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outcolder's review
3.0
Different from the usual introduction to poetry textbook because all the terms like enjambment and alliteration are defined in the back in the glossary only and the emphasis is on the poems themselves, and on the feeling of the poems more than their meaning. Also the choice of poems is different, with less emphasis on the great names of English language poetry to include more poetry in translation from Latin America and Eastern Europe especially. Many of the poems address massive human rights violations from a personal standpoint, lots of requiems and impending death.
asdfgeoff's review
2.0
I was expecting a selection of poems and commentary/analysis on them, organized in a structure which improves the reader's ability to comprehend more nuanced poetry. Instead, I found this book contained mostly gushing descriptions of how great poetry is, without any real tangible wisdom for improving one's ability to appreciate it.
e.g. “Lyric poetry is one of the soul's natural habitats. The poem of high spiritual attainment has the power, the almost magical potential, to re-lease something that dwells deep within us.”
e.g. “Lyric poetry is one of the soul's natural habitats. The poem of high spiritual attainment has the power, the almost magical potential, to re-lease something that dwells deep within us.”
andrejt's review
4.0
Each chapter is devoted to a different theme that appears often in lyric poetry: death, bliss, epiphany... Hirsch then takes several very different poems related to that theme and analyzes them. The focus is on enjoyment of reading poetry, not on the technique (despite including a long glossary at the end of the book). If you're looking for an introductory textbook on poetry, look elsewhere. I liked the diversity of authors and eras, though the choice is heavily biased towards American poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries. I also liked the author's beautiful and concise sentences, with a rich and precise vocabulary. This book took me some time to finish because it required a lot of contemplation. Some chapters (essays?) are less interesting than others, but that probably depends on the reader's personal preference.
nataliealane's review
3.0
3/5 stars
I feel like this title is a bit misleading. Rather than bring a guide to reading an experiencing poetry, it’s more of a love letter to an an analysis of poems. I still liked a lot of it. However, the chapters are very dense, making it hard to read. It took me months to read this book because I kept having to put it down for a break. There’s some good information, but it’s bogged down by overly purple prose, and it is unnecessarily verbose. I get wanting to write poetically for a book on poetry, but it was too much. ome of the chapters were on topics that didn’t interest me, and the writing made it harder for me to focus on them and get through those parts. There were also a lot of references to poets and poems that went over my head because I wasn’t familiar with them. While it renewed my interest in poetry and I discovered new poets I like, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend How to Read a Poem to people who are new to poetry. However, I am glad to say I found some modern poetry that I might actually like? The chapter on Post-War Polish Poetry And just the whole Discourse on poetry as a form of social justice was fascinating to me.
I feel like this title is a bit misleading. Rather than bring a guide to reading an experiencing poetry, it’s more of a love letter to an an analysis of poems. I still liked a lot of it. However, the chapters are very dense, making it hard to read. It took me months to read this book because I kept having to put it down for a break. There’s some good information, but it’s bogged down by overly purple prose, and it is unnecessarily verbose. I get wanting to write poetically for a book on poetry, but it was too much. ome of the chapters were on topics that didn’t interest me, and the writing made it harder for me to focus on them and get through those parts. There were also a lot of references to poets and poems that went over my head because I wasn’t familiar with them. While it renewed my interest in poetry and I discovered new poets I like, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend How to Read a Poem to people who are new to poetry. However, I am glad to say I found some modern poetry that I might actually like? The chapter on Post-War Polish Poetry And just the whole Discourse on poetry as a form of social justice was fascinating to me.
linzer712's review
3.0
At times too long winded and wordy for its own good, this not-really-a-"how to book"-at-all is an interesting mixture of analysis and meditation on the power and complexities of poetry as a whole and especially the individual poems that Hirsch pulls apart on many levels. The poems he selected are not commonly anthologized and few are contemporary. They range from ancient Greece to Eastern European to South American with touches of Auden and a bit of Dickinson, Whitman, and Stevens added at the end. This book is not so much for the beginner but better for those who already have an appreciation for poetry and the patience to travel along with Hirsch's thoughtful and passionate readings.
rclyburn's review
I imagined a series of definitions of poem types. But this was so much more poetic. The author eagerly shared his favourite poems and poets, along with personal memories and the historical background of the poems.
saturday_reads's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0