Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse

A complete joy from start to finish. Obviously, like tonal music and figurative painting, metrical poetry is an art form that is seen as hopelessly dated by most current practitioners. But if you want to understand what Julia Donaldson is doing (as well as every major poet before 1950), here is a great place to start.

Love Mary Oliver, Brilliant book. Frances.

excellent does what its says on the cover

I returned this as it was very similar to another book I have on the same subject however if you haven't already got a book like this it looked well laid out

I am a new reader of poetry, and before reading Mary Oliver's handbook on metrical poetry, I was a complete newbie, clueless as to what I should look for in a good poem. Now, thanks to the careful and thoughtful explanations -- and the exercises, if I dare write poetry someday -- I can derive more pleasure from the poetry I read. As a student of literature, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a book for readers and writers. Mary Oliver wrote that when she intentionally chose to be a poet she decided not to do anything else that was interesting to her, especially teaching. Well, she was right, because she is the best teacher I have ever met!

Lots of useful information delivered in an engaging way

Mary Oliver shines in this prose manual on the writing and issues of poetic composition. Her economy of words combines with an easy style to help an utter novice (like me) gain an understanding of the metric and rhyming tools involved. Clarity and suppleness of expression mark this book and I would recommend it to anyone who reads poetry or has an interest in trying their hand at writing. What you may enjoy the most is that Mary does not wander all about the landscape of poetry, but maintains a steady course and uses many pretty little examples to illustrate the concepts. The book is not long but is one of those gems that you will enjoy diving into from time to times for some thoughtful reading on poetics. The author's personality shines through the words - and there is no pretense here, just someone who loves and lives through words. Consider reading her Wild Geese if you haven't yet - a stunning beautiful piece of work.

The Kindle version of this book was completely unreadable. Extremely disappointing that this is allowed to be sold on Amazon.