Invitation to Poetry: The Pleasures of Studying Poetry and Poetics

by Lisa M. Steinman

For anyone who has ever wanted to become fluent in the language of poetry, Invitation to Poetry will prove an essential guide. This book:

251 pages, Hardcover

First published December 18, 2007

Reviews

[Wei Tai Ting]

An excellent and thoroughly enjoyable refresher on close-reading. Steinman's approach is more diachronic than synchronic, and it makes for some very insightful examinations of the evolution of poetic modes (odes and pastorals) and forms (sonnets) spanning from the Renaissance to contemporary writing. Her analysis is in-depth but clear and concise, and she deftly ties in a wide range of relevant literary criticism. For an academic work, her personal voice (and stance on interpretation) shines through but is never dogmatic.

[Kathleen]

"Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here or gently pass!"

William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper"