Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms

by Babette Deutsch

The classic reference work—an invaluable sourcebook for poets and readers

Genres: Poetry, Reference, Writing, Nonfiction, Dictionaries, Crafts

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

1895-1982

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these kinds of books and read them from beginning to end.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does not have every possible term of rhetoric, is not an all-purpose writer's manual. It is a scholarly garland of terms in and for poetry with many examples that make it good for a browse, like an anthology.
Thirteen pages on rhyme present many variants with examples, like "eye rhyme," "broken rhyme," consonance, vowel rhyme, "backward rhyme." John Crowe Ramsom blurbed the first edition (1962) "It is comprehensive and modern, and lavishly provided with apt quotations, and it not only instructs but gives pleasure." Amen, brother.

[Spike Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, long out of print, this book is a wonderful reference guide to the art of poetry, with a focus on the more classic forms used in the bulk of Western poetry for the past 500 years, as opposed to giving undue weight to the modernists clamoring about at the time of its writing.

Now that the modernists and the even more nihilistic post-modernists have won their kulturekampf against the lyric and verse, it's nigh impossible to find books on writing poetry in the traditional ways, or explaining the multitude of forms possible, complete with technical exegesis.

If you find a used copy of this, or Judson Jerome's book of poetry, by all means, snap it up and treasure it.

[Tasha Cotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE handbook. A trusty resource.

[Kevin Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a professional writer and formalist poet, this is my "go to" book. Cannot recommend it more highly.

[Talbot Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource, written with wit, care, and abounding in examples.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really a poetry expert anymore (if I ever was) but this seemed like a useful reference as I read through a collection of formal poetry.

[HeavyReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am going to confess that I have not read this book cover to cover, but that I have given up on ever doing so.

I ordered a used copy of this book while I was on my writing retreat at the Harveyville Project in Harveyville, Kansas. I thought it would give me a better understanding of poetry, give me a better grounding in the art of poetry. Boy, was i wrong!

Here's what I wrote about this book for my zine August in Harveyville: Halfway through my month in Harveyville, I ordered a used copy of Poetry Handbook by Babette Deutsch, thinking it would give me a more complete understanding of poetic forms. Instead, I found nearly every entry written in such academic “poet-ese” that most of the time I had no idea what the author was getting at. I’m a smart gal, but this book is mostly above my head, as if Babette were trying to separate the people with Master of Fine Arts degrees from the riff raff like me. I will be reaching for this book next time I can’t sleep…

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for me as I was learning to write poetry.

[Liaken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as helpful as The Poet's Dictionary by William Packard. The definitions often lack what is needed to make the term clear.