Edward Hirsch's primer may very well inspire readers to catch the next flight for Houston and sign up for any and all of his courses. Not for nothing does this attentive and adoring poet-teacher title his book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry; Hirsch's big guide to getting the most out of this form is packed with inspiring examples and thousands of epigrams and allusions. Above all, he is intent on poetry's physical and emotional power. In chapters devoted to the lyric, the narrative, the poetry of sorrow, of ecstasy, of witness, Hirsch continually conveys the sheer ecstasy of this vital act of communication. (He takes us, for instance, with great care and mounting excitement, through Emily Brontë's "Spellbound," which he discovered at age 8 when "baseball season was over for the year.") Above all, there is the thrill of discovery as Hirsch offers up works by artists ranging from Anna Akhmatova to Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop to Adam Zagajewski, and everyone in between. I defy you not to fall in love with Wislawa Szymborska on the basis of "The Joy of Writing," which begins: Why does this written doe bound through these written woods?
For a drink of written water from a spring
whose surface will xerox her soft muzzle?
Why does she lift her head; does she hear something?
Perched on four slim legs borrowed from the truth,
she pricks up her ears beneath my fingertips. Elsewhere, Hirsch's section on Sterling Brown's redefinitions of African American work songs should put this neglected poet back on the map. And his introductions to Eastern European poets such as Jirí Orten, Attila József, and Miklós Radnóti will make you want to ferret out their hard-to-find work. (Perhaps his publisher should put out a companion anthology...)

Hirsch manages to cram entire worlds and lives into 258 pages of text (which he follows up with a huge glossary and extended reading list). His two paragraphs on Juan Gelman, whose son was murdered and pregnant daughter-in-law disappeared during Argentina's "Dirty War," bring this man's art into clear, tragic focus. But even here, the compulsively generous author is compelled to enshrine the words of other critics, foregrounding Eduardo Galeano and Julio Cortázar, who describes Gelman's art as "a permanent caress of words on unknown tombs." What a pleasure it is to be inside Hirsch's head! He seems to have read everything and absorbed most of it, and he wears his considerable scholarship lightly. Many of his fellow poets have suffered for their art, have been imprisoned and killed--but above all, Hirsch makes us realize that, no matter what the artist's circumstances, subject, or theme, "the stakes are always high" in this game that writer and reader alike must keep playing. --Kerry Fried


From Library Journal
Although it was only a decade ago that doomsayers foresaw the death of poetry as a viable literary genre, there has been a remarkable resurgence of interest. Poetry slams at bookstores and nightclubs, "Poets in the Schools" programs, and the unprecedented appearance of poets on mainstream television all point to the renewed popularity of the genre. Here are two new guides designed to enrich the experience of poetry. Hirsch (On Love, LJ 6/15/98) has gathered an eclectic group of poems from many times and places, with selections as varied as postwar Polish poetry, works by Keats and Christopher Smart, and lyrics from African American work songs. A prolific, award-winning poet in his own right, Hirsch suggests helpful strategies for understanding and appreciating each poem. The book is scholarly but very readable and incorporates interesting anecdotes from the lives of the poets. Part poetry explication and part memoir, Peacock's charming book includes 18 favorite poems that she has collected and cherished over the years. Offering sensitive interpretations of each work, Peacock tends to favor modern and contemporary poets such as May Swenson, Elizabeth Bishop, and Yusef Komunyakaa. Like Hirsch, Peacock is a popular and critically acclaimed poet; she is also a founder of the "Poetry in Motion" program that puts poetry in America's buses and subways. Peacock encourages the shared enjoyment of poetry through reading groups and provides practical advice for organizing a poetry circle. Most public libraries will want to acquire the Peacock book, while Hirsch is a good choice for academic and larger public libraries.AEllen Sullivan, Ferguson Lib., Stamford, CT Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Jonathan Wilson
Hirsch is an intelligent reader of poems, his range is wide and his choice of poems engaging...


The Wall Street Journal, Alexander Theroux
...a solid handbook complete with a reading list and a large glossary.... He takes us through samples of lyric writing, ballads, Greek odes and free verse, among other things. But it is not only about reading; we must respond to what we read, become, as it were, what Wallace Stevens called the "scholar of the candle."


The Baltimore Sun
A lovely book, full of joy and wisdom.


Detroit Free Press
Hirsch's contribution is significant, [grounded] in the obvious pleasure he has experienced through words. ...Who could resist the wiles of this poetry-broker-a writer rapidly becoming the baby boomers' preeminent man of letters?


The Boston Book Review
Laudable ... The answer Hirsch gives to the question of how to read a poem is: Ecstatically.


Newsday, Emily Gordon
In short, reading Hirsch's How to Read a Poem is like a very long evening with a learned and perceptive friend who keeps leaping up to his bookshelf for more and better illustrations, and finding ever more connections and revelations.


Book Description
How to Read a Poem is an unprecedented exploration of poetry and feeling. In language at once acute and emotional, distinguished poet and critic Edward Hirsch describes why poetry matters and how we can open up our imaginations so that its message can make a difference. In a marvelous reading of verse from around the world, including work by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace Stevens, and Sylvia Plath, among many others, Hirsch discovers the true meaning of their words and ideas and brings their sublime message home into our hearts. A masterful work by a master poet, this brilliant summation of poetry and human nature will speak to all readers who long to place poetry in their lives.



About the Author
Edward Hirsch is the author of five books of poetry. He writes frequently about poetry for such magazines as The New Yorker and American Poetry Review. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Prix de Rome, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and an American Academy of Arts & Letters Award for Literature. He teaches at the University of Houston.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Read a poem to yourself in the middle of the night. Turn on a single lamp and read it while you're alone in an otherwise dark room or while someone sleeps next to you. Say it over to yourself in a place where silence reigns and the din of culture-the constant buzzing noise that surrounds you-has momentarily stopped. This poem has come from a great distance to find you." So begins this astonishing book by one of our leading poets and critics. In an unprecedented exploration of the genre, Hirsch writes about what poetry is, why it matters, and how we can open up our imaginations so that its message-which is of vital importance in day-to-day life-can reach us and make a difference. For Hirsch, poetry is not just a part of life, it is life, and expresses like no other art our most sublime emotions. In a marvelous reading of world poetry, including verse by such poets as Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, Pablo Neruda, William Wordsworth, Sylvia Plath, Charles Baudelaire, and many more, Hirsch discovers the meaning of their words and ideas and brings their sublime message home into our hearts. A masterful work by a master poet, this brilliant summation of poetry and human nature will speak to all readers who long to place poetry in their lives but don't know how to read it.

FROM THE CRITICS

Detroit Free Press

Hirsch's contribution is significant, [grounded] in the obvious pleasure he has experienced through words....Who could resist the wiles of this poetry-broker-a writer rapidly becoming the baby boomers' preeminent man of letters?

Baltimore Sun

A lovely book, full of joy and wisdom.

Boston Book Review

Laudable...The answer Hirsch gives to the question of how to read a poem is: Ecstatically.

KLIATT

Hirsch is a poet and a passionate reader of poetry. In this guide, he reaches out to all those who may be disaffected by the mere mention of poetry, even citing Cicero who had nothing but disdain for it, perhaps threatened as a politician by poetry's power to change the status quo. Hirsch presents us with "certain emblematic poems" (specifically lyric poems) that hold meaning for him, and instructs the reader to focus on a personal, emotional response. He views the poem as a "message in a bottle" (title of his first chapter), which may be picked up at random by a reader who may not expect to be touched by the words, but is moved in some inexpressible way, noting the relevance to their feeling life, their "heartland," as Hirsch calls it. The poem that works for us, he says, is one that engenders a spirit of awe. He cites Whitman's poem, "Beginning My Studies," that describes his wonder at truly seeing what's before him: "the least insect or animal, the senses, eyesight, love." To enrich one's reading, Hirsch encourages the reader to learn about the different forms a poem may take, whether epic or narrative, and their distinctiveness compared with the dramatic monologue or lyric poem. In subsequent chapters, Hirsch discusses the "making of the poem" by using examples. He explains the use of dramatic image and structure to portray death in Neruda's "Nothing But Death," drawing on similar uses by other writers, and enriching the reading experience by providing background and analysis. He includes work by many of the masters, mostly through excerpts but sometimes giving the complete poem for which he provides a detailed analysis. As an academic, some of his analyses may become too complexfor a younger reader or one not used to this way of looking at literature. But Hirsch's interpretations are based more on the human qualities expressed and how they are dramatized rather than on a more rigid literal explanation. He does help the reader by including a glossary of poetic terms. Also appended is a recommended reading list. Anyone who reads poetry will find that experience enriched by Hirsch's book. It would also be a valuable text for high school and college literature classes. KLIATT Codes: SA*—Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Harcourt, 354p, 23cm, 98-50065, $15.00. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Sue E. Budin; YA Libn., Ann Arbor P.L., Ann Arbor, MI, July 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 4)

Library Journal