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The Cambridge Guide to Reading Poetry
At the heart of this book is a belief that poetry matters, and that it enables us to enjoy and understand life. In this accessible guide, Andrew Hodgson equips the reader for the challenging and rewarding experience of unlocking poetry, considering the key questions about language, technique, feeling and subject matter which illuminate what a poem has to say. In a lucid and sympathetic manner, he considers a diverse range of poets writing in English to demonstrate how their work enlarges our perception of ourselves and our world. The process of independent research is modeled step-by-step, as the guide shows where to start, how to develop ideas, and how to draw conclusions. Providing guidance on how to plan, organise and write essays, close readings and commentaries, from initial annotation to final editing, this book will provide you with the confidence to discover and express your own personal response to poetry.
- GenresPoetryNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
Published February 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 11, 2025
actually normal language but chapter 1 being 2/3 of the book had me dying
January 23, 2024
The writing feels condescending and made me hate myself, doubt my intelligence, and never want to read poetry again. The contents are contradictory, arrogant, and closed minded.
March 25, 2025
“Poems combine two valuable things: beauty and truth.”
“In the deepest and most lasting art, the imagination confronts and accommodates itself to reality, rather than fleeing it; it is shaped by, and gives shape to, an understanding of the conditions of this world.”
“…the question of what a poem is: a struggle in words to clarify experience, to find order amid the randomness of life, to redeem the transience of existence by giving it lasting shape.”
“Much of the most affecting poetry comes from an effort to control and not display feeling.”
“To read poetry is to embrace the fact that there are — and have been — people with more ample and nuanced visions of the world than our own: people with quicker wit, more lively imaginations, a more magisterial command of language. Enjoy their company.”
“In the deepest and most lasting art, the imagination confronts and accommodates itself to reality, rather than fleeing it; it is shaped by, and gives shape to, an understanding of the conditions of this world.”
“…the question of what a poem is: a struggle in words to clarify experience, to find order amid the randomness of life, to redeem the transience of existence by giving it lasting shape.”
“Much of the most affecting poetry comes from an effort to control and not display feeling.”
“To read poetry is to embrace the fact that there are — and have been — people with more ample and nuanced visions of the world than our own: people with quicker wit, more lively imaginations, a more magisterial command of language. Enjoy their company.”
May 9, 2025
The fact that I read this book and had to take notes on it, yet didn’t understand a WORD of what this man was talking about half the time.
It felt so patronizing and so condescending and I felt stupid for losing the plot, when the author was just yapping about his interpretations.
If you want a guide on reading poetry, do not read this. You’ll leave more confused than ever. If you want to read poetry, just jump in and do it.
It felt so patronizing and so condescending and I felt stupid for losing the plot, when the author was just yapping about his interpretations.
If you want a guide on reading poetry, do not read this. You’ll leave more confused than ever. If you want to read poetry, just jump in and do it.
December 29, 2023
Did its job perfectly
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews