Sleeping on the Wing: An Anthology of Modern Poetry with Essays on Reading and Writing

by Kenneth Koch, Kate Farrell

This book is specifically for high school students, though it is useful to college students and anyone interested in the art and craft of poetry. Koch and Farrell, experienced teachers as well as poets, write about poetry in such a way that students will find it accessible and interesting. The book includes selections of poetry by twenty-three poets, among them Dickinson, Hopkins, Pound, Williams and Eliot, as well as Ginsberg, O'Hara, Baraka and Ashbery. There is also the translated work of such modern European poets such as Lorca, Rilke, Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Mayakowsky.

Genres: Poetry, Read For School, Anthologies, Writing, Poetry Plays, Essays, Teaching

313 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Kenneth Koch is most often recognized as one of the four most prominent poets of the 1950s-1960s poetic movement "the New York School of Poetry" along with Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery and James Schuyler. The New York School adopted the avant-garde movement in a style often called the "new" avant-garde, drawing on Abstract Expressionism, French surrealism and stream-of-consciousness writing in the attempt to create a fresh genre free from cliché. In his anthology The New York Poets, Mark Ford writes, "In their reaction against the serious, ironic, ostentatiously well-made lyric that dominated the post-war poetry scene, they turned to the work of an eclectic range of literary iconoclasts, eccentrics and experimenters."

Fiercely anti-academic and anti-establishment, Koch's attitude and aesthetic were dubbed by John Ashbery his "missionary zeal." Ford calls him "the New York School poet most ready to engage in polemic with the poetic establishment, and the one most determined to promote the work of himself and his friends to a wider audience." Koch died of leukemia at age 77, leaving a legacy of numerous anthologies of both short and long poems, avant-garde plays and short stories, in addition to nonfiction works dealing with aesthetics and teaching poetry to children and senior citizens.

Reviews

[Cynthia Arrieu-King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Roses are Red for an older set, and great for the class on how to teach poetry in community arts venues for my students.

[M. M. Sana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a great collection of all of the great poets. It is meant for college level students and it is meant to be instructional to help analyze poetry and write poetry, encouraging different styles. A selection of all of the great poets (dead and alive) are in this book: Whitman, Hopkins, Rimbaud, Yeats, Stein, Rilke, Stevens, Apollinaire, Williams, Lawrence, Pound, Mayakowsky, Cummings, Lorca, Auden, Ginsberg, O'Hara, Ashbery, Snyder, Jones, Koch (the editor) and my personal favorite Emily Dickinson. I really liked that after each author's section there is a note about the author followed by an assignment giving instructions to write about an idea or in a certain style. It has some good exercises to break through a writer's block. Great for a poetry class, which is where I started reading it.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Next year, as part of a writer-in-residence gig, I'll teach high school students. I'm going to use this book, among others. Most creative writing books drive me nuts and so I've never used any before. (They seem to so emphasize biography over craft, for instance). I like Koch's light touch here. His essays are a bit too loosely written and cute for me, but he gives great prompts. The lineation gets screwed up for a number of poets, and he does excerpt, but we'll work with that.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptional little anthology of modern poetry for anyone, including beginners, with straightforward & insightful introductory essays, a very slim selection, and instructions for writing poems "in the style of," which (even if you don't do it) is illuminating. Includes Bishop and O'Hara as well as Stevens and Eliot, IIRC.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great intro poetry anthology for college-level students, even though it's technically for high school students, and looks kind of like a children's book. It's much better than 2/3 of the anthologies out there...a good selection - challenging and offbeat.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book I read for a poetry class. This book also gives some good advice/exercises for those wanting to write poetry. It is broken down into authors and gives some background on the poets which helps to understand their poetry in some cases.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book of poetry i experienced.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

For high school students (I hear) but I really enjoyed the selections and the short essays that followed.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contains some great suggestions for writing poems, especially for younger writers.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but boring.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry is hard to undestand.

[Tim Nason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️ Designed for use by teachers, the book has a great selection of poems by poets using a wide range of styles, with a brief but substantive commentary about each poet and suggestions for students about writing in particular ways. Our copy is a small and lightweight paperback making it easy to carry around (unlike many poetry anthologies). A great introductory compendium.

[L.B. Sedlacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you write poetry, or want to learn to write poems then this is a must read! It presents poems from well known poets, provides a brief explanation of their work and then offers writing exercises or prompts. It’s an easy use guide for beginner poets and a good refresher for established poets as well. I really learned a lot from it.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a senior citizen, generally well educated but never having paid much attention to poetry until a few years ago. This book is explicitly for high school students and surely too simplistic for experienced poets or advanced students of poetry, but for me it has been an excellent overview, expanding my understanding of poets I have already read and introducing me usefully to many other poets.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent anthology for a poetry writing workshop.

[Kayla Jauss]

I’m not even gonna rate this bc I had to read it for school and although I couldn’t understand half of it and didn’t really like it, I wouldn’t have picked it up on my own.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poets included in this anthology are diverse in their stylistic and topical considerations, and all of them are poets that the young poet can learn from.

The essays on reading each poet's work are incredibly helpful. Koch and Farrell's analyses and insights on each poet capture the poetry well, and the writing suggestions (though I have not yet completed them) seem to be particularly fresh and inspiring. This collection is a great introduction to modern poetry, and it is a fruitful read.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to poetry reading and writing for beginning students. It introduced me to some new poets of our time and gave ideas at the end of each section on how to write a poem in their style. At the end, it also gave suggestions for teachers. I like the accepting voice of the authors and their calm understanding for new writers. A good resource with a good variety.

[Betzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too brief an overview for my taste --nonetheless a solid and varied selection. A decent intro to those who aren't familiar with poetry, but conniseurs will find most these poems already occupying a space on their bookshelf.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

would like to teach it.

[Colin Small]

Selections are wonderful and essays are great. My only complaint is the lackluster Dickinson and Wallace Stevens selections. Oh well. Great otherwise.

[Daniel Beauregard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenneth Koch is really the best teacher ever.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide to writing and modern poetry.