The Work of Poetry

by John Hollander

Book Overview

New and classic essays by one of America's most distinguished contemporary poet-critics, The Work of Poetry surveys an extraordinary range of poets, from Dante to May Swenson, and George Meredith to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231108966
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

How to Understand Poetry

This is the best show-and-tell I have ever seen to the art of poetry. Instead of merely describing or defining various terms. Hollander unleashes all of his conisderable poetic talent to show you what a sonnet or a villanelle or an imabic pentameter line is. No one does it better. He has the entire range and history of English language poetry at his command. His ear is a natural wonder.

Poetry Itself

In an age in which poetry is judged as a kind of mood music, this book will appear strange, maybe arcane, "academic," or even hostile. However, this book is balm for anyone who knows what poetry really is. Hollander is among a handful of the best alive. His pedagogical skills and courtesies are enormous, and here carefully and generously deployed. Difficulties with this book are a function of the difficulties of poetry itself. Without which, as the doctor and poet WC Williams noted, men die miserably every day. Give it your best, and it will give you the best.