Customer Reviews

Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This textbook stematically explores poetic form and structure. This approach could have been quite limiting, but Perrine manages to analyze poetry without undermining his central message: poetry is to be enjoyed.

I highly recommend this book to both readers new to poetry and those that already have considerable familiarity with the major poets.

A ninth edition is available, but with a title change. Sound and Sense is now Perrine's Sound and Sense. Look for more reviews under this new title (ISBN 0155030280).

I read an early version of this book.

This books is a great book for readers and writers of poems.

Most chapters focus on a particular poetical device, meter, allusions, connotations, and denotations, musical elements. Poems are picked for each chapter which help to highlight that device. Later chapters show how 'more complex' poems put it all together. Questions are given at the end of poems about that poem or particular device. You might get a question like why did the poet use 'sweat' instead or 'perspiration' Many of the questions require deep thought, many of the answers are far from clear-cut, or so straight forward. Just like the poems, it requires thinking over and over about it. This is a good book to use in class or in a reading group. You'll have many enjoyable conversations with a partner. In the end, you will be able to appreciate poems that you read, and break down the poem and see how it works, and why it works from a purely technical standpoint, and not that pretentious touchy-feely analysis you get from day dreamers.

It is much like a professional musician that can break down a composition and tell you how it works and why you feel the way you do at certain times.

The poetical world is much like that of the highschool music world in one sense; many garage rockstar wannabees shy away from learning any theory for fear that it would hold back their creativity. The same holds for poetry, and you may be afraid too. Do not be. I've seen many smug music beginners with this attitude spend the next 10 years reinventing the wheel and they don't even reinvent much, much less coming up with any 'profoundly new' music.

Sound and Sense will give you a very strong foundation for analyzing poems, and writing poems. And added bonus, you will appreciate poems and enjoy them more. You can then add your own 'inventions' to the 'standard' ones shown here.

Laurence Perrine even addresses the difference between a purely 'technical' poem from ones inspired from the heart. It's all there. A great poem has both.

Let me also comment on the selection of poems. I have a few other books on poems. One entitled like 'Commited to Memory; 100 of the greatest poems'.

So far of all the anthologies I have, this book still has one of the best collection I've read. It isn't the widest collection. Since it is an English book, the poets are all from either America or England, but the poets are from all different times and backgrounds. The subject matter spans the range, and not just limited to love poems.

Modern poets are under represented, but that is natural. This is a book that takes years to make, not a magazine. Still, lots of this book can be applied to slam poetry.

So what can be better for a fan of poetry? This book will allow you to read better, write better, and you will have the best collection of poems assembled.

Final word, don't be intimidated by this review. I don't want to give you the sense that this book is dense and heavy with seriousness. It isn't. It's a great read and just like me, you will pick it up from time to time to read, think, and enjoy. I have been enjoying my copy of the book for
the last 10 years.

NOTE: the edition of sound and sense that i have read is the seventh, an old copy that my father used in high school. this book is quite simply the best anthology of poetry i have ever read. as if that weren't enough, as a textbook it includes simple, elegant, and intelligent commentary to teach the basics of style, metre, etc. a great book - quite possibly the only book of poetry you'll ever need.

A classic for Classics. Perrine's books have been, for over 25 years, every student's skeleton key to poetry and every instructor's godsend. As I re-enter college and the teaching field Mr.Perrine's works make reacquaintance with the Greats like meeting your best friend's family for the first time. SOUND AND SENSE leaves no stone unturned. Metrics, rhyme, imagery, metaphor or simile, they're all here. The examples are relevant and comprehensive. The explications are clear and concise with a minimum of academic folderol. You will be hard pressed to find an instructor critical of this anthology.

The book is divided into chapters that each concentrate on one element of poetry such as tone or metaphor. Each chapter presents a few famous poems, comments about the topic, and some exercises to help you learn the topic. The book includes an extra helping of classic poetry at the end of the book.

Where has this book been all my life? Perrine's Sound and Sense is not just about poetry, it's a thorough yet concise discussion of the English language and writing. Some reviewers have panned it for offering insight to poetry--they feel that poems should not be explained but should be experienced individually. For the uninitiated though, some direction is often desired. At times Perrine's does not offer enough explanation for me. Many of the notes on the poems offer only a smidgen of insight but do proffer several questions to generate thought and discussion. These questions do often provide clues to a poem's meaning. I'm still guessing about many of the poems, but at least now, I think I'm on the right track.

While attending a community college in1972 I took a literature class in which this book was used. I have never regretted it.. In fact I still recall quite a few poems we had studied and have a much better appreciation for poetry from using it.

I am presently using this book in my 9th grade english class, and have found it interesting yet informative at that same time. Its unique way of tieing in writing characteristics with classic poems is great.

I'm not a fan of poetry. In fact, that's why this book was recommended
to me. I've written and published 10s of thousands of pages of technical
material (left brain stuff).

I was given a book of poetry as a gift and told to read a poem a day.
After, about 30 days of a-poem-a-day, I was pretty much fed up with
poetry. When I complained to a friend, he recommended Sound and
Sense (S&S), which I bought immediately.

So, now I combine S&S with a poem-a-day, so I am learning a little
each day. S&S gives me more patience and understanding. I am also
learning more about how to combine words to create right brain
experiences, as opposed to left brain "how-to."

This is a terrific book for anyone writing poetry. Amazon made it available at a incredibly low price and it was delivered quickly and in good condition.