The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems

Rating:
Summary: Poetry Demystified
Review: Anyone who is familiar with Mayes' books Under a Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany will not be at all surprised that she has written a book about poetry. In recounting the story of how she and her husband discovered and renovated their home in Italy, her writing moves with the rhythms of a poet's voice and savors words for their sounds and textures as well as the images they evoke.

The author of 5 books of poetry and a creative writing teacher at San Francisco State University for years, Mayes has turned her experiences into a simple, straightforward approach to reading, appreciating and writing poetry. Simple, however, does not mean easy. As Mayes is quick to point out, poetry requires concentration, contemplation and the suspension of our linear and time driven expectations. Even the results of reading and writing poetry, she cautions, are not what we might expect. "...many of us are overtrained to read for factual information," says Mayes. "Overly pragmatic, we look for a result, a conclusion."

Mayes' approach to studying poetry is to set the simple fundamentals that are common to all poetry before the reader and then let poems themselves illustrate her points. The book is divided into 11 parts, which cover everything from reading and interpretation, points of view, and imagery, to the mechanics of rhyme and meter, traditional versus free verse, and tips for would be writers. However, the thing that impressed me most throughout the book were her choices of poems to include, and her insightful commentary on them. These comments are offered with genuine pleasure and the graciousness of a friend sharing something she truly loves. There is nothing high handed or condescending in her discussions. Instead you feel like you've been invited to share in a delightful secret or been offered the chance to join a special club. This is a book that given the time and careful consideration it deserves will help you fall in love with poetry.

Rating:
Summary: I bought this book for my daughter, then
Review: I bought this book for my daughter, since she came home from school suddenly interested in writing poetry and I found it so fascinating that I bought another copy for myself. I've read Mayes's other books and loved them and sense that same person speaking, clearly and directly, but this time about a subject I've never really warmed to. And she's opened my eyes to another world, helped me tear down and push away all those cliches I had about poetry. Now I'm not so "afraid" when I read a poem that I'm not going to get it. She's very calmly shown me that a poem can just "be." My daughter loves it too and she's sixteen. Highly recommended for those who have always wondered why they never really understood what poetry was all about, but really wanted to.

Rating:
Summary: Little Value as an Anthology, Less as a Guide to Poetry
Review: I used this book as a last minute replacement in teaching a collegiate, first year poetry class -- the anthology I intended to use had it's publication date pushed back. As such, I used it essentially sight unseen, figuring the low price would cover my not having seen it first hand. But even with the price I was terribly embarrassed for using it.

This is a miserably constructed work. Its discussions of poetry are ridiculously shallow, frequently to the point of being incorrect or misleading. It is written at the level of someone whose knowledge of poetry and poetics was gained only through reading other poor anthologies, at the level of someone who could not ever successfully demonstrate any sophistication or depth of knowledge in the field. I would be embarrassed by this book even if I was teaching _high school_ freshmen. As far as the art of poetry is concerned, as far as even _basic_ knowledge of poetry is concerned, this is less than drivel. And all the worse because of how deceiving it can be. If someone read this with no knowledge of poetry and spoke from it as a source of authority, they would frequently find themselves looking quite foolish. To me that is an egregious fault.

Yet more bleakly hilarious than how poor are the discussions is how bad the writing is. There are many places where the writing looks like it was edited from five pages to one paragraph, taking two sentences a page to make the condensation. And too often I came upon places where the poor writing created misconceptions. You would think that someone who makes their living as an author would have a little more pride in their work than permitting this to be published in their name. The writing is bad enough that I now have no desire to ever crack one of Mayes's novels.

Just to say, as an anthology, it is tolerable. There is a decent selection of poems for the price. (And it is only the price that makes it tolerable.) But in using it you will quickly find that while there may be a variety of authors, there is not a great variety of styles -- that is, there might be one or two representatives of a style or technique, but rarely enough to create a demonstration toward understanding. I was often (in my class) frustrated by not being able to find a representative of styles of verse that should be present in number in any anthology. Too much of it is contemporary, and too much of that rather unremarkable poetry. There is not nearly enough non-contemporary poetry to name itself a "field guide," not nearly enough variety to even be considered a decent sampling of the art form.

Stay away from it. It is not well crafted. For the errors and misconceptions you should definitely look elsewhere -- if you look to this to teach you something, what it will teach you (how little that is) will be error-ridden. Spend the extra money and get something of value. As someone who claims to love poetry, Mayes has done the art a great wrong, mocking it by speaking of it carelessly, revealing through her shallow presentation how little she's truly devoted herself to poetry's secrets and graces.

Rating:
Summary: Massive, Deep and Worth It
Review: I was excited to discover this book, although its massive size at first made me curious. How much stuff is packed in here? I wondered.

The excellent features of this book include the "In Your Notebook" sections where you can try out the techniques and strategies Mayes has just explained. I also really enjoy the variety of poets whose works are introduced.

However, there are some moments where there is so much detail that I found myself losing interest and not retaining as much. In that respect, it really showed Mayes background with a university-type audience.

It is definitely worth it to have on any aspiring poet's shelf. I can see myself using this as a reference and as an inspiration for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: Massive, Deep and Worth It
Review: I was excited to discover this book, although its massive size at first made me curious. How much stuff is packed in here? I wondered.

The excellent features of this book include the "In Your Notebook" sections where you can try out the techniques and strategies Mayes has just explained. I also really enjoy the variety of poets whose works are introduced.

However, there are some moments where there is so much detail that I found myself losing interest and not retaining as much. In that respect, it really showed Mayes background with a university-type audience.

It is definitely worth it to have on any aspiring poet's shelf. I can see myself using this as a reference and as an inspiration for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: I bought this book for my daughter, then
Review: I've bought and read many "Introduction to Poetry" books over the past several years, but this one is my favorite.

Most of the books of this genre are long on technical information, but lack passion behind the text. Think of a book about music written by a mathematician; The writer might get the technical points across, but the joy of experiencing the music would probably be lacking.

This book presents both the technical information necessary to enjoy poetry, and a selection wonderful poems that demonstrate the principles first hand. In fact, Ms. Mayes is so adept at selecting suitable poems that I think she could prove to be an anthologist of the highest caliber (hopefully she'll read this suggestion and take it to heart).

I recommend this book to anyone who has been baffled by poetry in the past. Enjoy the delights of this book for a time and you'll be hooked on poetry for good.

By the way, do the writing exercises too. You just may find your inner poet.

Rating:
Summary: Great for all writers.
Review: I've read the book once through and found that it's so resourceful that I'm now going back and doing extensive notes on each chapter. You certainly don't have to do this to gain some knowledge from this book, however she goes into great detail about every aspect of poetry she mentions. Not to mention the poems she adds are works of art in themselves. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to write.

Rating:
Summary: Great for all writers.
Review: I've read the book once through and found that it's so resourceful that I'm now going back and doing extensive notes on each chapter. You certainly don't have to do this to gain some knowledge from this book, however she goes into great detail about every aspect of poetry she mentions. Not to mention the poems she adds are works of art in themselves. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to write.

Rating:
Summary: Poetry is a personal art form - I loved this one
Review: Poetry is a very personal art form, and there will always be divergent reactions to the same work. I have read several textbooks and anthologies. This may not be the strongest text or the broadest anthology, yet taken as a whole it is the most inspiring book about poetry I have ever read. This is a text that stirs the readers emotions to someting other than boredom. It was refreshing to find a text that admits that the scansion of a poem is not set in concrete but can be open to interpretation. The selection of poems is broad and avoids the flood of dated political "poems" that have dominated college texts in years past. Any professor would do well to include this in their book list. I am amazed that any teacher would think a course in poetry or literature could be taught from only one text.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent primer for the beginning poet
Review: The Discovery of Poetry is not only an excellent reference for various forms and styles, it is an excellent anthology for the person who has an interest in poetry, but who is unsure of what to buy. If you could only afford to buy two books on poetry, this should be one of them!