Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse (Paperback)

~ Professor John Hollander (Author) "This is a guide to verse, to the formal structures which are a necessary condition of poetry, but not a sufficient one..." (more)
Key Phrases: Algernon Charles Swinburne, Andrew Marvell, Ben Jonson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the grand tradition of Alexander Pope, John Hollander offers this explication/enactment of poetic form. There are sonnets about how to write sonnets, haiku about how to write haiku, and so on. The writing is clever, entertaining, and instructive, which will surprise no one familiar with Hollander's work. What's even more impressive, though, is how often these poems--which could so easily start to feel like homework--engage you emotionally. The sestina about sestinas is beautiful, and, excepting Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," Hollander's villanelle about villanelles is as captivating an example as one will find of the old French fixed form. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A sparkling performance." -- Richard Wilbur

"Marvelously comprehensive, clarifying and useful, [and] . . . also a delight to read." -- John Reardon, Los Angeles Times Book Review

As charming as it was twenty years ago…Now [Hollander] has added a mini-anthology sampling forms treated in the text. -- Vince Gotera, North American Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 3rd edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300088329
• ISBN-13: 978-0300088328
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #319,827 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! I am so glad I have this, June 16, 2003

By	J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can hardly contain myself. After reading through several books about how to write poetry I came to this one. Though I am almost jumping for joy, I have a soupcon of sadness, because I wish I had started here. Hollander's book is like a good poem: concise, entertaining, and ultimately full of wisdom. Just compare Hollander's examples on forms (in the forms!) to the lackluster examples in The Book of Forms by Lewis Turco.

Don't be fooled by the title. This book is about all aspects of poetry, including free verse (and even 'concrete' poems). While Rhyme's Reason has a smaller selection of forms than The Book of Forms and a shorter discussion of prosody than All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing, it had more than enough meat for me. And I can unhesitatingly recommend it for first forays into the appreciation and composition of poetry. Make sure to get the Third Edition, of the year 2000, which has a few added goodies. Enjoy!

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book ever written on prosody, July 25, 2000

By	Robert James (Culver City, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse (Hardcover)

In this day and age of free verse and English classes where almost no poetry is read, much less written or memorized, John Hollander's little book, "Rhyme's Reason," is a life-saver for all English majors, teachers, and wannabe poets. Teaching each and every poetic meter and form ever used in the English language, John Hollander creates a few lines of poetry that teach by their existence meter, rhythm, and poetics. Although I prefer the shorter first edition, the second edition will serve if that's all you can find. This book taught me everything my grandmother had learned about poetry by the time she was in third grade; even on her deathbed, she could run off lines of poetry she had memorized as a child, showing off various meters at the drop of a hat. Yet another skill we've lost in this modern age, prosody is an essential craft for any poet, songwriter, or lover of poetry. Find this book!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Playful, smart inspiration for writers of formal poetry, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse, New Enlarged Edition (Paperback)

This little volume is the single most useful book on formal poetry I've ever owned. It explains the history and the rules of pretty much every verse form there is, with examples that make me want to run for my notebook to start playing with them myself. If you love formal poetry, you must own this book. (And if you don't, maybe it will change your mind...)