Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse [Paperback]

Mary Oliver (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 039585086X | ISBN-13: 978-0395850862 | Publication Date: July 27, 1998 | Edition: First Edition

"True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance," wrote Alexander Pope. "The dance," in the case of Oliver's brief and luminous book, refers to the interwoven pleasures of sound and sense to be found in some of the most celebrated and beautiful poems in the English language, from Shakespeare to Edna St. Vincent Millay to Robert Frost. With a poet's ear and a poet's grace of expression, Oliver shows what makes a metrical poem work - and enables readers, as only she can, to "enter the thudding deeps and the rippling shallows of sound-pleasure and rhythm-pleasure that intensify both the poem's narrative and its ideas."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Just as dancing is "the art of moving in accord with a pattern," says Mary Oliver, so is writing metrical verse. "One sorts out the pattern, one relies on it, and relaxes from effort to pleasure." The rules (concerning rhyme, line length, and pattern) are made if not to be deliberately flouted, then at least to be toyed with. Oliver claims to have written this book for both writers and readers of metrical verse, but it is an odd sort of fit for either. A writer might wish for a little more detail; a reader might find too much. The book works best as a kind of refresher course, for those who have forgotten the difference between metaphysical and Petrarchan conceits, between masculine and feminine rhymes, and would like to brush up a bit. Oliver does a wonderful job of explaining why the most common forms of metrical verse came to prevail (for instance, the five-foot line is "the line which is the closest to the breathing capacity of our lungs"), and of nudging us into reading more metrical poetry (nearly half this volume is devoted to works by John Donne, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and others). Blessedly, Oliver reminds us that, though one could get carried away trying new meters and forms, one shouldn't expect to be writing a lot of double ionics anytime soon. "Expect to use one hypersyllabic foot in ten years, perhaps," she says. "Anacrusis, rarely. Catalexis: often. The double ionic: when the next comet flies over." --Jane Steinberg

Review

"What good company Mary Oliver is!" The Los Angeles Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; First Edition edition (July 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039585086X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395850862
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A private person by nature, Mary Oliver has given very few interviews over the years. Instead, she prefers to let her work speak for itself. And speak it has, for the past five decades, to countless readers. The New York Times recently acknowledged Mary Oliver as "far and away, this country's best-selling poet." Born in a small town in Ohio, Oliver published her first book of poetry in 1963 at the age of 28; No Voyage and Other Poems, originally printed in the UK by Dent Press, was reissued in the United States in 1965 by Houghton Mifflin. Oliver has since published many works of poetry and prose. As a young woman, Oliver studied at Ohio State University and Vassar College, but took no degree. She lived for several years at the home of Edna St. Vincent Millay in upper New York state, companion to the poet's sister Norma Millay. It was there, in the late '50s, that she met photographer Molly Malone Cook. For more than forty years, Cook and Oliver made their home together, largely in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where they lived until Cook's death in 2005. Over the course of her long and illustrious career, Oliver has received numerous awards. Her fourth book, American Primitive, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984. She has also received the Shelley Memorial Award; a Guggenheim Fellowship; an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Achievement Award; the Christopher Award and the L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award for House of Light; the National Book Award for New and Selected Poems; a Lannan Foundation Literary Award; and the New England Booksellers Association Award for Literary Excellence. Oliver's essays have appeared in Best American Essays 1996, 1998, 2001; the Anchor Essay Annual 1998, as well as Orion, Onearth and other periodicals. Oliver was editor of Best American Essays 2009. Oliver's books on the craft of poetry, A Poetry Handbook and Rules for the Dance, are used widely in writing programs. She is an acclaimed reader and has read in practically every state as well as other countries. She has led workshops at various colleges and universities, and held residencies at Case Western Reserve University, Bucknell University, University of Cincinnati, and Sweet Briar College. From 1995, for five years, she held the Catharine Osgood Foster Chair for Distinguished Teaching at Bennington College. She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from The Art Institute of Boston (1998), Dartmouth College (2007) and Tufts University (2008). Oliver currently lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the inspiration for much of her work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful, spare, profound look at the craft of poetry., August 31, 1998

By 

W. Noble "noblebill" (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse (Paperback)

Mary Oliver brings to this small book all the clarity and economy that characterize her poetry, and produces the most plain-spoken, profound work that I have read on poetry as a conscious craft. The book is divided into five parts. Part One is 12 brief, carefully-exampled chapters with titles like "Breath", "Line Length", and "Meter in Non-Metric Verse". Part Two is a single chapter on "Style". Part Three explores scansion for both reader and writer. Part Four is a 2-page statement of the timelessness of poetry. Part Five is a fine little anthology of works studied in the earlier text. This austere, remote poet has written a book that speaks to the reader with great intimacy and passion. To quote from Oliver's envoi: "No poet ever wrote a poem to dishonor life, to compromise high ideals, to scorn religious views, to demean hope or gratitude, to argue against tenderness, to place rancor before love, or to praise littleness of soul. Not one. Not ever."

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple surprise, June 9, 2001

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Ethan E Bodle (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse (Paperback)

This book is really well written and inspirational. It helped me to understand better the purpose of metrical poetry. For a lay person such as myself it's easy to fall into thinking that "rules" can only constrict the emotional possibilities of poems. But, Mary Oliver explains, in practical terms, how meter is a tool to evoke an even greater impact from our words.

I would say this book is probably best for those who are new to writing metric poetry. Experienced writers might find it a little superficial.

I also have the "Poetry Handbook" by the same author, but I think "Rules for the Dance" is better for the same material and more entertaining. Enjoy!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dance, April 24, 2001

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jebusoc (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse (Paperback)

Dance is a wonderful, succinct explication of metrics. Oliver removes the mystery from meter and makes you want to...well, scan! I've read a few books on this subject, including Pinsky's Fussell's, Kinzie's and some others, but this one is the best introduction. Whether reader or writer of poetry, you'll finish this book with new practical tools of craft and comprehension.