TYPES OF SHAPE, New, Expanded Edition

New, Expanded Edition, 1991, 1st printing. 96pp. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread, in Near Fine condition, w/slight fading on back cover, o/w unmarked. "This entrancing book is a collection of pattern poems--poems whose printed format presents a picture of some familiar object that is also the subject of the text. Patterned poems, also called shaped verse, are part of a long tradition that extends from Alexandrian Greek poets to Lewis Carroll and beyond. The poems in this book, written by the distinguished poet John Hollander, are whimsical and wise meditations on subjects ranging from a beach umbrella and a popsicle to time, love, and idea. Their beautiful surfaces open down into a variety of rhetorical and imaginative depths. [] First published in 1969, the book has now been expanded to include ten recent poems in addition to the original twenty-five, plus an introduction in which Hollander reflects on what a shaped poem is and how and why he has written them. There are also explanatory comments for each poem." [publisher copy] "This book is one of the most original and engaging works of our time: the ancient poetic practice revived, rethought, and dazzlingly put through paces its old masters could never have imagined. The poems Hollander has added for this edition are in no sense after-thoughts, but essential additions to a genial body of work."--James Merrill. Near Fine paperback w/brilliant corners & crisp edges, a square & tight binding w/no creases in spine, just that slight shade/fading on back cover. Still quite presentable.…