The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide - Robert Pinsky
Citing the work of 50 different poets--from Shakespeare and Donne to Elizabeth Bishop and Frank Bidart--the Poet Laureate explains the principles of the sounds of what is called poetry. \n \nThe Poet Laureate's clear and entertaining account of how poetry works. \n \nPoetry is a vocal, which is to say a bodily, art, Robert Pinsky declares in The Sounds of Poetry. The medium of poetry is the human body: the column of air inside the chest, shaped into signifying sounds in the larynx and the mouth. In this sense, poetry is as physical or bodily an art as dancing. \n \nAs Poet Laureate, Pinsky is one of America's best spokesmen for poetry. In this fascinating book, he explains how poets use the technology of poetry--its sounds--to create works of art that are performed in us when we read them aloud. \n \nHe devotes brief, informative chapters to accent and duration, syntax and line, like and unlike sounds, blank and free verse. He cites examples from the work of fifty different poets--from Shakespeare, Donne, and Herbert to W. C. Williams, Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, C. K. Williams, Louise Glück, and Frank Bidart. \n \nThis ideal introductory volume belongs in the library of every poet and student of poetry.\n