Reading Poetry:An IntroductionDescription |
Reading Poetry provides an introduction to the ideas and techniques that can help students produce informed and exciting readings of poetry. A wide spectrum of examples is included, ranging from fifteenth-century lyrics and ballads to contemporary poetry from all over the English-speaking world. The second edition includes a new chapter on post-colonial poetry, a substantial increase in the number of end-of-chapter interactive exercises, and a comprehensive Glossary of poetic terms.  |
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Features |
- Provides a unique combination of theory and practice
- Arguments and discussions are supported by examples and case studies
- Contains chapter-end exercises to help develop critical analysis
- Provides a wealth of poetry extracts to exemplify the meanings and uses of poetry
- Well-known 'canonical' poems placed alongside the poetry of marginalised groups exemplify the different meanings and uses of poetry
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New to this Edition |
A new chapter on post-colonial poetry A substantial increase in the number of end-of-chapter interactive exercises A comprehensive Glossary of poetic terms.
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Table of Contents |
Contents Acknowledgements Preface Part One Formal Introduction 1 What Is Poetry? How Do We Read It? 2 Rhythm and Metre 3 Significant Form: Metre and Syntax 4 Creative Form and the Arbitrary Nature of Language Part Two Textual Strategies 5 Figurative Language 6 Poetic Metaphor 7 Hearing Voices in Poetic Texts 8 Voices with Attitude: Tone and Irony 9 Ambiguity Part Three Texts in Contexts/Contexts in Texts 10 Introducing Contexts 11 Genre 12 The Sonnet 13 Allusion, Influence and Intertextuality 14 Poetry, Discourse, History 15 The Locations of Poetry 16 Post-Colonial Poetry Part Four An Open-ended Conclusion 17 Closure, Pluralism and Undecidability
Glossary Key to Poems and Passages Discussed or Used for Exercises Bibliography Index |
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Back Cover |
“Reading Poetry stands out from other introductions to poetry in its brilliant combination of practical guidance and theoretical savvy. Students who use this book will be helped to enjoy and discuss poems, introduced to some of the major varieties of poetic criticism, and invited to reflect on what makes poetry important today.” Professor Derek Attridge, University of York Reading Poetry is a comprehensive, accessible and extremely effective guide to the arts of reading, analysing and enjoying poetry. From the opening chapter, which examines assumptions about what poetry might be, successive chapters map a path that takes the reader from the basics of simple appreciation to an understanding of the often complex theoretical and historical contexts that enrich any appreciation of poetry. While emphasising the importance of close textual analysis – or reading in slow motion – the authors clearly demonstrate how an understanding of form, language and context can combine to produce sophisticated and original responses to all types of poetry. The second edition of this best-selling book includes a number of developments that make it more user-friendly for the individual reader and more suitable as a stand-alone textbook for university courses in poetry. The poetic examples have been increased to 150, ranging from the 14th to the 21st century, and clear guidance is provided on further reading in footnotes and an expanded bibliography. This edition includes a new chapter on Post-Colonial Poetry,a substantial increase in the number of end-of-chapter exercises, and a comprehensive Glossary of Poetic Terms. The aim of the book is preserved from that of the first edition, namely to enhance readers’ literary and scholarly competence, and to restore enjoyment to the reading of poetry. Tom Furniss is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at the Universityof Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he has spent nearly twenty years teaching poetry, literary theory and Romanticism. Michael Bath taught English literature for more than 30 years at the University of Strathclyde, where his research interests centred on relations between literature and the visual arts, emblems and iconology. |
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Author |
Dr Tom Furniss is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at the Universityof Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he has spent nearly twenty years teaching poetry, literary theory and Romanticism. He is co-author of Ways of Reading, now in its third edition, and Edmund Burke's Aesthetic Ideology (1993). Professor Michael Bath was also at the University of Strathclyde until his retirement, specialising in Renaissance emblem books, iconography, iconology and poetics. His publications include Speaking Pictures: English Emblem Books and Renaissance Culture (1994) and Decorative Painting in Scotland (2002). |
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Reader Review(s) |
"ReadingPoetrystands out from other introductions to poetry in its brilliant combination of practical guidance and theoretical savvy. Students who use this book will be helped to enjoy and discuss poems, introduced to some of the major varieties of poetic criticism, and invited to reflect on what makes poetry important today. Reading Poetry is, in my view, the best introductory book on the study of poetry available. " Professor Derek Attridge, Universityof York |
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