summary history, a short discussion of the form's contemporary context, and a brief "close up" on an individual poem. Most useful are the selections themselves, which illustrate how particular forms have been employed over time, from canonical classics by Chaucer, Shelley, and Elizabeth Bishop through newer pieces by Hayden Carruth, Michael Palmer, and Thylias Moss. The concluding section on open forms seems somewhat uncertain and conservative, barely straying from much of what precedes it, but that's to be expected given the tastes of the editors, each of whom provides a lively and personal introductory essay that young poets should find quite instructive.DFred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib. Ithaca, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049167
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049169
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Lovers of Poetry, July 25, 2000

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C. Hughes "charleytangofoxtrot" (Oak Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (Hardcover)

This book is a must for anyone who loves formal poetry (sonnets, villanelles, pantoums e.t.c.). After decades of so called "free verse" the formal poem is making a come back. This book explains each form in detail, provides the history of the form and many of the best examples. A "close up" on each form tells about an individual poet who uses that form. It would make a perfect text for a course on formal poetry. In fact, the teacher that recommended it to me uses it in her college courses.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on poetry, January 4, 2004

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Dennis Etzel Jr. (In the center of the USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (Paperback)

There are many books about "what poetry is," especially in this time when Contemporary American poetry has taken off. This one is one of the best and should be included in all poetry collections. This book is the only one I have found that shows the poetic forms and their contemporary contexts (after all, free verse borrows from the forms). This book also joins the Contemporary and Modern poets with the Romantics, Classical, et al. Both Strand's and Boland's essays and views should be embraced for their insight and knowledge--did the negative reviewers actually read this book? The Making of a Poem is a treasure that acknowledges and celebrates poetry, moving past what the title implies.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good into to forms & poetry selection but varied chapters., September 19, 2004

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Gary Sprandel (Frankfort, Kentucky) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (Hardcover)

This book provides a good introduction to poetic forms such as the villanelle, sestina, or sonnet. Included is a description of the exact topology of the form, a history of the form, and the contemporary use of the form. The first or second poem under each chapter, usually follows the classic model of the form, and allowed me to understand the mechanics. The anthology of poems chronologically ranged from the classic (and who would dare discuss sonnets without including one from Shakespeare), to more modern poets as Gwendolyn Brooks. In most of the verse forms, there is a close-up view of one of the poets selected in that section, but for some reason that good idea was discontinued when discussing "shaping forms" (elegy, pastoral, and ode). The chapter on Meter is only two pages long, so it is disappointing that at least some examples weren't included here. The final section of "Open Forms" perhaps allows one to reach their own conclusions about the use of form, and what constitutes memorable poetry. No matter what, an appreciation of form should help your appreciation of poetry. I would have also appreciated a little more in depth analysis of a few of the poems to show how the form was used to convey the poet's message.