How to Think Like a Poet: The Poets That Made Our World and Why We Need Them

by Dai George

An entertaining guide to history's most influential and inspiring poets – from Homer and Sappho to Shakespeare and Frank O'Hara – and how they can teach us to better understand the world around us.

How did the greatest poets in history make the world anew? And what can we learn from the magic, wisdom and humour of their poetry? From the genius of the Ancient Greeks through to the love poetry and metaphysics of the Renaissance, through to the New York poets of the 20th century, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest writers of the human age.

Through short, biographical portraits, poet and writer Dai George provides an entertaining introduction to the great works of poetry, and a welcoming guide to how we can read them. He addresses questions poets have grappled How can we truly describe the world? How can we express love, grief or friendship? How can poetry help us to understand justice, dreams or anger?

This book paints vivid pictures of a global selection of renowned poets throughout from Sappho, Li Bai and Rumi, to William Shakespeare and John Donne, to Frank O Hara, Pablo Neruda and Sylvia Plath. George also seeks to re-examine the canon, traditionally dominated by Western, white and male poets, and bring to light major figures from other important cultures and communities, including China, India and the Caribbean.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2024

Reviews

[Emma Gilpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this one up because I saw it had a lot of poets that I have studied and loved over the years. Was a great read, loved being reminded of poems that I had forgotten and it was cool to learn about some new poets, including the bro who revolutionised the haiku!Took me a while to read, it’s not one you can sit down and smash out, instead more like a coffee table book (hence 3 stars)

[Cannon Astor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, the second half of the book wasn’t very good but I did enjoy reading the first half and learning about the oldest poets from history; Especially the first few chapters. Could be my personal preferences but I found the poets from the 20th century forwards to be boring and the author didn’t have much to say, if not did not talk about them well. The final chapter is similar in that the first half is great but the second half was hard to follow and he could have ended the book much better. Overall I did learn some cool things about the history of poetry and I would say it was worth my time.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It gave a great summary of different poets, some I’d not heard of. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would be eager to read more of Dai’s work.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for an advance copy of this book that looks at the lives of poets from many lands and many times, and comments on their works and lives in ways to help readers understand their works, their words, and enrich ourselves.

I was late coming to poetry. Which is odd in that in I was also late coming to music, and when I did it was always the song lyrics that brought me in. Many a day in my teens and probably twenties was spent trying to figure out what a song meant, how did these words fit me so well. Poetry never touched me. I knew Yeats, but more his Irish mythology since I played Dungeons & Dragons. Taffy was a Welshman was a popular poem in our house, mainly because of the murder at the end, but not much else. College did nothing but make me bored with education, nd my love of literature did not carry over into poetry. Later, I found myself looking at books, reading old verse and new verse, free and extremely mannered and locked in. And discovered a world I knew was there but was blind too. Not just works and odes, but the lives of poets, their glad times and sad times, and those other times where they just existed. That's why I enjoyed this book so much. How to Think Like a Poet: The Poets That Made Our World and Why We Need Them by novelist, academic and poet Dai George is a guide to poets and their worlds, what made them, what they made and why, and how the world treated them, and why we should still care today.

The book begins with a nice introduction by George detailing what he would like to do, and how he went about it. One of the big things is that George drew on poets who were not only white males from academia, but on poets who were women, and from around the world. The book starts with Homer, the one who might have started it all, moving through time and place, covering 23 artists, with an essay on contemporary poets, and what is asked of them. The names will be familiar to most, Plath, O'Hara, Sappho, Milton, but a few others like Rabindranath Tagore though award winners, were new to my eyes. The essays give descriptions of the poets lives, their works, with examples and commentary on how or why they work, along with discussions about their legacy, and why they should still be considered worthy of reading.

In many ways even with my years of book selling, I am still new to the world of poetry. It amazes me to see in shelving books, or when I am asked if our store has anything by certain poets how new they are to me. And yet when breezing through, can't say I am reading on the job, or in discussions, how have I lived without hearing these people. George's book is one that fills quite a few gaps, and gives a better understanding of what poetry does and can do. One learns about the poets and their works, but George writes in a way that is informative and educational, but one that urges on to find works on one's own. Pick up a chapbook, read those poems in The New Yorker. Stop and listen to that person on the street. By showing what has been written George makes one want to write poems, and find others that speak to these same emotions. a very well written collection that inspires, educates and makes one want more.

Recommended for students of literature, burgeoning poets and those starting on the path of enjoying poetry. A real treat, and a book that can be read straight through, or just to dive right into.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

…it sometimes feels like poetry is the only form of language that can rise to the occasion and lend voice to our collective grief. It can’t save the world, or take the place of direct action, but if we’re lucky it might help us to think through the value of the world we’re left with in the future. from How to Think Like a Poet by Dai George

“Poetry is the art of thinking,” Dai George writes in his introduction. This book is his endeavor to understand what poets throughout history and across cultures think about. Each chapter includes a presentation of the poet’s work and life, delving into specific poems, and offering an overarching understanding of the interconnection between poets and poets and history.

The poets were part of the changing paradigms of their times: the Metaphysical, the Enlightenment, Transcendentalism, the Romantic era. They responded to Colonialism, times of war and political strife, and struggled with issues of faith and religion, and reflected the angst of the Modern world.

I appreciated this book for its insights.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out far better for me than it ended. By introducing a variety of poets in a chronological fashion, George provides insights into who the poets were and what drove their poetic works.

Once the book gets into the consideration of Bishop and later poets, it felt as though the text of the book was focusing on a critical summary of the poet, and less on the actual poetry and the thought processes that produced it. I did not get much out of the sections on Dylan Thomas, Frank O Hara, or Audre Lord.

[Rachel Kessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot. Wish I could write poetry. Certainly need to read more poetry.