The Sounds of Poetry : A Brief Guide

Rating:
Summary: Not for those new to poetry
Review: As one who is trying to learn about poetry, I found this book way beyond me. For those who are well-versed, looking at the sound of poetry may be a wonderful new way to approach the matter. The book begins, for example, with a long discussion on how words are accented. The word accented has a stressed first syllable, while example has a stressed second syllable. While I'm sure this has a profound effect at some deep lever, for those who simply want to know how to understand poetry at the most basic level, this doesn't help.

Rating:
Summary: fundamental, crucial stuff to be aware of
Review: for an appreciation of poetry. The sounds of poetry were one of the most important aspects of western poetry before Homer, when the sounds were integral pnemonics for poems to be remembered by many people in many places for long times. Homer's epics were known by rote for their sounds. Language's sounds & music are still one of the most important aspects of poetry today; I think they always will be. Poetics run deep, & with poetry so much is invested in the sounds. This is absolutely the best resource I know for a student of poetry to begin to develop an ear for poetry. To continue to develop it of course you need to care, & you need to read. Pinsky has been doing great services to poetry throughout his career as poet & scholar. I hope this review has been useful to you.

Rating:
Summary: fundamental, crucial stuff to be aware of
Review: for an appreciation of poetry. The sounds of poetry were one of the most important aspects of western poetry before Homer, when the sounds were integral pnemonics for poems to be remembered by many people in many places for long times. Homer's epics were known by rote for their sounds. Language's sounds & music are still one of the most important aspects of poetry today; I think they always will be. Poetics run deep, & with poetry so much is invested in the sounds. This is absolutely the best resource I know for a student of poetry to begin to develop an ear for poetry. To continue to develop it of course you need to care, & you need to read. Pinsky has been doing great services to poetry throughout his career as poet & scholar. I hope this review has been useful to you.

Rating:
Summary: Will make you more aware about how poetry sounds!
Review: I have been a fairly big poetry fan for awhile now, but never have been able to pick up how subtle poetry really is. If you are like me and have read poems before, and have felt the frustration in not being able to explain why they sound so wonderful, this book is for you. For instance, who would have known that juxtaposing words with Germnaic and Latin roots can often produce a pleasing effect? Pinsky will allow you to pick up on this.

Some have said that Pinsky is dry and condescending in this work. It's true, Pinsky talks about poetry in a way devoid of all mysticism, but I think this no-nonesense and more objective approach is wonderful. Additionally, I don't see any actual condescension in the work. P's goal is not only to be simple, but also to show how misleading usual terminology can be. However, paradoxically, it is knowledge of what this terminology means and how it is useful, along with how Pinsky's ability to describe how subtle the sounds of poetry are that will teach you how to talk about poetry intelligently, if only with yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Will make you more aware about how poetry sounds!
Review: I have been a fairly big poetry fan for awhile now, but never have been able to pick up how subtle poetry really is. If you are like me and have read poems before, and have felt the frustration in not being able to explain why they sound so wonderful, this book is for you. For instance, who would have known that juxtaposing words with Germnaic and Latin roots can often produce a pleasing effect? Pinsky will allow you to pick up on this.

Some have said that Pinsky is dry and condescending in this work. It's true, Pinsky talks about poetry in a way devoid of all mysticism, but I think this no-nonesense and more objective approach is wonderful. Additionally, I don't see any actual condescension in the work. P's goal is not only to be simple, but also to show how misleading usual terminology can be. However, paradoxically, it is knowledge of what this terminology means and how it is useful, along with how Pinsky's ability to describe how subtle the sounds of poetry are that will teach you how to talk about poetry intelligently, if only with yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Beginning metaphor mentality
Review: Now I read some of it. Rabbit or perhaps Jack rabbit would add stress for Pat. My Grandfather was an English Professor at ASU for 15 or more years teaching English. He wrote or Co-wrote a series of English grammar books from grades 1 through 8. I failed English as a freshman in Highschool. I believe Poetry has helped me to awaken the writer inside me. I could go on and on about me and more me!!!!!! I'm considering College seriously. Art/Humanities. If monet was alive, we would have much to talk about... God bless, CA Conlin

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: Robert Pinsky's book "The Sound of Poetry" emphasizes the formal elements of poetry. His exploration of poetry centers on the premise that poetry is a musical art form that harmonizes the audible elements. Pinksy lucidly illumines the everyday reader into the mystery of verse. His careful analysis of poetic structure and rhythms get at what the core of a great poem is. While in this attempt he sometimes tries to phrase the inexpressible he still manages to make the reader understand his point. The inexactness of language which sometimes fails in prose, becomes the same basis for beautiful poetry.

While aimed more precisley at young poets, any english speaker who has the patience to stick with this worthy tome can gain an increased understanding of the nature of the language that can only expand and inform his or her own poetry and prose and broaden the richness of his or her life experience.

Rating:
Summary: Exhibit A: "Thunk-thunketta-tink-THUNK!"
Review: There is some entertainment value in watching esteemed and honorable men do stupid stuff. Exhibit A: Poet Laureate Pinsky scanning a line of Frost's as "thunk-thunketta-tink-THUNK."

The long and the short of it is: as evidenced by his acts as Poet Laureate, his appearances in the media, and now by this book, Pinsky wants to put poetry back in the mouths of "everyday people" -- a noble enough idea, especially if one doesn't think too much about the Nor'eastern academy elitism that it implies.

But that condescension is hard to get away from in "The Sounds of Poetry." The "thunketta" incident is only one of several places in this book where Pinsky comes off as wooden and as arrogant as Al Gore: "I'm... going... to speak... very... slowly. Especially if... I have to use... big words." Pinsky would do best just to make his points without all the hubbub of bringing it down to our level.

In the final analysis, Pinsky's "non-technical" approach makes his points impossible to grasp -- unless you already know what he's talking about. A beginner won't learn from this book to appreciate meter, and people who already scan well will not walk away from the book feeling their powers expanded.

As his appearance on "Charlie Rose" demonstrated, Pinsky is a charismatic and passionate proponent of poetry. But in this book, he harms his cause; his title as Poet Laureate automatically makes this some sort of "definitive guide" in the public mind, and frankly, it's not a good enough book to hold that status. Newcomers will come here first, and, I fear, walk away scratching their heads.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book, But...
Review: This book enlightened me regarding both the nuts-and-bolts and the art of poetry. I would recommend it to a thoughtful reader.

However, I had to read a couple of sections more than once, and it took me a while to get through it. I'd say it's a little bit "wordy."

I learned from it. I'm glad I read it. I now appreciate more of the remarkable "language behind the language."

Rating:
Summary: Enhanced poetry appreciation
Review: This is obviously not the first book to explore poetry from an angle other than the meaning of its words -- for another example, see John Ciardi's "How Does a Poem Mean?". Nonetheless, it's a very readable discussion of one of the things that distinguishes poetry from prose -- the importance of how it sounds, either spoken aloud or spoken in the reader's mind. I love to read poetry, and this book has given me a new layer of understanding -- both of poems themselves and of what I enjoy about them.