Speak Like Rain: An Introduction to Poetry

"What is poetry? Poetry is art made with words. The rest of this book is about what that means."

Speak Like Rain goes through the artistic tools of poetry: sound elements of language, and images. It covers all of the basics (meter, rhyme, sonnets, metaphor...) while asking of each element, "what does this contribute to the art? Why would a word artist choose to do it this way?" The text includes over 100 full poems, including the full text of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and at the same time presents some basic poetry history to show how each artistic trend came about.

Speak Like Rain is laid out as a student text/workbook, but it is also enjoyable for general readers who are out of school and want not only a quick review but added insight. It is suitable for high school and motivated/gifted middle school study, representing a one-semester English elective in a homeschool program. A full answer key makes it suitable for self-teaching.

Digital version (pdf file suitable for tablet computer display) is available at ellenjmchenry.com. Kindle ebook is not available because the workbook layout is not suitable for flowing text.

Ruth A. Johnston is an independent scholar, writer, and retired homeschooler. Her books include A Companion to Beowulf (Greenwood Press 2005, Pannebaker Press paperback 2010), All Things Medieval (Greenwood Press 2011), Excavating English (Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop 2013), Re-Modeling the Mind: Personality in Balance (Pannebaker Press 2015) and Speak Like Rain: An Introduction to Poetry (Pannebaker Press 2019).