This book is in two parts - a very interesting introductory section on the composition and reading of poetry in general, and a selection of 60 poems along with notes on their construction and how they might be read. I bought it after hearing the author speak at the Oxford Literary Festival - although I must confess to having briefly dozed off at one point, since I was sitting near the back and could not see her at all, so found it difficult to keep my eyes open... What I did hear of the talk was interesting enough to persuade me to buy the book (despite the fact that the audience size vastly exceeded the number of handouts prepared, and it was difficult to follow the examples without seeing the texts of the featured poems).
This feels like a book I will return to repeatedly - it impressed me but I don't think that I got as much out of it on a first reading as I could do if I gave it more time and attention. I enjoyed reading many of the poems, but I skimmed over some of the notes on structure and the effects of repeated sounds in the poems - I am sure these must play a large part in generating the reader's response to a poem, but I don't tend to be consciously aware of them. I intend to read this again at some point, taking the time to follow the explanations more closely and explore the mechanics of the poems rather than just their surface meanings.
