Poetry Toolkit: The Essential Guide to Studying Poetry

Rhian Williams is Lecturer in Nineteenth-century Literature at the University of Glasgow, UK.

"This is an inspirational guide to studying poetry, exciting for beginners and experienced readers alike. A tour de force of succinctness, clarity, and adroit cross referencing, it is not only a tour through every conceivable feature a reader could need - from the sonnet form to synloepha, from sesta rima to syllepsis - but an imaginative and arresting exposition of the way poets have used them, whether Dante or David Jones, Sappho or E E Cummings, Milton or Deryn Rees-Jones. Rhian Williams aims to set readers free by building confidence with genre and form, metre and rhyme, demystifying technicalities and terminology, providing follow up reading, and appealing to curiosity and the sense of experiment. She urges readers to read poems aloud, to listen to sounds, mark rhythms, and imagine themselves inside the poem before moving out to its history and context. After reading this book newcomers to poetry will learn to love reading and writing about it." - Isobel Armstrong FBA and Emeritus Professor of English at Birkbeck, University of London "Whether you're a new-comer to poetry or a longtime reader, Rhian Williams' The Poetry Toolkit offers welcomed guidance. The book ranges from the introductory (what does "stress" mean?) to the sophisticated and complex. Throughout, the author provides clear frameworks for interpreting how poetry's formal structures participate in the work of meaning-making. This book will relieve students' anxiety and deepen their understanding." - Dr Jason R. Rudy. Assistant Professor of English University of Maryland, College Park, USA Review in Times Higher Education Supplement, February 2009. 'Whether you're a new-comer to poetry or a longtime reader, Rhian Williams' The Poetry Toolkit offers welcomed guidance. The book ranges from the introductory (what does "stress" mean?) to the sophisticated and complex. Throughout, the author provides clear frameworks for interpreting how poetry's formal structures participate in the work of meaning-making. This book will relieve students' anxiety and deepen their understanding' Writing Magazine "...I would certainly recommend this handbook for students who intend to pursue the study of poetry through their degree. The book is comprehensive in coverage and all the terms are fully explained and illustrated...I learned a great deal from the wealth of information contained here and will certainly make extensive use of the book as a teaching resource. Students will appreciate the clarity and concision of exposition and will note that the index and 'contents' page make it easy to find the information looked for...[Williams] illustrates close poetic analysis and offers several close reading exercises; and at the end of each section she gives suggestions for further reading and prompts for deeper thinking." English Vol. 58, 2009 'The Poetry Toolkit will be a valued for many readers, both academic and 'general'. Every reader will learn something from it - it is rare to have riches such as this in a single textbook.' WordPlay 'With a refreshing clarity and concision the volume traverses a field which has a reputation for being jargon-laden and intimidating. The simplicity of the book's style, however, sacrifices none of the complexities of its topic.' -- English Studies "How does one get started in the world of poetry, either as the consumer or the producer? "The Poetry Toolkit: the Essential Guide to Studying Poetry" hopes to educate and inspire readers to better understand the world of poetry. Chapters cover the eccentricities of truly understanding poetry from a reader's perspective. Packed with advice and tips for poetry appreciation, "The Poetry Toolkit" is an intriguing introductory dive in the world of the poet. "The Poetry Toolkit" is just what some people need to break that daunting poetry wall." -- Midwest Book Review Midwest Book Review, The The Poetry Toolkit conveys Williams's genuine enthusiasm for the genre's expressive and descriptive possibilities - an excitement that the volume's accessible style and layout make it easy for students to share. I have tried many "introduction to poetry" volumes during the ten-plus years I've been teaching such classes; in The Poetry Toolkit, I've finally found one that I happily foresee using for many years to come. -- Evan Gottlieb, Associate Professor of English, Associate Professor of English, Oregon State University, USA

• Copyright Acknowledgements \ List of Terms \ Acknoweldgements \ Preface to the 2nd Edition \ Part I: Introducing Poetry \ Introduction: How to Use this Book \ 1. Types and Traditions \ Epic \ Lyric \ Ballad \ Love Poetry \ Elegy \ Pastoral \ Light Verse \ Part II: Technical Vocabulary \ 2. Forms \ Variable Forms \ Fixed Forms \ Visual Forms \ Hybrid Forms \ 'Formless' Forms \ 3. Prosody \ Stress \ Metre \ Feet \ Metrical Lines \ 4. Rhyme \ Perfect Rhymes \ Imperfect Rhymes \ Sight and Sound Effects \ Rhyme Schemes \ 5. Stanza \ One-line Stanzas and Refrains \ Two-line Stanzas (Couplets) \ Three-line Stanzas (Tercets) \ Four-line Stanzas (Quatrains) \ Longer-length Stanzas \ 6. Wordplay \ Tropes \ Schemes \ Part III: Practical \ 7. Close Readings \ Sample close reading of Felicia Hemans \ Sample close reading of Peter McDonald \ Sample close reading of Hart Crane and Frank O'Hara \ Sample close reading of William Carlos Williams \ Sample close reading of William Cowper and Philip Gross \ Sample close reading of Sharon Olds \ Suggested Exercises \ Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading \ Index