Poetic Form : An Introduction

Poetic Form offers a clear, compact, and entertaining introduction to the history, structure, and practice of the language’s most popular verse forms.   Written with humor and wit, this guide aims to convey the pleasures of poetry ― a sestina’s delightful gamesmanship, an epigram’s barbed wit, a haiku's deceptive simplicity ― and the fun of exploring the poetic forms.  Each chapter defines a particular verse form, briefly describes its history, and offers examples.  Writing exercises challenge students to utilize the forms in creative expression.  Covering a wider range of forms in greater detail and with more poetic examples than similar guides on the market, it provides enough material to thoroughly introduce the language’s major forms while allowing flexibility in the classroom.

Poetic Form

David Caplan, Ohio Wesleyan University

0-321-19820-4

Written with humor, this guide aims to convey the pleasures of poetry–a sestina’s playful delight, an epigram’s barbed wit, a haiku’s deceptive simplicity–and the joy of exploring poetic forms. Covering a wider range of forms in greater detail and with more poetic examples than similar guides, Poetic Form provides a clear, compact, and entertaining introduction to the history, structure, and craft of the most popular verse forms.

Features

• In-depth background information and extensive coverage of over 25 verse forms.
• Plentiful examples in each chapter total more than 130 poems, featuring renowned poets such as William Shakespeare, John Keats, and Langston Hughes, alongside more esoteric writers like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein.
• Scansions and annotations in each chapter illustrate the technical aspects of poetry.
• Writing exercises help students put into practice the principles of the various forms while honing their creative writing skills.

Advance Praise for Poetic Form

“I have never seen a text so accurately explain the capacity for certain forms to create certain effects.”

–Anna Priddy, Louisiana State University

“[Poetic Form is] fresh, clear, and free of condescension. It makes a strong case for the use of form not as empty exercise, but as a set of practical strategies to be used, modified, or invented; it emphasizes form’s vital rhetorical and procedural utility. …It is exceptionally well-fitted to its purpose.”

–Read Gildner-Blinn, Franklin Pierce College

“The text effectively straddles the line between academic depth and student accessibility; it is written in a style that is intelligent but is also accessible to undergraduate writing students. The interweaving of substantial illustrations of the specific forms within the text offers students clear examples in each section. [Caplan] also effectively follows up each section with a nice selection of complete poems that demonstrate the use of each form.”

–Jeffrey Ihlenfeldt, Harrisburg Area Community College

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