Product Description
In his classic text, Rhyme's Reason, the distinguished poet and critic John Hollander surveys the schemes, patterns, and forms of English verse, illustrating each variation with an original and witty self-descriptive example. In this substantially expanded and revised edition, Hollander adds a section of examples taken from centuries of poetry that exhibit the patterns he has described. Amazon.com Review
In the grand tradition of Alexander Pope, John Hollander offers this explication/enactment of poetic form. There are sonnets about how to write sonnets, haiku about how to write haiku, and so on. The writing is clever, entertaining, and instructive, which will surprise no one familiar with Hollander's work. What's even more impressive, though, is how often these poems--which could so easily start to feel like homework--engage you emotionally. The sestina about sestinas is beautiful, and, excepting Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," Hollander's villanelle about villanelles is as captivating an example as one will find of the old French fixed form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Anthology of Poetic Forms
I was looking for some books that give examples of many of the poetic forms. John Hollander's Rhyme's Reason is spot on. There are indeed many examples with a brief explanation.

My poetry lifeline
This book helped me out a ton in my college literature classes. In high school we studied absolutely no poetry. So when I went to college I was a little lost, especially since my major is english. Anyways, I love this book and I frequently refer back to it not just for studying poetry but also for writing poetry.

Profoundly Disappointed
For those not well-schooled in the vocabulary and techniques of verse, the book is an exercise in frustration.The author seems more interested in showing how clever he is than actually explaining different poetic forms.I was profoundly disappointed with the book . . . a real waste of money.My advice for the neophyte is, "STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!"Perhaps its a treasure trove for those with a substantial background in poetry, but for someone relatively new to this art form, I would urge them to buy something else.

Solid introductory book
Hollander's book is a solid little primer on some of the major issues of poetry. Using the technique of "formal self-description" Hollander provides examples of various meters, rhetorical figures, and forms of verse. The writing is clever, and the self-descriptions are insightful.

That said, I think the book is not super useful for teachers, as a textbook that is. Were I to teach a poetry or literature course, I would probably only copy those sections out of the book that cover specific rhetorical figures and stanzaic forms that I planed to teach in my class. Otherwise, a lot of the material will seem superfluous to the work you're doing.

How Hollander Says a Thing
Read _Rhyme's Reason_ as one delights
In proper forms the poet writes.
With this attention getter
(A rondeau would be better)
I recommend this handy guide.

John Hollander, by way of me,
An humble reviewer, as you can see,
Makes sense of verse terrifically.
Read _Rhyme's Reason_.

My third edition brings my applause!
A good deal of poetic laws.
Find more familiar poetry
In history and society.
Shop wisely - heed the ooh's and ah's.
Read _Rhyme's Reason_.
All The Funs In How You Say A Thing: An Explanation Of Meter & Versification ... Read more

Product Description
New and classic essays by one of America's most distinguished contemporary poet-critics,surveys an extraordinary range of poets, from Dante to May Swenson, and George Meredith to Marianne Moore, as well as works from the Psalms toBy turns generous and uncompromising, Hollander champions the enduring force of poetry against the incursion of fashionable writing. This is an elegant, uncompromising affirmation of the extraordinary powers of poetic imagination from a poet whose poems have been hailed by J.D. McClatchy as "ways of thinking on paper." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

How to Understand Poetry
This is the best show-and-tell I have ever seen to the art of poetry. Instead of merely describing or defining various terms. Hollander unleashes all of his conisderable poetic talent to show you what a sonnet or a villanelle or an imabic pentameter line is. No one does it better. He has the entire range and history of English language poetry at his command. His ear is a natural wonder.

Poetry Itself
In an age in which poetry is judged as a kind of mood music, this book will appear strange, maybe arcane, "academic," or even hostile.However, this book is balm for anyone who knows what poetry really is.Hollander is among a handful of the best alive. His pedagogical skills and courtesies are enormous, and here carefully and generously deployed.Difficulties with this book are a function of the difficulties of poetry itself.Without which, as the doctor and poet WC Williams noted, men die miserably every day.Give it your best, and it will give you the best.

Disappointing
Perhaps, if you have a Ph.D. in English, belong to the Modern Languages Association, and teach in a university where postmodernism is requisite, this is the book for you. I gave up half way through, finding these essaysfor the most part too rambling and self-referential - too"academic." If you are not a professional academic but arecurious about why and how poetry moves one, spend your money on MaryOliver's A Handbook of Poetry - half the price, half the length, and twentytimes the useful information. ... Read more

Product Description
In a lavishly illustrated study, an eminent poet and literary scholar at Yale University explores the connections between poetry and the visual arts as seen in more than fifty great works from antiquity to the present. UP. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

wonderful
I love this book! It is great introduction for children into the world of poetry. My son loves E.E. Cummings "Portrait VIII" I hope that this book will begin a life long love of poetry for my children.

I'm not sure what the other reviewer is talking about with this book being the wrong picture and reviews from professional sources because they are correct. Unless perhaps Amazon has corrected the mistake since her posting. All the poems and photos for this book are currently accurate.

DON'T CONFUSE THIS BOOK WITH OTHERS
This is a wonderful book of poetry that children can enjoy and deserves
the five stars that virtually all of the other books in this series has
received.

The review from "Library Journal"and both of the customer reviews are
reviewing the WRONG BOOK!!!To make matters worse, the "Search Inside"
entries are for the bookthey are reviewing, not the book that is pictured on the front.

I am curious as to why someone who is associated with the book (making
their living from it) hasn't complained to Amazon about this.I know
that it is almost impossible to get in touch with Amazon as a lowly
customer, but surely publishers can make a connection.

Anyway, it is a wonderful book with delightful illustrations.I highly
recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description

Robert and Jean Hollander’s verse translation with facing-page Italian offers the dual virtues of maximum fidelity to Dante’s text with the feeling necessary to give the English reader a sense of the work’s poetic greatness in Italian. And since Robert Hollander’s achievements as a Dante scholar are unsurpassed in the English-speaking world, the commentaries that accompany each canto offer superb guidance in comprehension and interpretation. This translation is also the text of the Princeton Dante Project Web site, an ambitious online project that offers a multimedia version of the Divine Comedy and links to other Dante Web sites. On every count, then, this edition of Paradiso is likely to be a touchstone for generations to come, and it completes one of the great projects of literary translation and scholarship of our time.

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent work
Paradiso (Hardcover)
~ Robert Hollander (Author), Jean Hollander The Hollander translation and commentary are quite scholarly and absorbing.To think I got the hardcover for the cost of a paperback is a plus!

italian dante, english dante, academic dante, in beautiful print
the third installment of the hollander/hollander translation of dante was published last fall (2008), and it represents the single edition of this great poem to have in english.

for decades i have been a dante enthusiast who felt inconvenienced by the choice between the bilingual but unaligned sinclair or singleton prose editions on one hand and the many ambitious and admirable but not entirely trustworthy english poetic editions on the other. i have never felt satisfied with either solution and wearied of trying to match prose to verse or wondering which brilliancies in the english verses were also in the italian.

the hollanders' edition resolves every complaint. the english and italian march side by side and a glance from one to the other can answer any doubts about the english or any difficulty with the italian. the poem can be read straight through, or consulted with the notes for a deeper understanding.

the "critical apparatus" -- in the form of outlines (really cribs) and endnotes to each canto, a name index, a character/topic index and bibliography in each of the three volumes -- is thoughtful, ample and up to date, providing both an anatomization of the poetic content and connections and a thorough introduction to academic opinion and exegesis. (i should mention that the printed version is complementary to the princeton dante project web site, where maps, images, audio recordings in both english and italian and a searchable library of dante's works are available.)

some reservations about the accuracy of the translation have been expressed in other reviews, but my judgment is that this is a superior text by the standards of any bilingual edition of any text available in comparative literature. the translation is not rigorous verse but more accurately broken prose, apparently with an ear to singleton's important 20th century edition. within the decision to keep the translation as compact as practicable by striving for word for word equivalences, points where the word choices seem awkward are often informed by an interpretive subtext, or simple english sense, that a literal translation would obscure. english cannot easily imitate both the languorous vowel music and alternately compacted, looping or crystalline italian syntax, much less the twists of late medieval idiom and turns of allusion and symbol, but in my judgment the translation provides a praiseworthy level of fidelity. where it fails, it fails clearly.

finally, in the hardbound editions at least, these are splendidly sturdy, handsome volumes; the printing is crisp, the paper is warm and substantial, the binding and boards are rock solid; the layout is airy, with plenty of room for notes and mark ups. this is a study edition better than any i have seen, a high minded publisher investment in a three volume set that is unlikely to become a bestseller, but is a book the translators and editors can see as a high point of their careers.

a must have for every literate and scholarly home library.

Hollander's Version
I know there are countless versions of Dante's epic, however, Hollander does the best job in not only translation, but also in immersing the reader into Dante's world.

Hollander gives the reader the original Italian novel on one side, with a well developed English translation on the right. Hollander also has a passionate and thorough introduction with helpful notes all over the text.

Hollander's version is also the best version I've come across, since it not only has the original Italian printed right next to it, and not only do the notes help the reader follow the story, but he also sets the type so that it mirror's Dante's.


Now I know that this edition might be a bit pricey, but if you can afford it, buy it. I own four versions of Dante's Devine Comedy and I can't tell you how I wish I would have had someone point me to Hollanders translation in the beginning. I've also asked other professors who are in the field of English Literature and Italian and they all seem to agree that Hollander is the best so far.

... Read more

Product Description
This book is a collection of pattern poems - poems whose printed format presents a picture of some familiar object that is also the subject of the text. Patterned poems, also called shaped verse, are part of a long tradition that extends from Alexandrian Greek poets to Lewis Carroll and beyond. The poems in this book, written by the poet John Hollander, are on subjects ranging from a beach umbrella and a popsicle to time, love and idea. First published in 1969, the book has now been expanded to include ten recent poems in addition to the original 25, plus an introduction in which Hollander reflects on what a shaped poem is and how and why he wrote them. There are also explanatory comments for each poem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another fine Hollander release.
John Hollander, Types of Shape, revised edition (Yale, 1991)

John Hollander first appeared in the public eye way back in the fifties, when his first book was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Since then, Hollander has carved himself an exceptionally distinguished career in American letters, and deservedly so. Types of Shape is a worthy addition to the Hollander bookshelf, with the revised 1991 edition (it was originally published in the late sixties) just adding more of a good thing.

Types of Shape collects a number of Hollander's shape poems (these days perhaps better known as calligrammes, after Guillaume Apollinaire's term for them). In essence, it's a poem that takes the shape of whatever it is the poem is written about, be that a harpsichord, New York state, an arrow, etc. You probably wrote one of these back when you were in grade school, didn't you? (It's okay to admit it. Writing poetry is manly now, didn't you know?) Don't make the mistake, however, of passing this type of thing off as exclusively kid stuff; Hollander more than capably shows here that form can enhance the meaning in an already good piece (he states in the introduction that if it's not a good poem when the lines are flush left, then it's not going to be a good shape. Amen), not to mention lending it an air of playfulness and artistry.

If you're not yet familiar with Hollander, the thirty-five pieces here are a great start. If you're already a fan, you should already have this. ... Read more

Product Description
This book, the third in the series of Samuel Hollander's essays, covers twelve key studies on the economic theory and method of John Stuart Mill. This volume provides an accessible sourcebook on Mill's relationship with David Ricardo, and the 'Classical School', as well as confirming his relevance for modern economics and for the place of economics within the social sciences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

John Stuart Mill book
I would not recomend this item because it offers too much information.Most of it is irrelevant to the true work that Mill actually did.It contained minimal information about his methodology.Dont buy this if you are doing a research paper.It wont help. ... Read more

Product Description
A cycle of five songs composed on the poetry of John Hollander, current poet laureate of Connecticut. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Tribute from a Fan
Jiggery, Pokery
"Jiggery Pokery"
Dactyl compendium
Self-conscious art

Volume of poems whose
Hexasyllabical
Genre was shaped by two
Dons at the start.

Not profound or moving vese, just fun to read and hard to write.
Hecht is the originator of the prose form known as the double dactyl. They are eight lines in length, broken into two groups of four. The last line of the first quatrain rhymes with the last line of the second. All the lines except the rhyming one are composed of two dactylic feet. The first line must be a double dactylic nonsense line like "Higgledy-piggledy" or "Jiggery Pokery." The second line must be a double dactylic name and somewhere in the poem, preferably in the antepenultimate (second line of the second quatrain) there must be one double dactylic line which is one word long.
This book is a collection of examples of this form of prose, and some examples are:

Higgledy-piggledy
Andrea Doria
Lives in the name of this
Glorious boat.

As I sit writing these
Non-navigational
Verses a -crash! Bang! Blurp!
Glub" . . . (end of quote).

Higgledy-piggledy
Pico Mirandola
In the Academy
Works with a will;

With what a verve he gets
Neoplatonical
Since a philanthropist's
Footing the bill!

I enjoyed this form and after trying to write them myself, realized how difficult it is to create them. Poetry that appears nonsensical yet has some meaning is very difficult to do and Hecht is to be commended for creating this form. It is not profound or loaded with metaphysical meaning, but it sure is fun to read.

double-dactylically
Higgledy Piggeldy
Amazon Booksellers,
Why do charge me so
Much for your books?!

Price as to increase your
Marketability--
Because right now, I think
You are all crooks.

Joseph E. Rizzolo
(It's nice having a name that fits the meter, as it enables you to write poems about yourself)

Any fans of light poetry e.g. limericks will love this book.The writers epitomize the uber-academic approach taken by so many literary elitists, which appeals to my own betimes elitist character.For those of you unfamiliar with the form, the rules go like this:

1. Eight lines of verse in two stanzas. 2. Lines 1-3 and 5-7 are double dactyls. 3. Lines 4 and 8 are single dactyls with an added beat, and rhyme. 4. Line 1 is nonsensical 5. Line 2 is a proper noun 6. Either line 6 or line 7 must be a single-word double dactyl (e.g. "anthropoligical") 7. (my favorite rule) No single word double dactyl may be used in another poem. Ever. By anyone.

Sound tough to pen?I've tried it many a time, and I think I've come up with two poems that reflect any merit.The challenge of the form is partly what makes a clever and well executed result so much fun.

Why only four stars?The authors seem to believe that rule number 7 makes the form finite (which is perhaps why the book is out of print), that the limited number of double dactyl words in the English language will be consumed and ultimately doom the form to oblivion.There's no rule that demands that ACTUAL words endorsed by the likes of Noah Webster be used, which rather threatens the ephemeral nature of the form.Some of my best work includes words of my own smithing like 'posttransubstantiate' and 'jiggliectomy' (the removal of breast implants).

If you ever find a copy, buy it....

Oh, by the way; I already used the above words in my own work.So ha.

Inspired Nonsense: Shakespeare Couldn't Have Done It Better
No doubt pressed to "publish or perish," Hecht and Hollander not only invented their own poetic form, but then, in one slim volume introduced it, perfected it, and then exhausted it; all with the utmost respect for academic propriety. I first encountered it more years ago than I care to remember on the two-dollar shelf. It is a gem which should stand with the classics: The Elements of Style, King Lear, The Little Engine That Could.

The rules for the art form invented by these two neglected geniuses (well, English professors) are simple, but hellishly difficult to honor.Each verse starts with a nonsense double-dactyl (a double-dactyl sounds like something you might run across in Jurassic Park, and is just about as difficult to tame). The second line of the first verse must be a double-dactylic proper name, and the antepenultimate line must be a single double-dactylic word. With so few good double-dactylic words to go around, it's easy to see how the form was so quickly exhausted.(It's been at least sixteen years since I last read the book, but if memory serves, one additional rule is that each double-dactyl can be used but once, and then it must be retired from use in the form forever.)

Without the "cannon" in hand, it's impossible to fully report all the rules.Perhaps the best way to understand and to illustrate the form is simply to quote the masters:

Jiggery-Pokery
Anthony Hollander
Two bards in one
Worked their brains in a storm

Thinking up words for the
Antepenultimate
line of this
doubly difficult form.

Sixteen years on and THAT sticks with me still!If you should run across a copy of this inspired classic gathering dust on a back library shelf somewhere, first, do the right thing: offer to buy it.If that doesn't work, borrow it; but DON'T EVER RETURN IT! ... Read more

Product Description
A delightfully ghoulish array of specters and sorceresses, witches and ghosts, hags and apparitions haunt these pages–a literary parade of phantoms and shades to add to the revelry of All Hallow’s Eve.

From Homer to Horace, Pope to Poe, Randall Jarrell to James Merrill, Poems Bewitched and Haunted draws on three thousand years of poetic forays into the supernatural. Ovid conjures the witch Medea, Virgil channels Aeneas’s wife from the afterlife, Baudelaire lays bare the wiles of the incubus, and Emily Dickinson records two souls conversing in a crypt, in poems that call out to be read aloud, whether around the campfire or the Ouija board. From ballads and odes, to spells and chants, to dialogues and incantations, here is a veritable witches’ brew of poems from the spirit world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Poetry + Halloween = Fantastic Little Book!
I am a halloween book addict. The first step is admitting you have a problem. I have a huge collection of books on halloween ranging from the history to postcards to stickers to ephemera to decor, ghost stories, monsters. I do not have a poetry book about halloween. So when I saw this, my jaw fell open. And I bought it. And I love it. I love the vintage looking cover, the text the poems are printed in... The poems are really great because naturally being poetry they have a rhythm to them and you just get caught up in the spooky story being told through poetry. How awesome is that! The best imagery is with poetry I think and this just fantastic. The poems have different categories too which is great. For example, hags and beauties, dangerous procedures, a choice of ghosts...If you love halloween as much as i do first buy this book, then get help.

Haunted Poems Galore!
If you're as into Halloween-y themed things as I am, then this book is a must-have! It's a great little book that is small enough to bring along on a trip or a commute, and it includes works from all the classic poets, and some lesser known ones as well. It's great as a gift for friends and will make an excellent display on Halloween at my house!

Delve into the supernatural, if you must...
This is great bedtime reading for a dark and stormy night.The poems were well chosen.This book is fine enough for gift giving.The sections in the book are: HAGS AND BEAUTIES, DANGEROUS PROCEDURES,DANGEROUS VENUES, DANGEROUS WOOERS, OTHER APPARITIONS, CEREMONIALS, A CHOICE OF GHOSTS, and THE LIGHTER SIDE.Buy it now before the Halloween rush.I dare you!



... Read more

Product Description
This collection presents the finest English literature from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century, with introductory matter and authoritative annotation.Almost three hudnred illustrations show the relationship between images in language and in pictures.In addition to the two volume set, it is also available in six paperbound volues covering major periods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

As expected
I paid a good price for it and I got it in the conditions I expected it to be. It also arrived on time. Lastly, I was able to sell it once I finished my summer course for a good price.

The best of all possible English Literature anthologies.
I have loved my Norton Anthology for over twenty five years, but the great wealth of editorial commentary in this, the Oxford Anthology of English Literature outdoes even the Norton.This book is a treasure.

Excellent anthology
Excellent anthology, outstanding choice. Good value for the money (for once) in classical English literature. I find most Oxford books to be very overpriced. Not this. Very well thought out.

The Oxford Anthology of English Literature: Vol. VI: Modern British Literature
I'm very happy with this book because it is much cheaper than any other places and the condition is still very good.

Stranded On A Desert Island? Take These 2 Volumes Along!
Someone once asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island, and could have one book with me, which would I choose? Easy answer - "The Oxford Anthology of English Literature." Actually, it's a two volume set - but I am designating the two volumes as one book, for desert island convenience.

This extraordinary 4,500 page collection contains Great Britain's finest literature from the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Included are selections from "Beowulf," Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," works by Spenser (excerpts from all books of "The Faerie Queene"), Sir Thomas Malory, Shakespeare (including "The Tempest'), Marlowe ("Dr. Faustus," "Hero and Leander"), John Donne, and Milton. There are over 100 pages devoted to William Blake, including "The Book of Thel," and the entire "Night the Ninth" from "The Four Zoas." It also contains poems and prose by Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Byron. And this is just a small sample.

In addition to the general editors Frank Kermode and John Hollander, the anthology has been edited and annotated by Harold Bloom, Martin Price, J.B. Trapp, and Lionel Trilling. The editors contribute brief period introductions, biographical and critical pieces for major authors, and essays preceding the major selections.

There are almost 300 wonderful illustrations included in the collection, representing important artists and their works for each period, that demonstrate the relationship between literary and visual images.

I have read through this wonderful anthology many times over the years, and never fail to learn something new, something to excite my imagination, with each reading. Highest Kudos!
JANA ... Read more

Product Description
From Homer and Virgil to Byron and Yeats, from Shelley and Whitman to Auden and Stevens, from ancient China's anonymous bards to Poland's Mickiewicz and Israel's Amichai, poets of all times, places, and sensibilities have been moved to write about war. Here are more than one hundred of their most memorable poems, ranging from Horace on the Battle of Actium to Adrienne Rich's Vietnam-era "Newsreel." An extraordinary anthology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great collection of prose
I thoroughly enjoyed thumbing through this volume the first time... it has a lot of good poems and a few that I found particularly moving, such as Farewell to Arms and The War in Heaven. This is a good book for any Soldier to have.

Memorable and Moving
This anthology has something for every poetic taste. From the epic heroism of The Iliad , to the sorrowing irony of " After Blenham ", to the heart stopping horror of " The Death of The Ball Turret Gunner ". There are 115 poems witten by soldiers , poets , authors ; both famous and obscure. Thoughtfully edited in a way to ultimately frame a fine tribute to the soldier across the ages. An interest in military history could be helpful for the sake of context ,although the strength of the collection is not in the history , but in the humanity.

Eclectic collection of poems about war
Good survey of the poetic reaction to war from the Illiad to Wallace Stevens. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The splendid poems in this collection both represent and glorify the cultivating instinct, and each of them succeeds in "annihilating all that's made," as Andrew Marvell puts it in one of the most famous of all English poems, "to a green thought in a green shade." Contents include poems on Paradises, Gardens of Love, Gardens in the Mind, Gardens and Seasons, Flowers, Gardeners, The Work of the Garden, Gardens of the Wild, City Gardens, Public Gardens, Ruined Gardens, and A Garden of Gardens. Contributors include John Milton, Ovid, E.E. Cummings, Thom Gunn, John Donne, James Merrill, Wallace Stevens, Robert Browning, Shakespeare, and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent selection of poems on garden themes
The anthologies produced in this Pocket Poets series are generally excellent and well and carefully selected. These are very interesting poems and illustrate the categories or, rather, sub-categories of garden theme poems. Great reading experience. ... Read more

Product Description
This landmark two-volume anthology gathers over 1,000poems by nearly 150 poets to reveal the remarkable beauty andastonishing diversity of the distinctly American tradition of poetrythat arose in the nineteenth century. Includes generous selections byPoe, Whitman, Emerson, Dickinson, Melville, Whittier, and Longfellow,alongside poems only now achieving full recognition, like Jones Very'smystical sonnets and the exquisite fin-de-siecle verse of TrumbullStickney. A special section is devoted to American Indian poetry inperiod translations. Throughout are favorite recitation pieces like "AVisit from Saint Nicholas," "Casey at the Bat," and "Little OrphanAnnie," and popular ballads, hymns, and songs like "Swing Low, SweetChariot" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Contains newly researchedbiographical sketches of each poet, a year-by-year chronology of poetsand poetry from 1800 to 1900, and extensive notes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Customer comment
Since I can't find anyplace else on your page for a book-related comment, I'll put it here.Your listing for American Poetry: the nineteenth century give no indication that it is a 2-vol. set, but that can be deduced *if*one happened to do a title search and got the separate listings for vols. 1and 2.

I think this would be useful not to say essential information forthe potential buyer. ... Read more