Poetry: An Introduction

by John Strachan, Richard Terry

Poetry: An Introduction is an accessible and clearly written introduction to the structural and methodological principles underpinning poetry and its study. It aims to equip the student, researcher, and general reader with a body of technical information that will sharpen and deepen their engagement with individual poems.

Strachan and Terry provide a lively map through what might on first experience seem the most daunting aspects of poetry: poetic sound effects, rhythm and meter, the typographic display of poems on the page, the language of poetry, and the use made by poets of techniques of comparison and association. The book's discussion of poetic terminology is allied throughout to illustrative readings that show the usefulness of the terminology in approaching particular poems; its emphasis is always a practical one, demonstrating how poems actually work.

Beginning with an historical overview of the development of English poetry from its earliest origins and finishing with an authoritative dictionary of poetical terms, Poetry: An Introduction is an indispensable guide to the understanding of poetry.

Genres: Poetry

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

John Strachan (born April 1961) is a literary critic, historian and poet, Professor of English and Pro Vice-Chancellor at Bath Spa University, England. He has published numerous articles in the fields of history, sport studies and poetry and was an associate editor on the 7th Edition of The Oxford Companion to English Literature.

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly dry read.

[Laurel Kenneweg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview. Would assign this.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5