Sometimes it seems like there are as many definitions of poetry as there are poems. Coleridge defined poetry as “the best words in the best order.” St. Augustine called it “the Devil’s wine.” For Shelley, poetry was “the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.” But no matter how you define it, poetry has exercised a hold upon the hearts and minds of people for more than five millennia. That’s because for the attentive reader, poetry has the power to send chills shooting down the spine and lightning bolts flashing in the brain — to throw open the doors of perception and hone our sensibilities to a scalpel’s edge.
Chapter 2: Subject, Tone, and Narrative
Chapter 3: Tuning In to Language
Chapter 4: The Art of Interpretation
Chapter 5: Connecting with Poems from the Past
Chapter 6: An Intelligent Hustle through Poetic History: From the Earliest Poetry to the 1700s
Chapter 7: An Intelligent Hustle through Poetic History: The 19th Century to the Present
Chapter 9: Writing Open-Form Poetry
Chapter 10: Working with Traditional Forms of Verse
Chapter 11: Putting Pen to Paper: Writing Exercises for Poets
Chapter 12: Going Public with Your Poetry
Chapter 14: Ten Myths about Poets and Poetry
Chapter 15: Ten Poems Worth Memorizing
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