Customer Reviews

The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No adequate superlative exists for this poetry handbook--simply the best on the market. Rarely does a writing handbook work for all age groups, but this solid one does. Even elementary teachers could use some of the poetic forms, such as couplets, haiku, and nonsense poems, for their classes, and, yet, professional writers can dip into this densely rich (yet compact) volume and pull out an appropriate form from the 75+ forms offered.

I have used this handbook for my college creative writing classes since 1998; as writing fads come and go, this poetry handbook endures because it offers a simple, yet interesting, approach to writing poetry: a short history of the form; a brief explanation on how the form works; when appropriate, a sample poem (or verses) showing the form in action; and, in some cases, a diagram for the more complicated forms, such as the sestina and pantoum.

Semester after semester, my students praise this book, and many decide to keep it for their libraries, instead of reselling it to the college bookstore. I keep searching, but I have not been able to find its fiction handbook counterpart. Ron Padgett has done a fine job of compiling the forms, researching their histories, and finding stellar sample poems to show how the forms work. I hope this handbook NEVER goes out of print!

First off, having read and reviewed numerous books on poetry, I have to say this is the best book I have ever read on poetic forms. This text explains the history and how to use each of the 74 basic forms.

Some of these include the abstract poem, the alphabet poem, the ballad, blank verse, blues poems, canto, canzone, chant, cinquain, light verse, quatrain, haiku, sonnet, tanka, renga and numerous other poetic forms.

The entries include examples from the legendary Shakespeare, Woody Guthrie, Edgar Allan Poe, John Milton, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Basho, John Keats, Dylan Thomas and many other famous poets.

One of the fantastic things about this book is how clear and direct the explanations are of each poetic form. Teachers of poetry will especially love this book.

In conclusion, this is a book for anyone interested in learning the history and basic principles of poetic forms. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Season of the Warrior: A Poetic Tribute to Warriors).

I found that this is a good guide for teachers of poetry who desire to offer form poetry to students with little exposure to various forms. As one who has researched many forms, I was hoping to find unique forms within this book, which was not the case. It is a good foundational book for students and teachers, but for poets familiar with the more common forms and seeking to expand into new areas of poetic form, it is probably not the best of guides, which is why I have rated it a little lower.

This is a gem of a book. Any writer or teacher of poetry will revel in the numerous poetic forms this book has to offer. The handbook presents over seventy forms of poetry with helpful explanations and examples. If you are a beginner hoping to learn how to write a poem and don't know where to start, this book will give you a valuable array of delightful choices from the avant-garde to the more traditional structures. It can be used as a reference book or a guide for writing actual poetry. Even professional poets can benefit from this book spawning new creative ideas through the use of more experimental forms. Many valuable examples from famous poems illustrate the various structures, giving a deeper, more thorough understanding of each form. I highly recommend this handbook for both writers and teachers of poetry.

This book is excellent as a reference guide and text for both teachers and poets. This handbook defines the forms,summarizes their histories,and shows great examples. It is a bible for Formalist poets.

I have used the book for years while teaching my poetry classes. It is much less expensive and has more practical substance than many college texts I've used. The text formant is friendly to the eye and easy to follow. Ron did a great job editing this book.

I highly recommend it.

This is a very useful book for quickly looking up various forms of poetry. I teach English and often times it is very nice to have a simple reference book available that explains and shows the varieties of poetry.

Alphabetically lists the different poetic forms--you can flip through with ease. I love the simplicity of the book. Examples are given with each description. It's basic, easy to read and covers it all. I definitely recommend this book.

This is the best book of poetry forms that I have found available. Ron Padget explains in simple terms how each form is constructed and gives an excellent example for each one. It includes japanese, and ancient forms also.

Contains brief explanations of poetic forms. It's very good at two things. It explains what is unique about the form type and gives details on its rhyming scheme. Other similar books are Rhyme's Reason and How to be Well-Versed.