Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons For Mastering Traditional Forms

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Write poetry in the great metrical tradition of Dante, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Frost, and the poets of the current Formalist revival&break;&break;In this contemporary guide, you'll learn how to write metrical poetry in all the major forms, from blank verse and quatrains to sonnets and villanelles. Each chapter provides step-by-step instruction that's accessible and easy to understand for even the most beginning poet.&break;&break;This book includes unique features difficult to find anywhere else:&break;Essential but non-intimidating instruction on meter and rhyme&break;Focused assignments detailing how to make your first attempt at a specific form&break;Illuminating discussions on pop culture, figures of speech, difficult themes, and other important topics&break;An engaging overview of poetry's history, and why it's important to learn the traditional forms&break;&break;Complementing the instruction are many classic and contemporary poems, including recent work by Richard Wilbur, Wendy Cope, X.J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia, Rachel Hadas, Wyatt Prunty, Alicia Stallings, and many others. &break;&break;Writing Metrical Poetry is the perfect course in metrical poetry for the person working alone or working in the classroom.

Paperback: 288 pages

Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 22, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1582974152

ISBN-13: 978-1582974156

Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #182,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Poetry #342 in Books > Textbooks > Reference > Writing Skills #927 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Literature > Creative Writing & Composition

Just a caveat before I begin. I had been writing metrical verse for some years before purchasing this book. I was familiar with the author because of his years as editor of The Formalist. I happened to come across this book while browsing at . Intrigued by its title and author, I purchased it, hoping to gain some very detailed insight and advice about the mechanics of writing metrical poetry.Instead, what I received was a defense of the practice of formalism in an age dominated by free verse, a rather basic introduction to scansion and metrical substitution, followed by definitions and examples of blank verse, ballad stanzas, the sonnet and the French forms such as the villanelle and the triolet.Baer's manual offers exercises for the poet, but no way to grade them or evaluate them. The exercises offered are very general, such as "write a sonnet, using either the Italian or English format. Use only pentameters and solid rhymes. Avoid the pop culture. Avoid old-fashioned diction. Avoid convoluted syntax that's manipulated to hit the rhymes."What is the reader to do when she/he has already written 60 or 70 sonnets?The book purposely avoids technical language. You won't learn of anacoluthon, asyndeton, synairesis, aposiopesis, scazons, rima bacciata, apocope, syncope, acatalexis, acephalexis or similar terms.In short, it is a strictly introductory level book, probably intended for the poet who has been dabbling in free verse and who wishes to try her/his hand at formalism, but has very little experience with traditional poetic forms.

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