Studying Poetry

by Stephen Matterson, Darryl Jones

Overview

Studying Poetry is a fun, concise and helpful guide to understanding poetry which is divided into three parts, form and meaning, critical approaches and interpreting poetry, all of which help to illuminate the beauty and validity of poetry using a wide variety of examples, from Dylan Thomas to Bob Dylan.

Key Features:
An accessible and thought-provoking introduction to poetry which takes students through the essentials to enhance both their understanding and their appreciation.
Contains a wonderfully diverse collection of poems, from Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, which truly engage the reader. The authors' style mixes humor with erudition and allows students to easily absorb the information they need without repetitive re-reading. New to this edition is a chapter on the importance of poetry which examines the many ways in which poetry is expressed in youth culture today. This second edition has also seen updates throughout and the introduction of some more contemporary poems to align with course curriculum.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780340985151
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/06/2011
Series:	Studying... , #2
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Stephen Matterson is Professor of English and Head of the School of English at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Stephen Matterson is Professor of English Studies and a Fellow of the College at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. He is the author or editor of nine books and over sixty articles, essays and reviews on aspects of US literature. His past publications include Herman Melville, The Confidence-Man (edited with an Introduction and Notes; Penguin Classics, 1990); American Literature: The Essential Glossary (Oxford University Press, 2003); The Complete Poems of Walt Whitman (edited with an introduction and notes, Wordsworth, 2006); and Studying Poetry (with Darryl Jones; 1st edition 2000; Oxford University Press; updated and enlarged second edition, Bloomsbury Academic, 2011).

Darryl Jones is Senior Lecturer in English at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vi
	Introduction	1
Part I	Form and Meaning
1	Poem and form	9
2	Poem and communication	33
3	Poem and tradition	53
Part II	Critical Approaches
4	Poem as object	73
5	Poem and author	93
6	Poem and reader	108
Part III	Interpreting Poetry
7	The poem in history	125
8	Public poetry	143
9	The limits of poetry	156
	Further reading	168
	Glossary	170
	Index	179

Editorial Reviews

Its great virtue lies in the amount of questions it raises. [The authors'] enthusiasm, engagement and occasional knowingly facetious asides should appeal to, and enlighten, bright [students]. They will also find the glossary of technical and theoretical terms very useful.” —The Times Educational Supplement

From the Publisher

Its great virtue lies in the amount of questions it raises. [The authors'] enthusiasm, engagement and occasional knowingly facetious asides should appeal to, and enlighten, bright [students]. They will also find the glossary of technical and theoretical terms very useful.

The Times Educational Supplement