Aimed at reader and writer alike, this interesting and eminently
readable book explores the history and form of poetry in the
English language over the last five centuries. A concise study, it
provides an overview of what is a complex and potentially daunting
subject, and, with its useful glossary, is equally valuable as a
reference work. In an approachable and down-to-earth style, Fenton,
who is both teacher and poet himself, tackles technical areas such
as meter, rhyme and form using a wide range of examples from 'real'
poems rather than 'meaningless or flippant demonstration models'.
He does not, however, become bogged down in technicalities,
constantly reassuring his reader that 'great poetry does not have
to be technically intricate' and that 'for the most part... the
handling of rhythm and form is instinctive rather than codified'.
Nor, indeed, does he restrict himself to examples from what might
conventionally be described as 'great' poetry, being just as happy
to quote from lyrics such as 'I've Got You Under My Skin' as from
Shakespeare, or to discuss Leonardo diCaprio's interpretation of
the iambic pentameter in the film of Romeo and Juliet. One of the
great strengths of the book is Fenton's ability to explain his
point in a simple but uncondescending way as, for example, when he
comments on the appropriateness of the Italian word 'stanza'
meaning room; it is 'sufficient for its own purposes, but it does
not constitute a house. A stanza has the same sense of containment,
without being complete or independent.' If there is a weakness, it
is that the book does not go far enough, being largely concerned
with the technicalities of form and failing to deal with matters
such as imagery and the poetic devices of simile, metaphor,
onomatopoeia and assonance, for example. No doubt the author would
argue that these are not within the ambit of the book, but so
interesting is his subject and so attractive his style that the
reader is left wanting more. (Kirkus UK)
For poets, critics and lovers of literature everywhere, James Fenton’s An Introduction to English Poetry is a master class for both the reader and writer of poetry. Simply and elegantly written and discussing the work of poets as wide ranging as W. H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, Tennyson, Kipling, Milton and Blake, it covers all varieties of poetic practice in English.
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