Doorways to Poetry

by Louis Untermeyer

Doorways to Poetry is a basic introduction to poetry. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the writing and appreciation of the art. Untermeyer presents in a clear and direct manner the fundamentals of a poets craft. To provide the reader with examples of the basics he presents a rich portfolio of classic poetic works to underscore the nature, diction, types and forms. Hundreds of poets are included in this collection.

Genres: Poetry

532 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Louis Untermeyer was the author, editor or compiler, and translator of more than one hundred books for readers of all ages. He will be best remembered as the prolific anthologist whose collections have introduced students to contemporary American poetry since 1919. The son of an established New York jeweler, Untermeyer's interest in poetry led to friendships with poets from three generations, including many of the century's major writers. His tastes were eclectic. Martin Weil related in the Washington Post that Untermeyer once "described himself as 'a bone collector' with 'the mind of a magpie.'" He was a liberal who did much to allay the Victorian myth that poetry is a high-brow art. "What most of us don't realize is that everyone loves poetry," he was quoted by Weil as saying, pointing out the rhymes on the once-ubiquitous Burma Shave road signs as an example.

Untermeyer developed his taste for literature while still a child. His mother had read aloud to him from a variety of sources, including the epic poems "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Hiawatha." Bedtime stories he told to his brother Martin combined elements from every story he could remember, he revealed in Bygones: The Recollections of Louis Untermeyer. When he learned to read for himself, he was particularly impressed by books such as Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Dante's Inferno. Gustave Dore's illustrations in these books captivated him and encouraged his imagination toward fantasy. Almost fifty years later, Untermeyer published several volumes of retold French fairy tales, all illustrated by the famous French artist.

In addition to children's books and anthologies, Untermeyer published collections of his own poetry. He began to compose light verse and parodies during his teen years after dropping out of school to join his father's business. With financial help from his father, he published First Love in 1911. Sentiments of social protest expressed in the 1914 volume Challenge received disapproval from anti-communist groups forty years later; as a result of suspicion, Untermeyer lost his seat on the "What's My Line" game show panel to publisher Bennett Cerf. During the 1970s, he found himself "instinctively, if incongruously, allied with the protesting young," he wrote in the New York Times. In the same article he encouraged the spirit of experiment that characterized the decade, saying, "it is the non-conformers, the innovators in art, science, technology, and human relations who, misunderstood and ridiculed in their own times, have shaped our world." Untermeyer, who did not promote any particular ideology, remained a popular speaker and lecturer, sharing criticism of poetry and anecdotes about famous poets with audiences in the United States and as far away as India and Japan.

Untermeyer resigned from the jewelry business in 1923 in order to give all his attention to literary pursuits. Friendships with Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Arthur Miller, and other literary figures provided him with material for books. For example, The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer contains letters selected from almost fifty years of correspondence with the New England poet. The anthologist's autobiographies From Another World and Bygones relate as much about other writers as they do about his personal life. Bygones provides his reflections on the four women who were his wives. Jean Starr moved to Vienna with Untermeyer after he became a full-time writer; Virginia Moore was his wife for about a year; Esther Antin, a lawyer he met in Toledo, Ohio, married him in 1933; fifteen years later, he married Bryna Ivens, with whom he edited a dozen books for children.

In his later years, Untermeyer, like Frost, had a deep appreciation for country life. He once told Contemporary Authors: "I live on an abandoned farm in Connecticut ... ever since I found my native New York unlivable as well as unlovable.... On these green and sometimes arctic acres I cultivate wha

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the reading resolutions that surfaced this year was to really try to get into poetry. I've always been a solid prose appreciator. While I am not crazy about most prose poetry, I also haven't really ever taken the time to try to slow down and appreciate regular, old school rhyming poetry either. I'm thinking of it in the way that I might look at a piece of art or listen to a specific piece of music.

Someone commenting on Anthony Esolen's Word & Song daily newsletter, which I've been reading for about a month, thanked him for pointing toward this book as a "doorway in." Obviously the book is well named. I received my copy yesterday and read about the first twenty pages over the course of the day. So far, it is delightful. It is opening doors slowly and easily and is a pleasure to read. This will be a slow read for me, but I'm really looking forward to it.

[Dan Yingst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by Anthony Esolen, an excellent introduction, probably would have been even better if I’d done the exercises suggested at the end of every chapter. Always good to return to the basics.

[Patrick Donohue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession: I don’t like poetry. Or rather — I thought I didn’t.

If it wasn’t a poem by Edgar Allan Poe or Shell Silverstein (I know Prayer of the Selfish Child by heart) I wasn’t interested.

Poetry seems so much less developed than prose, and I always struggled with the actual process of reading. The pace or tune in my head would always trip up. I could never wrap my head around the process. In addition, I whenever I encounter a false rhyme (often the product of dialects and English’s ever-changing nature), I’m immediately taken out of poem. (I still cringe even I read lines where the author clearly thinks the word “blood” rhymes with “food” or “mood” — it probably did 200 years ago but nowadays it’s awkward.

So when I stumbled across this 1930s textbook designed to encourage poetry-skeptics to enjoy the form, I decided to give it a shot.

I’ve always wanted to like poetry, but so many poems have left me cold or confused.

The matter is simple. I don’t like *bad* poems. Who does?

This book is excellent, even 100 years later. The author, an anthologizer and poet himself, writes with astonishing clarity, never condescending to the reader. Nearly every page has a poem of some kind, good, bad, or mediocre. Untermeyer demonstrates an encyclopedic mind and an undeniable love for the art form that is utterly infectious. Every point he makes, whether discussing the power of figurative language or the annoying effect of overusing alliteration, is substantiated with examples. This book isn’t a rambling tome about the magic of poetry. Magic is present, but Untermeyer is the sort of magician who wants the audience to understand how the trick works.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was the author’s use of comparisons. “Here’s an example of a poem that does X effectively and here’s one that doesn’t.” For a layman, those comparisons were really interesting.

There’s a great chapter on developing aesthetic taste (for me, narrative poems, ballads, and romantic works are infinitely more appealing than the ever-common nature poem. As a rural person, I find such musings repetitive and often the product of urban fascination with the quaintness of the countryside. Cliche, cliche, cliche.)

This book is a fantastic introduction to the world of poetry appreciation. I didn’t agree with all of the author’s aesthetic views and critical judgement (I was not impressed by the selections from Walt Witman and Robert Frost), but he opened my eyes to poets I had previously disliked. I’ll be sure to check out the major poems of Edmond Spencer and Robert Browning for instance. Perhaps I’ll pick up one of untermeyer’s many anthologies!

Some of my favorite poems from this book:

The Rime of the Ancient Marriner
Lord Randall (irresistibly musical(
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
The Highwayman (simply excellent)

Highly recommended, even for a “hater” such as myself.

[Judson Marvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a joy to read. It makes me appreciate good poets and helps me recognize it when I see it. I might be inspired to try some poetry because of this good...