Customer Reviews

How to Read a Poem (Meridian)

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This is still one of the best introductions to poetry ever published -- clear, straightforward, intelligent, richly detailed & written in a distinctive voice. Whether you're a student or simply love poetry, this book will serve as your guide to the world of poetry, not only explaining how it works on a technical level, but on an emotional level as well. There's no dry, above-it-all, academic prose here! Raffel is fiercely engaged with poetry, deeply in love with its beauties & possibilities, and that comes through on every page. Opinionated at times? Yes, and his book is all the better for it. Even when I disagree with his comments on this poem or that poet, I recognize his insight & passion for this wonderful art form. You just won't find a better introduction than this one -- most highly recommended!

When I was studying "Introduction to Poetry", I turned to Burton Raffel's "How to Read a Poem," to get the information I needed. Lot's of examples and very informative. This book is a must for anyone wanting to learn about poetry.

I am thrilled to see that this book is still in print. I found my old copy of it and have been using insights from it extensively to lecture in my Oral Interpretation of literature course. There are other fine books on prosody and the workings of poetry, but Raffel's presentation seems to work most effectively. The way the book is structured makes a big difference in introducing it to novices.

I like this book so very much for its openness and its selections. I find it, in this way, very American - forgiving and joyous in a sense, and also down-to-earth in its approach, its clear critical language and its wide selection of poems for examination. Nothing could be more fun than delving into this and finding Raffel discovering, with the reader, the hidden beauty in poetic language and effect. A real treat of a book, with many small tidbits on the historical and personal context within which various poems were written, which only go to engage the reader more with the subject matter, then with the poems, and then with Raffels' discussion of the poem's effects. Also readily accessible for 'junior' readers interested in poetry.

I used this book to study for the Praxis English Essay test, where there is an essay question about a poem. It definitely helped.

Since I am a novice at writing and understanding poetry, I purchased this book to learn how to read poems written by professional poetry writers. When I have read some poems written by professional writers, the English words they have used sound so esoteric to me that sometimes I have wondered what they were trying to say; some poems I have read have sounded outright boring. The book "How to read a poem" has helped me understand each poem that has been written in this book and has taken the mistery out of a lot of them. As I read more about each poem written in it, I will try to emulate the writers' style and hopefuly it will be easier for me to write some of my own, just for fun.