Burt, Stephanie, 1971-

Don't read poetry : a book about how to read poems / Stephanie Burt. - First edition. - 306 pages ; 22 cm.

Includes index.

Introduction: Reading poems -- Feelings -- Characters -- Technique -- Difficulty -- Wisdom -- Community.

"In Don't Read Poetry, award-winning poet and literary critic Stephanie Burt offers an accessible introduction to the seemingly daunting task of reading, understanding, and appreciating poetry. Burt dispels preconceptions about poetry and explains how poems speak to one another--and how they can speak to our lives. She shows readers how to find more poems once they have some poems they like, and how to connect the poetry of the past to the poetry of the present. Burt moves seamlessly from Shakespeare and other classics to the contemporary poetry circulated on Tumblr and Twitter. She challenges the assumptions that many of us make about "poetry," whether we think we like it or think we don't, in order to help us cherish--and distinguish among--individual poems. A masterful guide to a sometimes confounding genre, Don't Read Poetry will instruct and delight ingénues and cognoscenti alike"--

9780465094509 0465094503

2018054504


American poetry--History and criticism.
English poetry--History and criticism.
Poetry--Explication.

PS303 / .B878 2019