In “The Making Of A Poem,” the authors present twelve different poetry forms to the reader. Each form is precluded with a
description of the technical elements of the form and its historical background. Snuggled between this technical information and a mini-bio of a well-known poet, is a wide array of revealing
examples of the form. These examples serve as an invaluable aid in developing a sense of the structure of the featured poetry form.
All of the poetry forms presented in this book fall under one of four categories; verse forms, meter, shaping forms, and open forms. Each form has between fiteen and thirty pages devoted to its
presentation. Some of the poems described in this book are the villanelle, sonnet, sestina, pantoum, ballad and the ode.
Mr. Strand and Ms. Boland have certainly accomplished what they had set out to do with “The Making Of A Poem.” They have answered how the particular form works, what the rules are specific to the form, and who established them.
The section on meter presents the history, definitions and examples concerned with meter. Although not exhaustive, the pointers given duly aid the reader in understanding what can often be a difficult concept to acertain. The checklist of further reading on meter is a helpful guide for researching the subject.
The mini-bios contained in this book include such favorite poets as Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and Robert Browning. Between the pages of this book lies the works of many great poets including, but not limited to, John Donne, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
The authors have established a user-friendly format in this presentation of poetry forms. Once the poet has mastered the forms in the book, graduating if you will, then a search for and understanding of other forms is sure to take place.