No, not a mis-type, but Stephen Fry's book on poetry. I was given a copy for Christmas and have been reading it since.

I have never been taught anything of the formal structure and methods of poetry, so other than what I have picked up from this site and some of Hugh's links I came to the book in a state of ignorance.

Fry leads the reader through the entire range of knowledge, starting with metre, going on through rhyme and form and finishing with a brief discussion of the state of poetics today.Although the book is written in an entertaining, easy to read style all of Hugh and Les' technical terms from iambic pentameter to Ottavo Riva and Kyrielle are included and explained.

I enjoyed this book and while I'm still not intending to write poetry, I now know why I find some poems unsatisfactory (especially the ones published on the letters page of the local newspaper.)

Thanks for sharing this, Linda. I will look for the book at my local book store. I've been looking for a good book to recommend to people who want to know a little more about meter, and the technical process of writing poetry. Most of the books on the matter get too technical, too quickly for the majority of beginning writers.


Les

By the way, at least one reviewer of the book agrees with you:

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Les