How to Read a Poem... and Start a Poetry Circle - Hardcover

Peacock, Molly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0771069839 ISBN 13: 9780771069833

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 1999

Synopsis

Molly Peacock is perfectly poised to strip away poetry's mystique to reveal how it works its alluring alchemy on us. Rather than coolly dissecting poems, she opens them the way through the blind delight of examining it with the senses & the intellect all at once. She shows us why poetry begs to be read aloud to another person, discussed, & enjoyed among friends. Through her discussion of 14 poems -- many by well-known poets, including Philip Larkin, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, & Lorna Crozier -- Peacock leads us on an intuitive journey into the mysterious world of verse. She also shows us how to form poetry circles of our own, to share our private pleasures within a communal reading group.

About this title

About the Author:

Molly Peacock is the author of four books of poems and a memoir, Paradise, Piece by Piece, a founder of the "Poetry in Motion" program, and co-editor of the anthology Poetry in Motion: 100 Poems from the Subways and Buses. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and other journals. She was President of the Poetry Society of America from 1989-1995.

From Kirkus Reviews:

In a successful effort to demonstrate the value of her oft-neglected medium, poet and memoirist Molly Peacock (Paradise, Piece by Piece, 1998, etc.) guides the reader through 13 of her favorite poems with grace, humor, and warmth. Peacock, who has been responsible for bringing poetry into the lives of millions of commuters via the nationwide Poetry in Motion series, now sets herself to the task of helping readers understand just what it is they are reading. Starting at her own childhood delight in the appearance and construction of words, and with a brief and painless stop to explain her basic terminology, Peacock moves on to detailed readings of her talismansthe poems that are emblematic of the various emotions or stages of her life. She presents a selection of poets diverse in both style and period. From the soothing repetition of the late Jane Kenyons hymnlike Let Evening Come, which she recommends as a spiritual tonic, to the unadorned free verse of Yusef Komunyakaas My Fathers Loveletters, with which she examines her own family life, Peacock rarely falters as she reveals the nuances of language and meaning inherent in each writers work. Occasionally the authors own poetic constructions obscure the clarity she is trying to elicit from the poems; but her sheer delight in them is infectious even when her point is unclear. The final chapter of the book is dedicated to advocating that readers start poetry circles, and Peacock has fellow poets suggest their own talisman poems for readers use. Poetry circles, the author writes, make you know you have a soul, and that other people do, too. A fervent claim, but one that Peacock has, with this book, made valid. Essential for poetry novices yet thoroughly enjoyable for initiates, this illuminating handbook is a joy. (author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0771069839
• ISBN 13: 9780771069833
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224