The Poetry Handbook

"The Poetry Handbook" is a lucid and entertaining guide to the poet's craft, and an invaluable introduction to practical criticism for students. Chapters on each element of poetry, from metre to gender, offer a wide-ranging general account, and end by looking at two or three poems from a small group (including works by Donne, Elizabeth Bishop, Geoffrey Hill, and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott), to build up sustained analytical readings. Thorough and compact, with notes and quotations supplemented by detailed reference to the Norton Anthology of Poetry and a companion website with texts, links, and further discussion, The Poetry Handbook is indispensable for all school and undergraduate students of English. A final chapter addresses examinations of all kinds, and sample essays by undergraduates are posted on the website. Critical and scholarly terms are italicised and clearly explained, both in the text and in a complete glossary; the volume also includes suggestions for further reading. The first edition, widely praised by teachers and students, showed how the pleasures of poetry are heightened by rigorous understanding and made that understanding readily available. This second edition - revised, expanded, updated, and supported by a new companion website - confirm "The Poetry Handbook" as the best guide to poetry available in English.

ISBN 0199265380   Pages 448 ISBN13 9780199265381 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Oxford University Press   Weight (grammes) 543 Imprint Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Format Paperback   Previous ISBN 9780198711490 Publication date 05 Jan 2006   Height (mm) 216 Library of Congress PR502   Width (mm) 138 DEWEY 808.1   Spine width (mm) 25 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Professional / Scholarly

1		Metre		1
2		Form		33
3		Layout		81
4		Punctuation		105
5		Lineation		153
6		Rhyme		189
7		Diction		222
8		Syntax		263
9		History		290
10		Biography		315
11		Gender		337
12		Exams and written work		352

Lennard succeeds in being as exhaustive as he can possibly be... Caroline Bertoneche, Universite de Provence Very readable... gives and excellent overview of poetry in English and will explain rhythm, metre and style. The Observer, February 2006

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