A review by andrejt
How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch

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.