How to Read a Poem...and Start a Poetry CircleHow to Read a Poem...and Start a Poetry Circle
How to Read a Poem is a slender book of ways to explore the romance we have with words we can't quite hold. In twelve chapters, Peacock presents eighteen "talisman" poems -- cherished poems that she has collected over the years. Some of the poems are well known, such as Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art" or Philip Larkin's "Talking in Bed"; others are more obscure, such as a sexy anonymous medieval poem called "Wulf and Edwacer" or the Romantic poet John Clare's "I Am." Each poem is printed in its entirety, providing readers with a slender anthology with which to start a poetry circle; each chapter examines the interior life of both the poem and the poet, giving readers a window to their interior lives as well. A story will unfold around the poem, and the poem's wisdom will unfold inside the story.
How to Read a Poem also offers a practical and anecdotal guide to organizing a poetry reading group and a final chapter in which twenty poets present their suggestions of favorite books with which to begin your poetry reading experience.
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