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Structure & Surprise
Book on reading and teaching "difficult" poetry
244 pages, Print
First published January 1, 2007
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February 3, 2026This one is built logically enough. Each chapter defines a type of poetic structure, offers example poems, and analyzes the example poems. In some cases, variations on a theme not of Paganini are provided, too. In all cases, in addition to a few poems embedded in the chapter proper, a series of further examples are plopped at chapter's end.
There are eight structures and, at the end, a kind of non-structure that doesn't qualify as structure but qualifies as a chapter--in case you weren't happy with the first eight, maybe.
1. The Ironic Structure: "...begins with positive assertions and assumptions of truth but ends by undercutting such assertions and certainties, sometimes rather abruptly and surprisingly."
2. The Emblem Structure: "A two-part structure, it begins with an organized description of an object and culminates with a meditation on that same object. In this way, the emblem structure moves from sight to insight, from perception to reflection."
3. The Concessional Structure: Again, a two-parter "beginning with a concession, it admits something that is (or seems) counter to the position it ultimately unfolds. Concessional poems seek to persuade, and poets, like chess players, know something about strategy."
4. The Retrospective-Prospective Structure: "The first part of the structure deals with something that happened in the past or with memories of past events. Sometimes this first part reveals very private dilemmas, traumas, or feelings dear to the speaker's heart; sometimes it merely identifies past experiences. The second part of the structure expands on the first part by bringing the poem to the present moment. This involves some kind of revision, realization, or new action based on the past. Almost always the movement from the first to the second part is signaled by grammatical shifts."
5. The Elegy's Structures: "An elegy often serves as an occasion for considering numerous issues, from the political to the deeply personal, apart from the mourning of the dead...many of the elegy's conventions, including invocations and references to and calls for additional mourners, are structural."
6. The Dialectical Argument Structure. "A potent resource for exploring...internal divisions is the dialectical argument, in which the speaker or speakers of the poem inhabit by turns the perspectives of two or more partial and unsatisfying positions before finding a resolution that transcends their limitations."
7. The Descriptive-Meditative Structure: "...links description and meditation... but it names only two parts in what is essentially a three-part structure: description, meditation, and re-description."
8. The Mid-Course Turn: "... the shift in tone or reorientation of thought, known as the volta or turn... the turn can occur in a variety of places in a variety of poems."
WILDCARD: Substructure. "...they come across as random reactions to stimuli rather than participants in and practitioners of poetry's traditional patterns. Yet, in many cases, a rigorous structure guides these strange and 'difficult' poems... they possess a substructure hidden from plain view."
If, like Apollo, order is your thing, this is a book for you. If, on the other hand, you're feeling rather Dionysian these days, have yourself a laugh and pass.
There are eight structures and, at the end, a kind of non-structure that doesn't qualify as structure but qualifies as a chapter--in case you weren't happy with the first eight, maybe.
1. The Ironic Structure: "...begins with positive assertions and assumptions of truth but ends by undercutting such assertions and certainties, sometimes rather abruptly and surprisingly."
2. The Emblem Structure: "A two-part structure, it begins with an organized description of an object and culminates with a meditation on that same object. In this way, the emblem structure moves from sight to insight, from perception to reflection."
3. The Concessional Structure: Again, a two-parter "beginning with a concession, it admits something that is (or seems) counter to the position it ultimately unfolds. Concessional poems seek to persuade, and poets, like chess players, know something about strategy."
4. The Retrospective-Prospective Structure: "The first part of the structure deals with something that happened in the past or with memories of past events. Sometimes this first part reveals very private dilemmas, traumas, or feelings dear to the speaker's heart; sometimes it merely identifies past experiences. The second part of the structure expands on the first part by bringing the poem to the present moment. This involves some kind of revision, realization, or new action based on the past. Almost always the movement from the first to the second part is signaled by grammatical shifts."
5. The Elegy's Structures: "An elegy often serves as an occasion for considering numerous issues, from the political to the deeply personal, apart from the mourning of the dead...many of the elegy's conventions, including invocations and references to and calls for additional mourners, are structural."
6. The Dialectical Argument Structure. "A potent resource for exploring...internal divisions is the dialectical argument, in which the speaker or speakers of the poem inhabit by turns the perspectives of two or more partial and unsatisfying positions before finding a resolution that transcends their limitations."
7. The Descriptive-Meditative Structure: "...links description and meditation... but it names only two parts in what is essentially a three-part structure: description, meditation, and re-description."
8. The Mid-Course Turn: "... the shift in tone or reorientation of thought, known as the volta or turn... the turn can occur in a variety of places in a variety of poems."
WILDCARD: Substructure. "...they come across as random reactions to stimuli rather than participants in and practitioners of poetry's traditional patterns. Yet, in many cases, a rigorous structure guides these strange and 'difficult' poems... they possess a substructure hidden from plain view."
If, like Apollo, order is your thing, this is a book for you. If, on the other hand, you're feeling rather Dionysian these days, have yourself a laugh and pass.
April 28, 2018
Wonderful craft book with insightful examinations of how poems turn. I enjoyed this thoughtful approach to structure and strategy, the perspectives of so many strong writers and critics, the supplemental poems to each chapter/structure type, and the suggested readings and exercises.
January 29, 2018
One of the most essential books on poetic craft I've read. It's a book I've always WANTED but never knew was out there. Unlike other great craft writers like Tony Hoagland, Kim Addonizio, Robert Pinsky, and Richard Hugo among others, Theune's book isn't exactly inspirational (although the exercises in the back are quite good). But in the end, it inspires in a different way. Rather than driving imaginative content, Theune familiarizes the reader with the various structures so many poems take. As the saying goes in spiritual work, without a vessel, there can be no blessing. So too, Theune ultimately gives us this gift to teach us how to make pots, scaffolds, and towers which can elegantly hold our words.
June 20, 2011
Theune has done a remarkable job of discussing the value of poetic structure. The book is composed of nine chapters written by poets, each one examining a different structure. Each chapter starts with a thorough definition of the particular structure, some historical context, and then dissection of several poems that utilize that structure. One of the strong points of the book is that both classic and contemporary poems are discussed in relation to the structure used.
My favorite section of the book is titled Endless Structures, in which 14 contemporary poets choose one of their poems and discuss its structure.
My favorite section of the book is titled Endless Structures, in which 14 contemporary poets choose one of their poems and discuss its structure.
August 3, 2013
There was little surprise in this book about poetic structure, and although I can imagine it being a great undergraduate book on thinking about rhetorical and organization structures when writing poems, I had hoped for something a little more fulfilling.
March 27, 2025
Mike is an amazing teacher, and this book on the turn in poetry redirects our focus as poets and readers to how shifts and surprises (and even structure) bring poetry alive. I am excited to carry these lessons into my own reading and writing!
February 25, 2017
This is a worthwhile, informative book for anyone who is interested in the craft of poetry. There are ample (sometimes too many) examples of each "structure" presented. This book is an excellent introduction to how poems "mean", to quote Ciardi. Some structures, such as the "emblem" and "descriptive-meditative" seem quite similar, but the careful separation of techniques has been of immense help to my own investigation of the poetic turn.
January 11, 2009
Fabulous essays on the rhetoric of particular narrative styles, with the overall raison d'être of the anthology a series of stylistic proofs asserting that poetry best succeeds when surprises its reader, proffers more interesting rhetorical strategies and unexpected turns. The example poems are awesome.
August 6, 2007
Anyone engaged in the art of explaination or understanding what is loosely defined by those outside of poetry as "difficult" poetry.
Excellent for teachers on intro or intermediate poetry courses and those who love to read and be engaged by well-crafted essays on poetry.
Excellent for teachers on intro or intermediate poetry courses and those who love to read and be engaged by well-crafted essays on poetry.
September 12, 2008
interesting collection of essays about the "turn" a poem takes and how that informs the general structure of the piece. Each essay is written by a poet/scholar who defines a particular structure and provides semi-helpful poetic examples.
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October 24, 2007One of my favorite professors wrote this book!
October 3, 2014
Nice collection of essays about poetic strategies (the use of irony, emblems, elegy, etc.) that work across poetic formats and eras. With a wide range of poems reprinted as examples.
January 29, 2016
Pretty interesting, but I would have appreciated if more classical poems were included in the examples. Modern American poetry is too often pure prose.
June 14, 2021
Recommended by Ellen Bass in her revision workshop. So glad I bought and read it!
February 8, 2022
If your poems waffle or don't finish with a sharp turn, this book is the remedy. A well written craft book worth reading. J
October 23, 2014
Some interesting ideas about the taxonomy of poetic structure.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews