This week I read Rhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse. I would call it a poetry textbook, but handbook is more appropriate. It’s short, but it’s very challenging. John Hollander wrote each example in the form of the poem he was describing. So, an Elizabethan sonnet about about sonnets, and an Italian sonnet about how Italian sonnets differ from the Elizabethan ones.
I’ve never been a big fan of poetry. I’ve never read much, I’ve written less, and I’ve never really enjoyed it. But Rhyme’s Reason gave me a better understanding of how to read poetry in 3 days than years of formal English classes. It’s only 70 pages long (plus an ample appendix), but because it’s almost entirely written in verse, you spend a lot of time on those pages.
When I bought this book, I thought that it would improve my writing, even writing that isn’t poetry. It may have, but I think it did a better job of convincing me to read more poetry. I know what to look for now, and I know how things are supposed to sound. I have enough understanding of forms that I can tell when an author follows one strictly, or when he plays fast and loose with the rules.
Hollander is light on actual, technical, definitions of poetical forms. At first this annoyed me, but I think it’s intentional and a good idea. Poetry isn’t about strict adherence to rules of meter and verse, so by leading by example he gives us enough leeway to be creative with our own understanding, reading, and writing of poetry.
All told, read this book. You’ll have a much, much, much better appreciation of poetry for it, and even if that doesn’t appeal to you, it will at least help you sound smart when you’re trying to be pretentious.
See the full list of books that I’ve read for this project here.
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