A Poetry Handbook

I have to say, I am VERY picky when it comes to books. Whatever the genre, be it non-fiction, fiction, or poetry, I demand much. I strongly feel that those who reach the top of the heap amidst all the would-be writers out there should be shining examples.

Having said that, this book certainly passes muster. It exposes one to a great variety of poetic styles and techniques, and was instrumental in opening my mind and heart to several poetic forms I would never have dreamed I would like.

Ms. Oliver's love of poetry and language, her own ability to weave words, her wide-eyed filter into a cross-section of different poetic forms and their underlying mechanisms, and the excellent examples used to amplify those observations, make this one book that should grace every poetry-lover's shelf.

I've been reading a lot of books on poetry, meter and writing and Mary Oliver is the best. She is Clear, Concise, and Accessible by all levels of readers.

Some books on writing or poetry need to be decoded or explained by a professor or expert. For example John Hollander wrote a wonderful book titled "Rhyme's Reason" but parts of it were way over my head. If it was the first poetry book I read I wouldn't have kept reading them. Not to discount JH,(Rhyme's Reason is a superb book.) but rather Mary Oliver's book is easy to digest.

I highly recommend this to not just poets but all writers. The information on meter and the use of language and phonics is enlightening.

Mary Oliver makes variations of poetry styles clear and useful to a serious writer of poetry or one wanting to change from prose to poetry. Easy for a beginner, good reference for anyone.

Mary Oliver's book about writing poetry is very like her poetry, unsurprisingly. It is brief, evocative, latent with implications and wit. It seemed to be addressed to people who attend poetry workshops and some points seemed to have derived from that type of experience, and the type of poem that: "it really doesn't matter whether you read it or not." She makes the point that good poetry requires solitude for its gestation, and I don't think it's too great besmirchment of educational ideals to say that great poets are born not made, after all people don't seem able to "learn" spiritual intuition. Some people do however begin to ring inside when the subject matter of spiritual intuition comes up, as in her poetry, and this book about technique manages to stir you within. It's also entertaining.
But I think if she hadn't been addressing poetry workshop attendees, she might have taken up the very dangerous topic of subject matter. She, like the great Haiku artists, always writes about aspects of the reality we can sense: see, hear, touch, remember seeing. etc. and these experiences lead to deeper reflections of the deeper Reality. Her poems take us to the place where the higher world and (our) lower world overlap, which, though it's everywhere, isn't that easy to find.
I think the real necessity in learning to be a poet or artist of any kind is in the learning to live, in becoming permeable to the great invisibility. This is much more difficult than is generally thought and, possibly, a subject of great interest, since it entails a study of everything you do and are. Anyway, she avoided this aspect of poetry for the moment and wrote this perfectly fine, insightful examination modern poetic virtues and sensibilities.

This book by Mary Oliver is an excellent resource for any poet seeking to improve their understanding of the craft. She acknowledges the need for creativity and experimentalism, yet does so by confirming time-honored techniques and explanations of formal structures. I tend toward the free verse form of poetry, but do dabble in iambic rhyme. I have always felt that structure is the enemy of good poetry, but have also felt the inexplicable contradiction of appreciating Robert Frost and Shakespeare. This book explains what I could not put my finger one and has convinced me that structured poetry is just one of many forms and free verse, for all of its worth and value in the modern pool of poetry, is not the only valid form.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand poetry better, both the reading of it as well as the writing of it. Excellent job, Mary!