Handbook of Poetic Forms

Handbook of Poetic Forms Review

By Andrea D.

                There are many books out there on craft, specifically on writing, and even more specifically on poetry. The Handbook of Poetic Forms is one of these. Written by the collaboration of many various teachers and writers over the years, it provides the reader with numerous forms of poetry, some history behind them, examples of each, and of course directions on how to write each yourself.

                Poetry is a common writing form that comes in many shapes and sizes, yes this is cliché, but accurate. The Handbook of Poetic Forms explains the specifics of over seventy-five forms of poetry. There is also an additional section, Appendix A, which reveals a list of multiple other types of poems. Appendix B includes the authors, poets, and teachers from various time periods that all directly or indirectly helped with this handbook. In this way, it is not just one person's view of how to write poetry, but everyone's over history.

                This poetry book has most poetic forms you can think of. It could, however, be slightly more helpful if it included a few more, like the ones in Appendix A could be elaborated on. Also, for some of the poems, instead of a clear explanation on how to write those particular poems, there are only examples. There should be both explanations and examples in order for the poem writer to best understand how to write each poem. Overall though, it is a very helpful guide to any prospective poet, giving both some history and examples of each kind of poem in the handbook. It is also nice to know that these are not the instructions of some unknown poet; they are pieced together from many renowned poets and writers.

                I wanted to experiment with various types of form poems, ones I have never tried before, to make the scope of my poems broader. The Handbook of Poetic Forms was a very useful tool in my poetry writing. I learned about many types of poetry I had never heard before and was able to write many of my own! I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone trying to explore new to him or her forms of poetry.

                Handbook of Poetic Forms, By the Teachers and Writers, Edited by Ron Padgett, Teachers and Writers Collaborative,  1987, 223 pages