Customer Reviews

Western Wind: An Introduction To Poetry - Third Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Almost all contemporary "workshop" style poetry commits the simplest and most fatal of mistakes, such as using vague imagery, dwelling in abstractions, or lapsing into sentimentality. These flaws and more are addressed in this lucidly written book, which contains sections on the concrete image, sentiment, and intelligence and their places in poetry. Its only drawback is that its anthology section is too brief. Prospective poets would do well to begin here, and to supplement their reading with Fussell's "Poetic Meter and Poetic Form," Harvey Gross's "Sound and Form in Modern Poetry," and Perkins's "History of Modern Poetry," among others.

WESTERN WIND is an outstanding introduction to poetry. When I was an undergraduate, it was assigned as our main textbook for an introduction to poetry class. It contains information about every aspect of poetry you can think of, allowing it to serve either as a cover-to-cover introduction or as a reference manual. Since there are no images of the book, I've provided a bit of the book's contents:

Chapter One: The Role of the Senses, The Specific Image

Chapter Two: Simile and Metaphor, Analogy

Chapter Three: Synecdoche, Metonymy, The Symbol, Thing-Poems, Allegory,

Chapter Four: Antipoetry, Paradox, Irony, Understatement-The Witheld Image, Overstatement

Chapter Five: The Role of Emotion, Sense and Sentimentality

Chapter Six: Living Words, Less is More

Chapter Seven: Vowels, Consonants

Chapter Eight: Language as Mimicry, A Reason for Rhyme?, Off-Rhyme, The Music of Poetry

Chapter Nine: Rhythm, Repetition as Rhythm, The Rhythm of Accent, A Note on Scansion, Iambic Pentameter, Variations on Iambic, Meter and Rhythm, Line Length

Chapter Ten: Other Syllable-Stress Rhythms, Strong-Stress Rhythms, Sprung Rhythms, A Word About Quantity, Syllabic Meter, Free Verse, Free Rhythms, The Variable Foot, Concrete Poetry, The Prose Poem

Chapter Eleven: The Sentence, Use of Connectives, Parallelism, Sentence Structure, Levels of Language, New Words, New Language

Chapter Twelve: Fixed Stanza Forms, Fixed Forms for Poems,

Chapter Thirteen: Common Sense, Uncommon Sense

Chapter Fourteen: Inspiration and Effort

As you can see, there is plenty here to sink your teeth into. Along the way, each chapter contains exercises designed to help you master the concepts you are learning in each section. Additionally, there are hundreds of examples, from great works of poetry, sprinkled throughout the pages, illustrating points and providing inspiration. To top it all off, the last two hundred pages of the book are an anthology of great poetry. The resource is amazing simply for the anthology. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to write better, either poetry or something else. There is much to be learned from these pages.

Western Wind by John Nims and David Mason is the only textbook I've ever felt passionate about. I cannot imagine a better foundation for an introduction to poetic verse. Western Wind is a well-written, thorough and astonishingly sophisticated book. It has a depth of consideration of the technical features of poetry that most anthologies lack. The authors demystify poetic structure and syntax by using a wide range of poets from diverse traditions and time periods.

Western Wind's explanations of the elements of poetry are thought provoking and relevant for aspiring poets and seasoned writers alike. It offers a practicing poet's perspective on selection, organization, titles, phrasing and commentary. Although the book covers the mechanics thoroughly, it never lets the reader forget that poetry is an art. This is a solid, intelligent book and I highly recommend it to all aspiring poets.

I can't go on enough about how great a poetry manual this is. It's not stuffy, and it is fun to read. Especially chapters 7 and 8, which are on sound in the English language. And they should be read out loud. Also pay special attention to chapter 13 which discusses making sense in poetry. The examples and exercises are helpful. This is the best poetry introduction I've seen. The anthology carries Mason's flair, but you could supplement this manual with R.S. Gwynn's Longman anthology.

I recently picked up a dog-eared copy of an earlier edition of this book at a book exchange in Honduras. The book appears to have been loved by its previous owners as there are notes on almost every page. I too am falling in love with this book, and find thought provoking ideas on almost every page. Although I did the obligatory poetry analysis at school, I consider myself a new student to poetry and this book is not just inspiring, it is a revelation. The authors immediately hand me the tools to appreciate and understand the genius of poetry and I am in awe. Unexpectedly, the book is also helping me put words to abstract ideas and feelings that I previously could not express. I will savour this book for a long time to come, and should it fall apart, then I will buy a new copy.

Shipping was prompt and the product was in good condition, but I had searched for a FIFTH edition of Western Wind, and this came up, listed as a fifth edition. When it came, it was a FOURTH edition, pretty much useless to me. Totally false product description.

This is a wonderful resource for anyone in love with poetry. Packed with great learning about the various closed and open forms, the use of poetic devices, and rich examples drawn from the greatest poetry ever constructed. There is a great deal about the poetic imagination and how some of the acknowledged geniuses have generated their best work. It is a book you will revisit time and time again.

Not the correct edition we ordered. Book was not a hard cover. Poor quality. Smelled bad and old. Not happy

It is very good at showing how to analyze poems. However, it was not written by someone who actually writes poetry, so some of the advice is off. It is very useful for analyzing how choices in meter and words can impact the poem and readers, but it is less helpful in explaining how to implement those ideas in your own poems.

Read this book well and pay attention and even a beginner can write poetry that won't make other poets cringe. Plus it has a pitch chart of English vowel sounds, which is so useful.