Customer Reviews

The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody, Revised Edition (Story Line Press Writer's Guides)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have accumulated five HOW TO books on writing poetry - Rules of the Dance - Making your own Days - The Art of Poetry Writing - In the Palm of Your Hand - and The Poem's Heartbeat - A Manual of Prosody. The first four books are very good and certainly worth reading. However, I found more in this book than all the other books put together. I took Corn's book and several other poetry titles on vacation and wound up reading this book through three times in seven days and barely looked at the other books. It is the epitome of a HOW TO book written by a poet/teacher who has learned his craft thoroughly. Well written, easy to understand, Corn holds the reader's interest through the entire 161 pages. The chapter on Metrical variations alone is worth the price of the book. If you like to read poetry, this book will help you understand poetry from Medieval to Post Modern, and if you write poetry, as I do, this is a must have manual.

This (sub)titles itself "A Manual of Prosody", as it indeed is. Actually, it is a manual of the dominant prosody of the English-speaking world since 1500 or so, the accentual-syllabic sort. Other possible prosodic disciplines, such as accentual, durational, and syllabic, are mentioned and briefly exampled, but finally are dismissed as antique or foreign. Which they are: there is little point, in a book that is not a treatise, in taking up such matters.

So, as a manual on English-language prosody (and, to a lesser extent, verse forms), how is it? Not bad, actually: it's an easy read, and its points about varying stress levels in iambic lines are illuminating. The book introduces technical terms as it goes along, but makes no effort to highlight them. Some are indexed, but not all, so a glossary would be helpful. On a couple of occasions I found myself puzzled at his use of terms. He had covered them, but in a low-key way, and there was no easy way to get back to the discussions other than by searching through unmarked text.

His discussion of free verse is general and, appropriately, he talks mostly about what it is not, since it does not follow the rules of traditional prosody. (Someone else will have to tell me what it is.)

This book would be more helpful with visual aids. The parts of a verse line could be illustrated, and various verse forms entabled. A glossary or detailed index that allowed one to go from a poem that one is trying to analyze to a discussion of relevant points would be nice, as would a few sample deconstructions of real poems.

Having said that, I do think that the author has achieved his stated aim of writing an introductory work on the subject, presupposing no, or little, prior knowledge. He includes fragments of poetry to illustrate his points, but not terribly much. One should probably reinforce what he says with readings from some anthology of classic poems.

The best way to craft quality poetry is to read the masters, present and past: Hardy,Frost,Yeats,Auden,Masefield,C.S.Lewis, Wilbur,Steele,Gioia,et al. The best way to read the masters is to have an outstanding guide like this one, or Timothy Steele's "All the Fun's In How You Say a Thing", both must-have companions for the serious composer of metered/rhymed poetry. Alfred Corn has done New Formalism poetry a massive favor with this book. How does Thomas Hardy get his Darkling Thrush to sing so melodiously, flinging his soul into the air? Read this volume and find out how Hardy masters end rhyme using subtle variation of one,two and three syllable words of different parts of speech: noun,verb,adjective,etc. How does Frost rivet our attention with his Road Less Taken? Metrical variation, not sing-song monotony, as Corn masterfully explains. How does Auden leave indelible impressions in the reader's memory with his villanelle 'If I Could Tell You'? Corn sketches the poetic canvass for the careful reader to see the brush-strokes,tones,textures,context, colors,etc. To be a better poet, or to be a more appreciative reader of the great poets and discern what doesn't quite measure up, get this book and Steele's "All the Fun". Also, anything by Richard Wilbur would be essential to explore the mind of the master of the 21st Century: Prose Pieces, Catbird's Song, Mayflies. Enjoy!

I've read a few of these 'manuals on prosody' and I found Corn's to be one of the better ones. He writes in an easy to understand style that would help any beginner. He covers everything pretty well. I still prefer Fussell's Poetic Meter & Poetic Form and Tim Steele's All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing (though Corn's is written in an easier style, Fussell and Steele are more comprehensive), but I'd recommend this to those who want to learn how to write in meter and form.

The title does more justice than the subtitle. Such a pleasure to read, poet Corn?s guide to understanding the ?beat? of poetry never leaves the reader in ?manual? tedium. Instead he entertains with the lively varieties that ?feet? can dance in different poetic styles.
Realizing the poets and poetry lovers generally appreciate both words and history, Corn introduces terms through intriguing tidbits about their etymology and resulting connotations (e.g., verse from turning - like plowed rows; line from linen thread; text from textile; iamb from Greek to assail). Likewise, he shows the power of different metrical patterns in daily speech and variations thereof - thus helping the strange pedilections of poets make a little more sense.
The focus is *English* language verse, but Corn also includes enough cross-cultural references to help us appreciate our differences and commonalities with the ancients and other moderns. Yes, it is a manual in the sense of providing a thorough understanding of how and why poetry meters (and sometimes doesn?t); but Corn is a poet and here enhances a student?s love of verse through deeper understanding, even for the technical underpinnings.
A HIGHLY recommended and DELIGHTFUL book.

I can't imagine a better book on a subject that can be a dreary exercise in taxonomy and memorization of terms. Corn does precisely what's required, which is to be systematic without the least hint of pedantry. The tone is conversational throughout, and you have the immediate sense that you are in the hands of a master teacher.

If you are new to prosody, try this book first, then see if you need to buy or read any other. You almost certainly won't. If you've tried others and been dissatisfied, read this one and see how much time and frustration you might have saved. Somebody gave this a 3-star rating; if this is a 3-star book, I'm a monkey's maiden aunt. Recommended without reservation.

At this time, I felt a desire to write, always loving words, I found a vehicle in poetry after reading Proust with awe, of his craft, the desire started to grow into total joy in each accomplishment of my performance.I really get along with poetry's challenge, it gives me surprise, every time, I always got along with surprise, but don't know why, maybe the surprise is truly, curiosity reward some people feel.This book brings me to the next level, there are many.[ASIN:1556592817 The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody (Copper Canyon Classics)]]

Alfred Corn's book is an excellent resource for intermediate and advanced students of prosody. It is a little too dense for someone who has no experience with writing in meter, but the student with a basic understanding of prosody would benefit greatly from studying this text to further her study. The text makes sequential sense, lays things out in an understandable manner and doesn't condescend to its readers. It was a very helpful tool in helping me to understand the nuts and bolts of prosody.

an enjoyable guide in how to read/speak/hear metered poetry; it's not emmotive or touchy-feely, it respects the topic (and the reader) but isn't dry and overly academic. it has been helpful in teaching me how to use meter in my own work. the book does exactly what it is supposed to do, nothing more, nothing less.