“This book is not a primer, a how-to guide, or a handbook of forms: there are plenty of those out there already,” writes Don Paterson in the preface to this collection of craft essays on the inner workings of poetry. “The Poem is essentially a treatise, consisting of three long essays.” Titled “Lyric,” “Sign,” and “Metre,” the three sections explore fundamental, personal, and theoretical ideas about how poems operate. The award-winning poet, professor, and poetry editor draws from his experience as well as from literary analysis, cognitive science, linguistics, and metaphysics to investigate subjects such as the music and sound patterns of poetry; the theories surrounding metaphor, metonym, and symbol; and poetry’s relationship to time and the rhythms of speech. For those seeking an insider’s view of poetry, this book is sure to challenge, instruct, and deepen what you know about the art form and its many elusive properties.
