The Craft of Poetry: A Primer in Verse

by Lucy Newlyn

A wonderfully accessible handbook to the art of writing and reading poetry—itself written entirely in verse

“Reading this book, you get to know poetry from the inside, without the alienating or distracting effect of abstract definition. Knowledge of how poetry works is here imbibed not as a course of instruction but as a sustained pleasure."—Bernard O'Donoghue, University of Oxford, Winner of the Whitbread Prize for Poetry 

How does poetry work? What should readers notice and look out for? Poet Lucy Newlyn demystifies the principles of the form, effortlessly illustrating key approaches and terms—all through her own original verse. Each poem exemplifies an aspect of poetic craft—but read together they suggest how poetry can evoke a whole community and its way of life in myriad ways.
 
In a series of beautiful meditations, Newlyn guides the reader through key aspects of poetry, from sonnets and haiku to volta and synecdoche. Avoiding glosses and notes, her poems are allowed to speak for themselves, and show that there are no limits to what poetry can communicate. Newlyn’s timeless verse will appeal to lovers of poetry as well as to practitioners, teachers, and students of all ages.

Onomatopoeia
 
You’d play here all day if you had your way—
near the stepping-stones, in the clearest
of rock-pools, where water slaps and slips;
where minnows dart, and a baby trout flop-flips.

Genres: Poetry, Writing, Nonfiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2021

Reviews

[Patrícia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was such a delight to read. I don't read poetry often and even though I am always curious to try stuff that catch my interest sometimes I feel I don't give it enough credit or can't appreciate it fully. Reading something like this definitely made me understand poetry and honestly read it better. Would totally recommend for people that are trying to get into poetry and are also curious about the craft.

[Niv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would've thought that this city girl would so deeply enjoy a book of pastoral poetry? This collection of poems is a clever work of art that also doubles as an educational tool for poets. Each poem illustrates a particular poetic foundation, figure, technique, form or concept. Rather than boring us with instructional explanations, Newlyn lets her poetry do the talking.

Bursting with vivid imagery, Newlyn's crafty poems serve as a hospitable guide, gently leading the reader through the landscape of her hometown village of Appersett. Newlyn shows us how one place can be seen and then re-seen and then seen all over again from a totally different perspective. Newlyn gave a grandiose life to a place that at first glance would seem small and mundane. There are many lessons between these pages, and they aren't all about how to craft a poem.

Even when I wasn't particularly too fond of a particular poem itself, I appreciated the poem's purpose, which forced me to give it a deeper look than I would've otherwise. I wanted to pick apart exactly what Newlyn was trying to illustrate. I enjoyed the many little "Ahh, I see what you did there!" moments.

Newlyn presents herself not just as teacher but also as mentor. I appreciated the not-so-subtle urgings to the reader to try their hand at certain techniques, to resist hesitation, and to just go ahead and write. By the end of this collection, I wanted to begin taking on the challenge of taking the new tools and techniques that I'd learned to create my own world, to tell my own story.

While I did appreciate the lead-by-example style of the book, I think I might have preferred if there were also brief descriptions for each particular tool. I think it would increase the accessibility of the book as it may not always be convenient to have to look up anything that isn't understood through the poem alone. There were definitely a few concepts that I had to google to better understand.

This collection was quite an undertaking, and it was beautifully, brilliantly done. I can absolutely see myself using it as a reference and a source of inspiration again and again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lucy Newlyn for the ARC

[Whitney Pergram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A BIG THANK YOU to Yale University Press and NetGalley for the ARC of The Craft of Poetry: A Primer in Verse by Lucy Newlyn, published on April 20, 2021. Expansive in scope and powerfully evocative in style, this primer in poetry delivers on its promises. Poetry is polarizing. A dozen readers could read the same poem and take away something different. Some poetry is abstruse and the guides designed to decipher it equally so. Newlyn addresses this problem with the simple solution of showing rather than telling. Through her poems, the reader is free to explore the mechanisms of poetry—directly engaging with the text.

This will be an excellent resource for students, poetry lovers, and even those still on the fence about poetry and searching for direction. Newlyn is the perfect guide for this purpose. I received an advanced e-copy of this book but would request a hard copy should one become available, as I will surely return to this text and find something new with each reading. ★★★★★

From the publisher: A wonderfully accessible handbook to the art of writing and reading poetry—itself written entirely in verse. How does poetry work? What should readers notice and look out for? Poet Lucy Newlyn demystifies the principles of the form, effortlessly illustrating key approaches and terms—all through her own original verse. Each poem exemplifies an aspect of poetic craft—but read together they suggest how poetry can evoke a whole community and its way of life in myriad ways.

In a series of beautiful meditations, Newlyn guides the reader through key aspects of poetry, from sonnets and haiku to volta and synecdoche. Avoiding glosses and notes, her poems are allowed to speak for themselves, and show that there are no limits to what poetry can communicate. Newlyn’s timeless verse will appeal to lovers of poetry as well as to practitioners, teachers, and students of all ages.

Onomatopoeia

You’d play here all day if you had your way—
near the stepping-stones, in the clearest
of rock-pools, where water slaps and slips;
where minnows dart, and a baby trout flop-flips.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 20 April 2021
#TheCraftofPoetry #NetGalley

[Katie Karnehm-Esh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept of the book and the way the poems model the forms and concepts of poetry. I am not wowed by most of the poems, but for the purposes of the book they're very useful.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

really mixed feelings about this book. though the concept of teaching poetic devices through poetry is very clever, the book was hard to get through due to its INCREDIBLY repetitive diction. i can’t count just how many times the word “beck” is used in the book and i think i would have gone insane if i heard it used once more. the quality of the poetry throughout the book varied, however most poems were somewhat of a miss to me. the book was great in that it gave solid examples of poetic devices, however the absence of any explanation of these devices also made it hard to learn from it.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea: showing the different poetry and language concepts, techniques and tools by presenting example poems specifically written to show those things. The execution was a bit lacking, however: there were ONLY the poems, no definitions or short explanations of the terms themselves, so the reader is left trying to figure out exactly what to get out of the poems.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Newlyn is a retired professor of English Literature from Oxford. In this delightful and creative book of poetry, she teaches the craft of writing poetry, exclusively through her own poems.

The poems are set in a rural English countryside and village of her childhood. The "beck" (stream) that runs through the countryside is continually featured in her poems. Having grown up in rural Northern Illinois, the poems stirred memories and imagination from my own childhood, as well as many resurrecting many places and events I have experienced since. I borrowed the book from my library, but have ordered my own copy (even though I'm not buying all that many books in my retirement.) I want to read in it, again and again, when my spirit needs to be comforted or uplifted.

In addition to the beck, she also vividly portrays sheep, farmers, the local pub, young lovers, newlyweds, death, memories of the past when trains went through the countryside, cheesemaking, meadows, long hours of wandering through hills, and the many times she crossed the beck to get to something she was seeking.

Each poem is titled by the concept she is illustrating: rhyme, rhythm, symbol, metaphor, simile, echo, analogy, Iambic pentameter, Iambic tetrameter, half-rhyme, personification, oxymoron, hyperbole, anaphora, lyric, epic, epistle, Haiku, ballad, free verse... There are 137 poetic concepts, each illustrated by one of her poems about this enchanted place. There are no explanations of any of these concepts beyond the example given in the poem called by its name. You will need another handbook to get definitions... or look them up on the internet.

It is a delightful and informative book, the poems are remarkable in their own right, and it is an overflowing guide to anyone who wants to write anything, not just poetry.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book of poems that demonstrate poetic forms and techniques, each poem exemplifies a quality of verse like the following lines embodying two kinds of rhythm:

Trochee stamps with heavy foot,
clad in thickest walking boot.
Iambics move with steady pace,
no need to hurry or to race.

(Yet foot does not rhyme with boot, the vowel in boot is longer.)


It was an enjoyable book of verse, and here are some of my favourite lines:


1- this is your memory, a dream
you carry with you all the time –
but things are not as they might seem.

2- The meaning runs from side to side
but look from top to bottom too
and notice how it mirrors you.
In rhyme new meanings hide.

3- The trees are always trees, but sometimes
you make them beseeching hands, liſted in prayer
or offering giſts; sometimes falling or tangled hair.

4- Patter patter, how these thoughts do scatter.
Wonder why it’s always nursery rhymes
come back in the rain, perhaps the rhythm.
Tum-ti-tum, tum-ti-tum.
Oh look, those wallflowers
are doing well; love the smell, love the clumps of them
against the wall, must tell Agnes.

5- Strange are the meanings of your words
when subject and object change around,
although the verb stays in between –
or adjectives are heard anew,
more prominent in tone and sound.

6- Over and over you hear this single line:
‘the crow makes wing to the rooky wood’ –
which haunts you doubly when it’s paired with rhyme,
returning slightly modified each time
so that it’s always newly understood.
‘e crow makes wing to the rooky wood.’
You hear it now, recalling how you stood
high on the viaduct’s old railway line,
watching the sun go down over the wood.

[Renae Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Craft of Poetry by Lucy Newlyn is a creative reimagining to help learn and explore the poetic forms and devices. It walks its talk you might say, instead of explaining at length what each poetic term means, Newlyn wrote a poem playing with each of the terms and demonstrating how to execute them effectively.

I found them most helpful when I already knew what the term meant and was able to pick out how she used it. While clearer definitions would have been helpful to me, the lack thereof was a stylistic choice on the author's part and Newlyn often intertwined the meaning of the device between the mountains and rivers. And while sometimes vague, it was often effectively and ingeniously done. For example, one of my favourites of the poems titled, "Zeugma,"

"You can switch quickly from side to side by letting verbs slide, changing their function.
The milk churn sits on the milk-stand and easy in your mind.
The beck carries meaning and broken twigs from trees that sway above them in the wind.
The current floats an idea and brown drifting leaves which swirl about, driven by the power of water.
You catch John’s drift and a bad cold from listening to him too long, standing on the bridge, smoking at night in winter."


There were many terms, like Prosopopoeia, Catachresis, Bathos and Sestina that I had never come across before, that piqued my interest and that I'm excited to put some of them to use in my own poetry. While I don't prefer poetry about nature and scenery and would have enjoyed more variation in the topic, the poems served their purpose and often, beautifully so. I'm definitely going to be referring to this book in the future.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an innovative book- a book of poems that teaches you about poetry as you read it. If you enjoy poetry at all, reading it, writing it, or both, you'll love this book. Taken on its own, it's a very enjoyable book of poems connected to each other by a central theme- the pastoral landscape of the author's childhood years in Appersett, a hamlet near Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales in England, primarily centered on the nearby beck, or stream. The poems are lovely and evocative, and you'll feel like you know the place by the time you've finished the book. If all this book was was a poetry collection, I'd still give it five stars.
This isn't just a collection of poetry, however; each poem is an example of a specific aspect of poetry, including terms, i.e. allusion, metaphor, couplet, etc.; forms, i.e. haiku and other Japanese poetry forms, free verse, elegy, etc.; and more. So if, for example, you read the poem titled "Allegory," it will be written as an allegory. This method makes learning about these aspects much more clear and interesting, and much more likely to stick in your brain. Newlyn doesn't use glosses or notes, because her aim is to show rather than tell, but if you need help, Google is readily available. I came away from this with a better understanding and appreciation of poetry, and you will too. A gem of a book!

#TheCraftofPoetry #NetGalley

[AcademicEditor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I teach poetry, and am always looking for resources. This is a collection of poems set in the author's childhood, all of which illustrate the various concepts and technical terms related to poetry. So there is a page for simile,
metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, symbol, etc.

The author writes in the foreword:
"The Craft of Poetry sets out to build a bridge between academic and practical methods of instruction, using my own verse (freshly written for the purpose) to introduce and exemplify key poetic figures, techniques, forms and concepts. The book is simultaneously a collection of poems about a remembered place and a handbook guiding the reader in the art of writing/reading poetry. My aim has been to bypass the difficulties that readers oft en experience with technical terminology, which can seem dry and unappealing."

Having read the book, I would have rather have had most of this list of terms, but explained and illustrated by more well-known poems that you could encourage the students to memorize. Not scaffolding these terms leaves all the burden on the instructor.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I don't understand poetry. That's really weird because I have a MA in English Literature. But, I want to understand poetry so I undertook Lucy Newlyn's book, The Craft of Poetry, to help me recognize what I didn't absorb in seven years of undergraduate and graduate work.

She shows us more forms of poetry than I ever knew existed. Each form is illustrated by one of her poems written in the style she's presenting. All the poems revolve around a beck, a local word for a stream. Even though I'm not much of a poetry reader, these are some lovely pastoral poems. They made me feel like I was walking or dreaming beside the beck and the surrounding countryside. Some poems are hopeful, some sad (lost lambs) some are funny. All are appealing.

I write short stories but I haven't tried writing poetry since high school. Yes, I avoided poetry classes in college. I can see me buying The Craft of Poetry as a reference book because I'll try my hand at poetry. Her examples are easier to understand than are some of the "how-to" poetry books out there. Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to review this ARC ebook.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a brilliant concept and how masterfully and playfully executed. A complete range of the poetry styles, techniques, and approaches explained entirely in verse. So you can learn from, get acquainted with, and more deeply understand all of them while enjoying the poetry itself.

I can imagine this book to become a must-have for students and avid writers/readers of poetry, because it will serve as a unique supplement to the already existing theoretical books.

However, for a newbie like me this wasn't as enjoyable and educational a read as I hoped and expected it to be. There are no explanations whatsoever on the actual meaning of each technique, style, approach...I was supposed to be led by the verse and feel/understand the flow, the meaning, etc.
This was just too confusing for me and I didn't want to Google them every single time. I know the author left this out on purpose, but again: for a newbie to poetry like myself this was a bit frustrating.

A generous 3,5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley

[Biljana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be an excellent companion to a more traditional book "about" techniques, and I can see it being used in many classrooms, for years to come. I applaud the author's scope and the challenge of putting this book together, and think she's set a model that can be played with and built on.

The poems themselves are generally delightful, but uneven. I found the strongest ones to be in the sections on Figures, Forms, and Concepts. The section on Techniques is hampered by the project itself - sticking rigidly to the technique in question, and building a poem around any particular technique. It's necessarily somewhat forced YET, I can also imagine that that would be the section that I return to, again and again, for an easily accessed example of the technique. So as an index, it works beautifully.

If you are considering this as a gift, I think the casual reader of poetry might enjoy this less than the student of poetry.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful surprise! A book about reading and writing poetry written in verse! Genius! I decided to read this entire book out loud and even shared several of the poems with my children during our homeschool writing lessons. We all throughly enjoyed reading through this expertly crafted book. What better way to learn about the beat and flow of poetry than to write a poem about just that? Poetry is often meant to be enjoyed over and over again and I can see this being an excellent primer for budding writers everywhere. I hope to grab a print copy when it comes out. Wonderful work from the author Lucy Newlyn on a fanciful take on teaching by illustration.

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks NetGalley!

[Calum Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a real mixed bag - as a Secondary School English teacher of 16 years, there were many terms I’d simply never heard of before. It’s twee and tenuous at times and if you’re a fan of gritty realism, you mightn’t like this…BUT

Throughout my Googling (of at least 15 things) I actually learnt or re-learnt some poetic techniques and forms to try out or experiment with…which is probably a large part of what the book aims to do.

The whole book of poems are written on the theme of ‘crossing a brook’ which at times feels like a joke that’s been over-told.

I didn’t enjoy most of the poetry but that’s personal taste.

I do recommend it though; just make sure you have Google close to hand.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review has been made possible thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Publishing for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the way this book demonstrates different parts of a poem as a poem itself. I feel that Newlyn did an excellent job in showing and not telling, and this could definitely be used as a poetry bible for past, present and future creative writing students. This would be the most useful poetry anthology, almost a bible. I am expecting many to have tags flying out from all sides.

I look forward to picking up a physical copy!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A guide to the art and craft of poetry written entirely in verse, which makes such absolute sense that you wonder why no one ever thought of it before. It makes so much sense and is easier to understand some of the rules of poetic rhythms, cadence, style when reading poems written in those ways. In addition some of the poems words do even more to describe the various poetic style they are illustrating. Very clever and innovative way of understanding poetry.

With thanks to the publisher and Net galley for an Arc in exchange for a review.

[Sara Milioni di Particelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I thank netgalley for reading the volume in change an honest review.*

A small volume of poems inspired by metrics and poetry itself. It must be original to know that the idea may appear but in the long run it bores and makes everything even heavy. So the original thing remains only the author's idea of ​​presenting a volume in poetry, on poetry.
Reading is fast certainly given the brevity of the work but I did not find it exciting.
I believe that people who are looking for originality in a book of poetry or a purely niche book can love this volume.

[laladebombay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew my mind away. It is so articulate, so demonstrative and yet so wonderfully warm that i think every school library must have a dozen of these and every child who loves writing poems should receive this on Christmas (or Eid or Diwali)

What a wonderful job! I'm looking forward to more from the writer in hopes that they will find ways of absolutely blowing my mind again.

P.S. I know, oh-so-nerdy and deliciously so!

[Swell Versed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a superbly crafted book of poems about poetry. It does build on John Hollander's "Rhyme's Reason" (which the author cites as an inspiration), which explores poetic technique mostly through verse, rather than prose explanations. I found this book to be a challenging read (from the perspective of a reader without an English/literature degree), but it is nevertheless a unique addition to the current range of poetry primers and how-to guides.

[Christiana Doucette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several Poetry Craft books now. I thought this one was intriguing. Throughout the author uses the poetic devices/forms titling each section. For someone unfamiliar with the forms and devices it might be good to keep Google on hand as the author does not always give a definition. I loved the way she played with the setting and kept the entire book set near the same beck with a bridge.

[Jenny Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poetry in this book is delightful, quite apart from its role in teaching the craft of poetry. I have used the book extensively to inform the poetry that I am currently writing for a Creative Writing course. However, I also dip into it at bedtime just for the joy of Lucy’s poetry!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, accessible, this book will introduce you to a vast variety of poetic forms by the simple process of writing a poem in each of them. Great fun, and hugely informative.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's autological, and there's autological times a few thousand. Any creative writing teacher worth their salt could easily compile a poetry lesson - "here's a sestina, this is what a Clerihew needs" - and lead by others' examples. This book turns every instruction needed in a poetry guide into verse, and strong verse at that, and also sticks indelibly to writing about one particular stretch of Yorkshire waterway the author knew as a child. It clearly goes further than many a poetry curriculum might – but is the effort worth it?

The book is definitely set out like a course of poetry lessons. We start with the groundings, looking at form, line-length, rhythm and rhyme, initially all in blank verse (except for the latter of course), and yet everything is almost a stand-alone poem showing us the different crossings over the water, and the landscape thereabouts. Figurative speech is held back to look at individually in the second lesson, and here the book might potentially lose a few. But I liked that what we needed was to get a bit of homework done of our own, and that the poems showing metonymy, synecdoche and so on were just giving a poetic essence of those figures of speech. Until we get to lesson three and the different styles of feet and stress, the writing seems to pull back from avowedly showing us what it's subject is ('Alliteration' does not constantly, interminably use it/self), for it always has that secondary purpose of building our knowledge of that Yorkshire landscape and its characters. Or is that third purpose, for not only do we get the example in every poem here, but a kind of tutorial hand on shoulder to show us what it feels like to use these techniques.

That tutorial hand is what makes this so memorable. It speaks to a second-person 'you' to posit the reader at the waterside, and more often than not the successful completion of a line, verse or poem by us is equated to having crossed the beck, going from the side of the empty page to the side where a bit of art may lie. It's also what makes something simple like 'Omission' be such a thoughtful guide, and immensely greater as fourteen lines than being just one definition on a page of many. Every potential poetic structure, from haiku up to epic (minus the teacher's favourite, the acrostic) is featured, before the advanced pupils get to further considerations, of mood, tone and intent. And it all wraps up to being just the most joyously engaging lesson imaginable. (For one thing, no other poetry lesson has had me scouring google earth to see whereof it's talking.) So don't pass the chance of buying this by, and never assume to go finding this in a charity shop. "It will need the air to turn blue" indeed. No, this one's a keeper.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of nature poems has a fascinating concept: it's a book that teaches you how to read it as it goes.

The poems are grouped under sections such as foundations, figures, techniques, and form. I love the poems on onomatopoeia and metrical feet, which I can see being used to teach the concepts very effectively in classrooms - part of the poet’s stated intent.

It does help if you have some understanding of the poems’ headings (which include Chiasmic Rhyme and Archaism) to get the full appreciation of what they’re trying to do, but for learning and illumination on the techniques of poetry, they’re really useful, and the poetry is accessible even if you’ve got no interest in learning the difference between symbol and allegory.