How do I become well-read in poetry?

Cafe Society
1

Occasionally, I try my hand at poetry. No, I won’t post anything here - take my word for it, the results are uniformly wretched. Part of the difficulty may lie in the fact that I’ve nothing terribly original or insightful to say. Not much to be done for that, but I suspect another problem is that I’m not terribly familiar with what constitutes good poetry. I’m just not that well-read, and so I’m in much the same position as (for example) a fellow who’s never read a science fiction novel and decides to try his hand at space opera. Every genre has rules and norms that folks have spent a lot of time developing - if you don’t know them, you can’t use (or discard) them intelligently, and you’ll be hard-pressed not to produce drek.

So - how would I best become well-read with regard to poetry? I understand this is a very large field, of course. I suppose that what I’m asking for is a reading list that would expose me to a variety of Western styles that are currently considered to be worth writing in. Particularly insightful criticism of contemporary poetry would also be useful.

In all candor, I’m not sure I’ll actually use the advice provided here - but if I decide to actually get off my ass and learn to suck slightly less badly at poetry, it would be neat to have a starting place.

2

There are many possible approaches, but I’d start with The Norton Anthology of Poetry (or similar anthology) and Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled.

3

I second starting with an anthology or two, you can probably find them online for cheap from college students, +1 if you get one with good notes in the margins! Then it should be easy to figure out the sort of stuff you’re interested in and branch out from there.

4

Or free at your local library.

5

Also, whenever you hear a poem mentioned, look it up on the internet and read it. This will give you pop culture coverage that an anthology doesn’t.

6

Read a lot of poetry. :slight_smile:

Both excellent recommendations. I haven’t actually read the Norton Anthology of Poetry myself (though I did pick up a lot of what I know about poetry from browsing in older editions of the Norton Anthologies of English and American Literature). But from looking at it on Amazon.com, it looks like it has a good selection of both classic and more recent poems/poets. And Fry Ode Less Traveled is readable and fun and will teach you a lot about how poetry works.

I’m going to disagree with this! You should own one or more anthologies, not just borrow them. Keep them on your shelf for when the mood strikes. Write in them: make notes or check marks or hi-lite the poems or lines or stanzas that grab you or delight you or infuriate you. Go back and revisit the poems after a week or a month or a year.

Note also that certain styles of poetry go in and out of fashion, but I’d advise you to write in whatever style or styles work for you, as a writer and as a reader, regardless of whether they’re “contemporary” or fashionable.

7

I’ll concur with the above advice–the Norton anthologies are good resources for literature. I learned from them in college and I teach from them, and while they’re not perfect, they are plenty good.

As far as becoming well read in poetry: in addition to simply reading lots of poetry (and probably criticism, which may or may not be included in the anthology) I’d recommend studying the cultural and historical context of the poems, preferably in chronological order.

The reason I say this is because a lot of poetic forms and motifs draw from previous ones. An offhand example is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 (“My Mistress’s Eyes…”) While being (sort of by definition) an Elizabethan sonnet, it is also a satire and reaction against the Petrarchian Sonnet (and Petrarch himself.) You can get some good stuff from looking at Shakespeare’s poem, but a fuller understanding depends on what else was going on at the time.

8

I’ll agree that this is good advice once someone has a feel for what they like in poetry. Until then, however, they’ll get a vastly wider survey of what’s out there if they don’t constrain themselves to what they can afford to buy.

9

My specialty is contemporary Canadian poetry.

Some anthologies I’d like to recommend -
Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008, 2009. 2010 is (presumably) coming out in about 4 months.
The Griffin Prize publishes an anthology of the shortlist every year since 2001.
There’s no anthology, but the Governor General’s Awards shortlist is also a very good source for poets who are worth reading.

Magazines like the Malahat Review, Prairie Fire, The Fiddlehead are also useful. Not a complete list - if you’re interested, I can give you the full list of Canadian poetry magazines sometime.

I keep a stack of sticky tabs with me whenever I read anthologies or magazines, so I can keep track of poets who resonate with me and look up their collections.

In Toronto, there is a weekly newsletter, The Patchy Squirrel, which lists poetry related events.

I have to agree with whoever suggested buying the Norton rather than getting it from the library - it isn’t something you want to drive yourself through in a 3 week period. That’s one you’d be better off to just own.

As far as your own poetry goes, have you considered participating in one of the SDMB Poetry Sweatshops? (Link to the September 2010 anthology.) They’re quite fun, and I’ve found them quite useful for getting past a dependence on ‘inspiration’…

10

Spend your time there, you won’t be disappointed.

11

Although this is probably less important than a couple of good anthologies, once you have those I’d also recommend a book called Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms, edited by David Lehman. A large number of poets discuss why they chose the particular structures/forms used in the poem they contributed to the book.

But mostly the secret to knowing more about poetry is to find something you like. Poetry you don’t like or don’t get is just a chore; poetry you do like is a tryst with your lover.

12

When I was very young, I found an old volume on my parents’ bookshelf. Who knows why they had it? Dad was a Naval officer and a Man of Action. He was a craftsman. Probably it was mom’s, though she usually read Readers Digest Condensed Books. Well, mom saw me reading it and then it was mine. I still have it somewhere. I think it was called 100 Famous Poems, or something like that. I’m no poet, and I seldom read poetry (unless it’s Poe). But I was exposed to poetry at an early age, and I’m glad for it.

Here’s one out of the book:

How Did You Die?
Edmund Vance Cooke (1866-1932)

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and cheerful?

Oh, a trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there — that’s disgrace.

The harder you’re thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn’t the fact that you’re licked that counts,
It’s how did you fight — and why?

And though you be done to death, what then?
If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part in the worl of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.

Death comes with a crawl, or it comes with a pounce,
And whether he’s slow or spry,
It isn’t the fact that you’re dead that counts,
But only how did you die?
And here’s one from my 5th grade class:

Abou Ben Adhem
Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
‘What writest thou?’ The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, ‘The names of those who love the Lord.’

‘And is mine one?’ said Abou. ‘Nay, not so,’
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, ‘I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men.’

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And shoed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!

13

May I recommend that you get a copy of Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within. Terrific book.

14

First on Google: Famous Poets & Poems. Huge selection of poets & their poetry, including biographies. It’s a giant buffet! (With tacky ads & popups, alas.)

Project Gutenberg presents its feast more tastefully.

Then, invest in some books for those unplugged times…

15

I’ve never been into poetry, but a couple of times per week I catch “The Writer’s Almanac” with Garrison Keillor on NPR because it plays during my lunch break. G always starts out with historical facts and mini-bios about various authors, and each episode ends with the reading of a poem. I’ve found I’ve really liked the poetry. Anyway, there’s a link on the website that lets you browse through the poems that have been aired, and listen to them read (which is the best way to experience poetry).

16

Thanks for the good advice, guys!

17

I hope it’s OK to post this poem, it was printed in the Sunday paper.

Every Sunday the Stars Magazine (arts and entertainment) features Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate, who gives the poem of the week from poets around the country. They’re short, and I enjoy them immensely. Here’s a sample by Alicia Suskin Ostriker of Princeton, NJ.
From The Book of Seventy, by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, 2009.

The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog

To be blessed
said the old woman
is to live and work
so hard
God’s love
washes right through you
like milk through a cow.
To be blessed
said the dark red tulip
is to knock their eyes out
with the slug of lust
implied by
your up-ended skirt.
To be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other
dogs can smell it.

I clip these out. Someday I’m going to put them all together (with dozens of lifelong favorites like High Flight) in a notebook, titled Sali’s Big Book o’ Favorite Poems.

18

Drink deep or taste not the Pieran Spring, is I think a customary answer to the question.

19

You definitely want to get an anthology. Really, you want to collect anthologies, but eventually get more books specialized in the poets you particularly like. My favorite anthology is the Viking Book of Poetry of the English Speaking World. Carry it with you and read it in idle moments. Use post-it notes to mark ones that strike you.

But, while I would insist that poetry should appeal to your intuitive connection to the language, you will really get a lot more out of poetry if you study how poetry works. Others have recommended Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Traveled, and I concur, but let me expand on that. Versification, the theory and practice of creating poetry, happens to be my academic specialty. I have plowed through Saintsbury, Schipper, Omond, Attridge, Hollander, Allen, Spencer, Campion and a stack of academic articles on English prosody. I did my master’s thesis on Campion’s attempt to prove quantitative verse was feasible in English. Make of all that what you will, but frankly I think I’ve earned the right to act like I know what I’m talking about here.

Now, I have spent a good deal of time thinking about what everybody, certainly every educated person, should know about poetry. Pretty much all of it can be found in the pages of The Ode Less Traveled. Fry makes the very same points that I make, only with a lot less barely constrained anger and remonstration. This book came into existence already a classic. It didn’t find a niche, it plugged a howling void.

20

My snarky answer is that no one is well-read in poetry because there’s just too much of it.

The anthology route is one method. If you stick with it, you’ll have a breadth of knowledge. It’s not really how I like to read. I’m more of a driller downer. I run across one poem that I like, and from that poem go on to other works by that poet, then read about the influences on that poet, then read the influences, and so on, following threads where they lead. You’ll miss out on some stuff, but it’s amazing what treasures you’ll find.

So, if you have a favorite poem or poet, or just one that you sorta admire, you might start there.