Poetry: A Very Short Introduction

by Bernard O'Donoghue Narrated by Roger Clark

Overview

Poetry, arguably, has a greater range of conceptual meaning than perhaps any other term in English. At the most basic level everyone can recognize it-it is a kind of literature that uses special linguistic devices of organization and expression for aesthetic effect. However, far grander claims have been made for poetry than this-such as Shelley's that the poets "are the unacknowledged legislators of the world," and that poetry is "a higher truth."



In this Very Short Introduction Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry"-from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"... achieves an air of indispensability, as both a guidebook for the enquiring beginner, and as a handbook of poetic values for the determined practitioner." - Simon Armitage

"Everyone near the beginning of their life in poetry will want to have this book, and everyone further down the track will value it as a stimulation." - Andrew Motion

"A bold encounter with the questions that make his subject so compelling" - Professor Stephen Regan, Durham University

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176399677
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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