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wmmcmanlypants's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely need to re read this later. Writing was amazing and incredibly insightful, but was very, very dense.
ciona24's review against another edition
4.0
I'll read this every year probably. It's tiny but dense and important to take in and understand in writing poetry.
tywissman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
The most brilliant explication on the craft of poetry that I've encountered. Ellen is a real one, not afraid of digging deep into form, not afraid of skepticism to her theories. A perfect and cogent argument under bright, albeit sometimes sterile light.
persimmon_lover's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
This book contains a relatively thorough syntactic analysis of many poems. I think it could have been better organized, with more concrete highlighting of specific syntactic forms and methods summarized at the end of each analysis rather than only focusing on the detailed analyses of each poem. The main concepts of the book, the idea of the rhythm and unfolding of thoughts via syntactic forms, was simple and interesting, and applied in concrete ways throughout. There are also a wide variety of types of poems used for illustration. The main takeaway for me was how syntactic forms can highlight meaning supplied by words, rhythm, and lineation, and how they can pace the unfolding of images in a way that adds a layer of expression to the poem as a whole. Would be interested in a more highly technical analysis of individual poems that delve deeper into the expressive possibilities of other syntactic forms. Haj Ross has a 12 page analysis of Pied Beauty by Hopkins, seems like a good companion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
A poem that focuses on suicide in a fairly abstract way, with no visceral details, is briefly discussed.mlindner's review against another edition
2.0
Read 90% (all but last chapter) but finally gave up. Made absolutely no sense to me. She uses lots of musical concepts (metaphors?) to explain syntax in poetry but unless one is a musician they do NOT help as an explanation.
Secondly, if poetry really involves that much syntactic analysis I want nothing to do with it. Syntax is important, no doubt, but that kind of anal analysis kills the joy in pretty much anything.
Secondly, if poetry really involves that much syntactic analysis I want nothing to do with it. Syntax is important, no doubt, but that kind of anal analysis kills the joy in pretty much anything.
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