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The Art of the Poetic Line

The Art of the Poetic Line
By James Longenbach

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James Longenbach is the author of three poetry collections, including Draft of a Letter; five works of criticism, including The Resistance to Poetry, as well as numerous essays and reviews. He is Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English at the University of Rochester.
"Poetry is the sound of language organized in lines." James Longenbach opens this essential book with that provocative statement. Through a range of examples—from Shakespeare and Milton to Ashbery and Glück—Longenbach describes the function of line in metered, rhymed, syllabic, and free-verse poetry. That function is sonic, he argues, and our true experience of it can only be identified in relation to other elements in a poem. Syntax and the interaction of different kinds of line endings are primary to understanding line, as is the relationship of lineated poems to prose poetry. The Art of the Poetic Line is a vital new resource by one of America's most important critics and most engaging poets.

The Art of the Poetic Line is part of The Art of series, a new line of books by important authors on the craft of writing, edited by Charles Baxter. Each book examines a singular, but often assumed or neglected, issue facing the contemporary writer of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The Art of series means to restore the art of criticism while illuminating the art of writing.  Of the series, Baxter writes, “The Art Of series is meant to restore criticism as an art, with writers examining features of their craft in lively and colorful prose.”
"A much-admired academic critic and poet, Longenbach contributes to this useful new series of pocket-sized writing guides with clear, swift prose that explains how poets have thought about kinds of lines; how the line, or the idea of the line, distinguishes poetry (even prose poetry) from ordinary prose; how reference to dramatic verse (especially Shakespeare's) can help us think about verse lines on the page; and how the kinds of line he identifies—the end-stopped (punctuated) line, the parsing line (which follows a phrase's syntax), and the annotating line (which works against it)—combine to make memorable modern poems. A set of examples from William Carlos Williams demonstrate how Williams's freewheeling prose let him evolve from less interesting to more powerful versions of free verse. Passages from Marianne Moore, C.D. Wright, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound and Frank Bidart also receive incisive comment. No particular line, Longenbach writes, needs to be championed at the expense of other kinds . . . Useful in college and high school courses."—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #36324 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-12-26
  • Released on: 2007-12-26
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 120 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A much-admired academic critic and poet, Longenbach (Draft of a Letter) contributes to this useful new series of pocket-sized writing guides with clear, swift prose that explains how poets have thought about kinds of lines; how the line, or the idea of the line, distinguishes poetry (even prose poetry) from ordinary prose; how reference to dramatic verse (especially Shakespeare's) can help us think about verse lines on the page; and how the kinds of line he identifies—the end-stopped (punctuated) line, the parsing line (which follows a phrase's syntax), and the annotating line (which works against it)—combine to make memorable modern poems. A set of examples from William Carlos Williams demonstrate how Williams's freewheeling prose let him evolve from less interesting to more powerful versions of free verse. Passages from Marianne Moore, C.D. Wright, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound and Frank Bidart also receive incisive comment. No particular line, Longenbach writes, needs to be championed at the expense of other kinds. He tries hard—some may think too hard—not to lose any beginners: the result is a short book that could be useful in college and high school courses, while also appealing to general poetry readers. (Jan.)
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About the Author

James Longenbach is the author of three poetry collections, including Draft of a Letter; five works of criticism, including The Resistance to Poetry, as well as numerous essays and reviews. He is Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English at the University of Rochester.

Customer Reviews

An absolute must-read for poets and would-be poets of all walks of life.5
Poet and literary critic James Longenbach presents The Art Of The Poetic Line, a discussion of the function of the line in metered, rhymed, syllabic, and free-verse poetry. Drawing upon classic examples ranging from Shakespeare and Milton to Ashbery and Gluck, The Art of the Poetic Line demystifies ambiguous elements in creating poetry to evoke mood and experience. "Poems are poems because we want to listen to them. Some poems have a prominent argument; some poems don't. But all poems live or die on their capacity to lure us from their beginning to their ends by a pattern of sounds. This is why a poem we don't understand may seem wonderfully satisfying, and this is why a poem we understand all too well may also seem wonderfully satisfying. A poem may harness the power of meter, rhyme, syntax, and line to establish and disrupt a pattern of sounds, and a poem may with equal integrity reject the power of meter, rhyme, syntax, and line. But the poet needs to understand what she is rejecting as well as what she is harnessing." Highly recommended for poetry connoisseurs, and an absolute must-read for poets and would-be poets of all walks of life.

How I Wish I Had This Book Earlier!5
How the topic of the poetic line caused angst for the first years of my serious attempts at reading and writing poetry. Longenbach's straghtforward and smart treatise on this topic would have saved me much distress. This book will be as helpful for the beginner as for the accomplished poet or MFA student. Thanks, Mr. Longenbach. This book will be within easy reach as I know I'll revisit it many more times!

Making Poetry Understandable5
Mr. Longenbach manages to explain poetic terms in ways I could understand, and I have read many poets/editors on how to write poetry. He presents a good discussion on why we should keep poetic structures by showing the power of the structured rhymes. These selections are not Hallmark type verses, but finely wrought poems which stick in the mind. He explains the value of sound in composition.