How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry

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How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 344 ratings · 45 reviews

How to Read a Poem is an unprecedented exploration of poetry and feeling. In language at once acute and emotional, distinguished poet and critic Edward Hirsch describes why poetry matters and how we can open up our imaginations so that its message can make a difference. In a marvelous reading of verse from around the world, including work by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop,...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published April 1st 2000 by Mariner Books (first published 1999)

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May 13, 2013 Laysee rated it 5 of 5 stars

In reading “How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry”, my soul went to school for several months and was deeply nourished. About six years ago, I was introduced to the poems of Edward Hirsch and was enchanted by them. This time round, I experienced Hirsch as a poetry teacher par excellence. I am awed both by the brilliance of his poetic gift and the lyrical lucidity of his literary analyses.

Hirsch wrote lyrically and passionately about poetry, which made reading this volume intensely...more In reading “How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry”, my soul went to school for several months and was deeply nourished. About six years ago, I was introduced to the poems of Edward Hirsch and was enchanted by them. This time round, I experienced Hirsch as a poetry teacher par excellence. I am awed both by the brilliance of his poetic gift and the lyrical lucidity of his literary analyses.

Hirsch wrote lyrically and passionately about poetry, which made reading this volume intensely and intimately pleasurable. Savoring a lyrical treatise of a lyric poem was like adding honey to molasses. This heightened delight repeats itself many times over for several pieces of literary commentary.

I especially appreciate Hirsch’s perspective of a poem as a literary archway that connects the poet and the reader. One of my favorite metaphors is the poem as a message in a bottle sent out in the hope it could wash up on land and find its way to its reader. Hirsch said it well: "Reading poetry is a way of connecting - through the medium of language - more deeply with yourself even as you connect more deeply with another." Reading poetry is being immersed, as Hirsch put it, in "soul culture" - a communion with other human beings.

There were many moments in his literary expositions that were very touching. One was Hirsch as a child stumbling on Emily Bronte's “Night”, a poem that expressed the grief he felt when his grandfather was dying. He reflected, "I will always be grateful to her for delivering up the wild moors inside me, for giving me my childhood grieving through her bardic craft." The other was how reading elegies allowed him to come to terms with the loss of a good male friend. Poetry opened up a space in him that made it possible to name what he felt as an "outsize emotion".

There were also deliriously beautiful analyses of love poetry with abundant illustrations of how love poetry rejoiced in extravagant analogies (e.g., the Song of Songs). In contrast, an analysis that was unbearably incisive was his chilling commentary on “Edge”, a poem written by Sylvia Plath a week before her suicide.

One great benefit I derived was being introduced to many poets I have never previously read. A few have become new favorites: Elizabeth Bishop, Pablo Neruda, and Anna Akhmatova. There is a wonderful glossary behind this volume where one can quickly look up a literary term. There is also a comprehensive list of all the great poems that one would be poorer for not reading. What a priceless literary treasure this volume is!

In sum, Edward Hirsch has awakened me to “the Shock, the Swoon, the Bliss” of writing and reading poetry. Many of the poets referenced in this volume have long departed, but they have left behind them a lyrical gift that is deep and indestructible. And for this, I am immensely grateful.
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Dec 29, 2012 Adriel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recently I heard an NPR report that poetry had been given a new life and new popularity with the internet, with YouTube, public readings, poetry slams, and even apps (yes, I love the app from Poetry magazine). Years ago, as an English major in college, I read numerous books and reviews that discussed poetry almost as if it were some sort of rare earth or a tarnished but cherished antique, appreciated only by the few. In How to Read a Poem, Edward Hirsch celebrates the lyric poem as if it were a...more Recently I heard an NPR report that poetry had been given a new life and new popularity with the internet, with YouTube, public readings, poetry slams, and even apps (yes, I love the app from Poetry magazine). Years ago, as an English major in college, I read numerous books and reviews that discussed poetry almost as if it were some sort of rare earth or a tarnished but cherished antique, appreciated only by the few. In How to Read a Poem, Edward Hirsch celebrates the lyric poem as if it were a compelling song, an ode to life itself, a toast to the ecstasy and sorrow of the world.

The lyric poem is the poem of the song, with rhythm kept on the lyre, and words wrung from the heart. It is of course the same word, lyric, we use for the words of a song and with the same purpose: to heighten and deepen the emotional experience. No critic I read in those years of college expressed a greater emotional attachment to poetry than Hirsch, who relates not just the construction of the poem itself, but of his powerful reaction to it.

Hirsch says that at the most critical level, the lyric poem depends on metaphor. It is as if we really cannot explain a deep human emotion with ordinary words but must turn to symbolic language. A poem is a song, a poem is ship on the ocean of time, the first cry of a newborn child, the smile of a grandmother, the long shadow of an Autumn evening, a minuet and a dirge.

This book is particularly useful in its examination of the poetry of Europe and the South American poets. The author introduced me to the "Postcards" of Miklos Radnoti, the final one, so tragic, written as he takes his last painful steps toward execution and found in his cloak next to his heart. His love of Pablo Neruda and his affecting response to this poetic master is fresh and delightful. The erudite Robert Graves claimed that the metrics of Anglo-Saxon poetry (the topic of my Master's thesis) was sung with the rhythms of the oar in water.

He helped me understand Wallace Stevens, always somewhat recondite yet captivating. Hirsch makes obvious his great love for Walt Whitman who loved America so well and the American people that he left us with a body of work that speaks to the unique soul of the people of the New World. The love for poetry of Hirsch is inspiring and he subtitles How the Read a Poem as …And Fall in Love with Poetry. Certainly Edward Hirsch, and I suppose his readers, are deep in that love. (less)

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Aug 30, 2012 Garnette rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Elizabeth, Suzanne

Shelves: favorites

Edward Hirsch once spoke at a Poetry Therapy conference in Washington DC - compassionately, brilliantly - and I made up my mind to add him to my favorite contemporary poets. This book confirms my in-person listening. I must have fifty bookmarks in my library copy here, there's wisdom on every page. First example, in writing about Walt Whitman's Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking "It is one sentence and twenty-two lines long. It carries me away," wrote Hirsch in chapter called 'Message in a Bott...more Edward Hirsch once spoke at a Poetry Therapy conference in Washington DC - compassionately, brilliantly - and I made up my mind to add him to my favorite contemporary poets. This book confirms my in-person listening. I must have fifty bookmarks in my library copy here, there's wisdom on every page. First example, in writing about Walt Whitman's Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking "It is one sentence and twenty-two lines long. It carries me away," wrote Hirsch in chapter called 'Message in a Bottle.' Then he continues "The incantatory power of this (poem) is tremendous as the repetitions loosen the intellect for reverie." All this about an ocean wave. I am carried away with the beauty of both Whitman and Hirsch - as they both intended and that's just on page 22.

It's about time in my life to be reminded of all the poetry writing and appreciation classes I once took. Decades later, I know the players, always glad to savor them again at the Dodge Festival (no longer happening) or on Bill Moyer's Journal. Yet reading Hirsch's book is a complete course in itself. No lectures but digging deeply into the works and results of a poem. This book could be a delight to anyone who can still read American English. As opposed to alphabet words, which I admit serve their purposes on the go. Here are some more quotes to treasure:

"'Dramatize, dramatize!' Frost directed the poet, and Akhmatova takes the clue here in spades." p.126

Speaking of Auden and James Merrill's epic trilogy: "To bring forth figures to speak from the otherworld is inevitably to enter into the range and territory of the Divine Comedy" p.141

This book is a solace to writer's struggling to reinvent writing. Hirsch seems to say, you are not alone, your ancestors in literature are benedictions to you, should you turn and look their way.

Yeah, I loved this book. And now have to actually return it to the library after four renewals so will perforce, buy my own. For the Glossary, subtitled "The Pleasure of the Text" which is a quick course in literary machinations. For the world's poets, in "A Reading List and the Pleasure of the Catalog." For the Index which is a precis of the book plus page numbers. I am going to stop this praise and order two copies now.
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Jan 26, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

I really appreciated (and value) this book and will enjoy having it as a reference on my shelves. I highly recommend it for poets at any stage of their career. Unlike other books of this kind (is it required writing for all U.S. Poet Laureates?), I felt that this book may be a bit beyond the level of the layman, but I could be wrong. It is organized as if the publishers intended it to be possibly used as a text for a class on poetry, or at least a reading group pick (it has a "For Discussion" se...more I really appreciated (and value) this book and will enjoy having it as a reference on my shelves. I highly recommend it for poets at any stage of their career. Unlike other books of this kind (is it required writing for all U.S. Poet Laureates?), I felt that this book may be a bit beyond the level of the layman, but I could be wrong. It is organized as if the publishers intended it to be possibly used as a text for a class on poetry, or at least a reading group pick (it has a "For Discussion" section in the back) and I agree. What makes this book sing, for me, is Hirsch's knowledge and scope, which is very wide indeed, if not daunting.

Ed Hirsch has a thorough and impressive command of poetry's past and present forms, as well as having a stillness and attention that is refreshing in a book with such an annoying title. My one wish was that he had delved at least a bit into postmodern poetry, though (to make up for it) his commentary on the Romantics (particularly Wordsworth), Whitman in particular, and the French poets was dead-on insightful and well worth the read. Some of his deep, extended readings of individual poems (Anthony Hecht's "The Hill" comes to mind) are particularly beautiful, too, and memorable.

I am not sure about the organization of the 12 chapters, which seemed a bit haphazard to me. I just never had a sense of where the book (it is a guide, isn't it) was going, if there was some sort of progression or method involved--i.e., what is the organizing principle at work? It felt as if the chapters could have kept going on (13, 14, 15...) long after the book was done, which was maybe the point, I don't know. Still, I would have liked Hirsch to have outlined in the beginning just where he was taking us, or subtitle the chapters for easier reference later.

Also, I have to say, I was a bit let down on his discussions of Emily Dickinson. Oddly, it seems to me Hirsch over intellectualizes--or rather, overemphasizes Dickinson's intellect--in many of her poems. That's too bad, as I'm sure Hirsch sees in her varying degrees of intellect, emotion, and deep spirituality. And even though he may mention these other aspects, he chooses to focus a great deal on her intellect here, for some reason, which interests me less than perhaps it does others.

Particularly noteworthy is a thoughtful glossary of poetic terms Hirsch has included in the back of the book, as well as an extensive reading list of international poets and criticism. One of the wonderful results of reading a book of this magnitude is that the book will no doubt introduce the reader to authors they may not yet have discovered or need to rediscover. I was pleased to add a few names to my books-to-read list (Dennis Brutus, Vahan Tekeyan, Orten Jiri, and Miklos Radnoti, to name just a few).(less)

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Sep 20, 2010 Shannan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, poetry

A snobby approach to poetry. My friend Perry Kassing said, "I'll tell you how to read a poem" and he sent me this. I thought it was much better than this stuffy long book.

How to Read a Poem; A Recipe
by Perry Kassing September 8, 2010

First, take the lid off your mind.
Open it completely and air it out.
Now, take the poem in whatever form
And gently pour it into the open space.
(Use a tool to scrape out the container
So as not to leave anything behind.)
While stirring gently, add these items:
A cup or so...more

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May 06, 2013 Mark Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a wonderful resource for poets and for readers of poetry. The title is a bit misleading: the book does not teach you 'how to read a poem', much less 'how to fall in love with poetry'. It assumes some familiarity with poetry and the major poets. It does provide the usual directives ('poems are to be read aloud', 'read late at night when the rest of the world is sleeping'), but its greatest strength is the no-nonsense, accessible definitions and explanations of the techniques in the p...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Diann Blakely added it

Those who miss the smells of sharpened pencils and blackboard chalk this time of year will take special delight in Hirsch’s volume, which has the feel of an enthusiastic and comprehensive classroom talk. The chapters are chockablock with the kind of asides and multiple references that inspire students to scribble, in the margins of their notebooks, lists of works they must peruse on their next trip to the bookstore. The author’s tastes tend toward poets like Whitman and Dickinson, who typically...more

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Feb 06, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it 4 of 5 stars

I mostly used this book to discover new poems to love. Among them: Yehuda Amichai's "A Pity. We Were Such a Good Invention," Delmore Schwartz's "Baudelaire," the last lines of Robert Frost's "Desert Places," Nazim Hikmet's "Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison" and "On Living," Tadeusz Rozewicz's "In the Midst of Life," Wislawa Szymborska's "Children of Our Age" and "Reality Demands," WCW's "Aspohdel, That Greeny Flower," and reawakened my interest in Anglo-Saxon poetry.

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Jun 09, 2010 Hayley rated it 5 of 5 stars

I already read and loved poetry before reading this book, but my love has deepened. Hirsch advocates reading poetry for "soul culture." I like this idea. I also like how he views even the saddest poetry as inherently hopeful. His reflections on Walt Whitman's "A Clear Midnight" and Elizabeth Bishop's "In the Waiting Room" are brilliant.
Hirsch also introduced me to some poets, including Marina Tsvetaeva and Anna Akhmatova, that I'm looking forward to reading more of.

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Aug 24, 2011 Rosemary rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book takes time and concentration - best absorbed in small doses but what a read. The title says it all. One does fall in love with poetry. Our book group is discussing it this weekend, each bringing our list of the best 10 - how impossible is that? When one chooses, it is interesting to find that so many of them are ones you have studied in the past or were part of your childhood.

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Nov 04, 2012 kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a treat. Begun in college and then lost and then re-found and treasured over months and slow, delicious reading. Hirsch's passion is contagious. And, wonder upon wonder, for the first time in my life I have been reading poetry regularly since finishing this. A book I know I will continue to return to for stimulation and sustenance.

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Jan 29, 2009 Heather rated it 1 of 5 stars

I tried to read this book 3 separate times: 1st in college when it was assigned, 2nd my first year of teaching, and 3rd during my last (fifth) year of teaching. I could never get past the first section. I like poems, I "taught" poems, I write poems, but try as I might, I couldn't get anything helpful out of this book.

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Apr 06, 2009 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this one trying to undo the damage of my high school english teacher. Mission partly accomplished. The first 7 chapters were helpful, the last five were a little tedious. I love that people get excited about poetry, but sometimes that excitement turns into a club, where only those in the know can understand.

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Apr 12, 2011 Eileen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, non-fiction, favorites

I loved this book. It was very rewarding to read, but I do love books about other peoples' process, and Hirsch reads poetry from a great depth and with a huge heart. Made me fall in love with all kinds of things I was not even aware of. I'm likely to read this one again.

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Aug 19, 2007 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

I don't know that anyone knows exactly "how to read a poem," including poet Edward Hirsch. Nevertheless, Hirsch undertakes the very difficult task of writing intelligently about poetry and does a fine job, resulting in this book that guides readers through about a dozen poems without ever becoming patronizing or heavy-handed. The book is all the more admirable for avoiding easy and obvious choices like "The Road Not Traveled" and tackling more challenging works. (And boy, am I glad that he didn'...more

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Jul 01, 2011 Lindsay Coppens rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

At times too long winded and wordy for its own good, this not-really-a-"how to book"-at-all is an interesting mixture of analysis and meditation on the power and complexities of poetry as a whole and especially the individual poems that Hirsch pulls apart on many levels. The poems he selected are not commonly anthologized and few are contemporary. They range from ancient Greece to Eastern European to South American with touches of Auden and a bit of Dickinson, Whitman, and Stevens added at the e...more

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Mar 10, 2011 RUSA CODES rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: notable-books-2000

This was one of the 2000 RUSA Notable Books winners. For the complete list, go to http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/aw...

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Mar 23, 2010 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-school, new-in-2010, nonfiction, own-it-and-read-it, read-in-2010

The prose was rather heavy-handed at times, but Hirsch includes some great poems that I probably wouldn't have otherwise run across. I tended to have a better time with the pages he spent talking about actual poems than the ones where he waxed...poetic...about the experience of poetry itself.

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Aug 31, 2010 Shaudee rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a long and dense read but every word was worth it. The scope of Edward Hirsch's knowledge about poetry is incredible, ranging in both time and space. The title of this book might be misleading. The book is definitely aimed for those who already have some sort of intense curiousity or slight affection for poetry. Otherwise, it might be too heavy of a read. Hirsch teaches you without letting you know you're even learning. He successfully takes you through the heart and soul of what's...more

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Apr 09, 2009 B. T. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

Should have been called "How I Read Some Poems: And Fell in Love With Them". The author never really gives the reader any how, just endlessly waxes poetic about his perspective. Some good poems and excellent quotes in here, though.

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Jul 01, 2009 Larry K rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is good, but there are better books about poetry. Anything by Kenneth Koch for example.

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Jun 17, 2009 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars

A beautiful book on how to read poetry. Full of analysis that can be applied on poetry in general.

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Jul 21, 2010 Sam Rasnake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed his approach to the full range of poetry in the book.

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May 21, 2011 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: teaching, read-in-2011, poetry

The title is inaccurate: you ALREADY have to love and understand poetry to deal with this book. I had hoped to either teach WITH it, or teach better BECAUSE of it, but I don't think it helps for either. I will have to be older, more elitist, and have more patience to read it fully and with any gusto.

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Jul 14, 2009 Zach rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somebody tell Mr. Hirsch that not all prose needs to read like poetry. Some insightful thinking here, and some incredible examples I would never have found on my own.

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Jun 26, 2011 Leslie Soule rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

This is a great book. I love it!

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Oct 17, 2009 Remarciaf rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved it.....

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May 18, 2012 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

A solid book on poetry and the various delights of reading poems. This is a really good example of how being well read makes one well written. Hirsch makes some really good points about poetry and has a deep love for it, but he lacks the foundation to really express the reason why poetry works the way it does. He knows what's right, but he doesn't know why. Too bad. Otherwise, this is an outstanding book and I heartily recommend it.

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Mar 21, 2011 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've written poems and read poems and read about poems for about 50 years, and this is about the best thing I've ever read on the subject. Hirsch has a way of illuminating a poem that is brilliant -- he really feels the poem and understands it and is able to write about it in a way that brings it to life. Fantastic read for those who want to "get" poetry, and for those of us who think we know all about poetry. A very great book.

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Nov 11, 2010 Patty rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-for-class, stopped-before-the-end

I enjoy Hirsch's poetry and I love listening to him speak about poetry in general (several free podcasts featuring him are available through iTunes), but I found myself dozing through this book. It's clear that he loves poetry, but many of the poems he chooses to highlight are baffling. Frankly, I'd rather be reading poetry than reading about Hirsch's abiding love of poetry.

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