A Poetry Handbook
A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · August 15, 1994
“Mary Oliver would probably never admit to anything so grandiose as an effort to connect the conscious mind and the heart (that’s what she says poetry can do), but that is exactly what she accomplishes in this stunning little handbook.”—Los Angeles Times From the beloved and acclaimed poet, an ultimate guide to writing and understanding poetry.
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- Who it’s for
- Mary Oliver makes the craft of poetry approachable, tracing how sound, form, and meaning meet.
- Themes
- Poetry writing craft, Understanding poetic form and language
- Pacing
- Steady
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Start with this bookAbout this book
“Mary Oliver would probably never admit to anything so grandiose as an effort to connect the conscious mind and the heart (that’s what she says poetry can do), but that is exactly what she accomplishes in this stunning little handbook.”—Los Angeles Times From the beloved and acclaimed poet, an ultimate guide to writing and understanding poetry. With passion and wit, Mary Oliver skillfully imparts expertise from her long, celebrated career as a disguised poet.
Continue reading
She walks readers through exactly how a poem is built, from meter and rhyme, to form and diction, to sound and sense, drawing on poems by Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others. This handbook is an invaluable glimpse into Oliver’s prolific mind—a must-have for all poetry-lovers.
How Poems Work
Mary Oliver makes the craft of poetry approachable, tracing how sound, form, and meaning meet.
Come here for
- A clear-minded look at meter, rhyme, form, and diction
- Examples drawn from poems by Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bishop
Expect
- A practical guide to writing and understanding poetry
- Oliver’s wit and hard-won expertise on the page
Where it sits
| Poetry Writing | 95% |
|---|---|
| Writing as a Career | 31% |
| Poetry Criticism | 28% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Writing as a Career
- Communication Studies
- Writing Composition
- Poetry Writing
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Study & Teaching
- Language Arts
- Poetry Criticism
- Poetry - General Themes
- Authors
- Mary Oliver
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- August 15, 1994
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Poetry writing craft · Understanding poetic form and language
- Reading lane
- Writing as a Career