Breath lines : how poems work and why they matter / Jan Schreiber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schreiber, Jan, 1941- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poetry--History and criticism.

Poetry.

Poetics.

English literature--History and criticism.

English literature.

Genre:

Essays.

Literary criticism.

Critiques litteraires.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 230 pages)

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Breath Lines features accessible, approachable essays by Jan Schreiber on poetry and poetics, with an emphasis on modeling critical strategies for reading and understanding poems. The essays address four general subject areas: the content of poems, including the voices of the author or characters, subjects, and narrative techniques; structural issues, such as verse lines in relation to content and problems encountered in the translation of metrical poems; challenges of interpretation, which include deciphering complex philosophies and parsing difficult or obscure references; and directions for the future, with thoughts on navigating various conflicting currents among contemporary writers. Each essay contains pertinent examples to illustrate metrical, rhetorical, and stylistic issues. Schreiber's commentaries explain how a reader's careful attention can be rewarded with a deeper understanding of the multiple meanings embedded in apparently simple poems-and through that process, readers can access an emotional impact not always perceptible on a first reading. Designed for writers, students, and passionate readers, Breath Lines: How Poems Work and Why They Matter offers guidance into some of the art form's more arcane mysteries, written by a well respected poet and critic"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

1 Sources of Delight: What We Respond to When We Respond to Poetry

I. The content of poetery. 2 Some Poetic Strategies

3 The Elusive Self: Poems and Personas

4 But Enough about Me: Poems without Personas

5 All in the Family: Parents and Children in Today's Poetry

II. Poetic lines. 6 Short of Breath: Poems in a Narrow Compass

7 The Phoenix Line: History of a Style

8 On the Translation of Poetry

III. Maps of difficult terrain. 9 Serpent in the Tree: Poetry of a Fallen World

10 The Curator as Oracle: A Guide to The Harlem Gallery

11 Enter at Your Own Risk: Poems of Vijay Seshadri

IV. The way forward. 12 Formalists against the Tide: What They Learned from the Tide

13 Putting on the Style

14 Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0807184322

9780807184325

0807184314

9780807184318

OCLC:

1517398180