Talking Back to Poems: A Working Guide for the Aspiring Poet

by Daniel Alderson

By focusing on the simple tools and methods used by poets across time, TALKING BACK TO POEMS teaches a poetic craft accessible to all would-be poets. Author Daniel Alderson uses this same method in teaching high school students from diverse backgrounds to write with a grace and style reminiscent of their favorite poets, by mimicking an element of sound, structure, imagery, or meaning.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

Reviews

[Liesel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was horrible

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading poetry is a vital part of writing poetry. Alderson takes it a step further, however, by suggesting that poets not only read poetry, but respond to it, to talk back to poetry with poems of their own. Part I presents four short sections that briefly introduce the aspects of Sound, Image, Form, and Meaning in poetry, while Part II follows with a collection of poems, each followed with instructions to copy the poem by hand, note down what you notice about the poem, and then a prompt for writing your own poem in response to it.

There is a long history of poets writing in response to poets, and I've even written a few poetic responses myself. However I was not very impressed with the prompts in this book as Alderson presents them. His idea of talking back to poems is far too much like mimicry to me. In the examples of his students' writing that he includes in the book, the students (using their own themes and ideas) echo almost exactly the form and flow of the poem being responded to. This is far too restrictive for me, especially when it comes to mimicking strict forms, such as sonnets that have tight rhyme schemes. This restriction of form often has the tendency of causing me to freeze up when I'm writing rather than opening up and becoming loose as one would hope.

The practice of handwriting out a poets previous work also did not appeal to me. Though I understand his reasoning for having a writer first copy the poem by hand (in order to get a feel for the rhythms and voice of the poem), I did not feel that it helped me gain any greater sense of the poem. Rather, I found that reading the poem out loud was a much better way to get a feel for the rhythm and sound of the poem.

I'm sure that there are many poets out there who would find this book very valuable, however I am not one of them. Of the 20 or 30 poetry prompts in the book, I found myself interested in responding to only a handful of them. And when I did respond, I often found myself jumping outside of the prompts and guidelines and responding to the poems as I damn well felt like it, which is really how it should be.

[Kasandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best book in terms of instruction, but it has a wide range of poetry included, much of which I didn't own previously, so it was worth buying. The author teaches poetry in a high school, so the book is more of an elementary primer. Good for someone new to writing poems.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

To "talk back" to poems you don't need a book.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this can be a valuable tool to the poet and is one I am sure I will refer to from time to time. The exercises are excellent!