How to Read a Poem

Poetry communicates through the sound of words, the rhythm of lines, and the juxtaposition of senses. In this indispensable volume, the poet, teacher, and translator Burton Raffel skillfully illuminates just how this is done. He describes how a poem works - how such poetic techniques as rhyme, meter, metaphor, imagery, repetition, and structure create meaning that content alone cannot convey. And he describes the difference between poetry and prose, how the meshing of sound and sense gives poems their unique significance. 260 pages.