A PRIMER FOR POETS AND READERS OF POETRY

By Gregory Orr. Providing a refreshing take on how to write and appreciate poetry, this book focuses less on the "rules" of poetic composition than on guiding young readers to a deeper understanding of how poems can reflect and enrich their lives. Orr, an English professor and award-winning poet, portrays poetry as a way to turn the disorder of life into a lyrical, moving, and ordered response. Numerous examples—from psalms to Shakespeare to Whitman to 20th-century poets like Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden, to Orr’s own students—model effective poetry writing; Orr then analyzes each poem, explaining why it works and what devices and methods it uses to convey its message. The book also includes more than a dozen exercises designed to spur fledgling versifiers to create their own poems. Grades 9 and up. Glossary. Norton. 325 pages. ©2018.

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