Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the The Point of Poetry Blog Tour
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| Unbound 21 March 2019 My thanks to the author and Anne at Random Things Tours for my copy of this book and the invitation to the tour |
What’s the point of poetry? It’s a question asked in classrooms all over the world, but it rarely receives a satisfactory answer. Which is why so many people, who read all kinds of books, never read poetry after leaving school.
Exploring twenty-two works from poets as varied as William Blake, Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove and Hollie McNish, this book makes the case for what poetry has to offer us, what it can tell us about the things that matter in life. Each poem is discussed with humour and refreshing clarity, using a mixture of anecdote and literary criticism that has been honed over a lifetime of teaching.
Poetry can enrich our lives, if we’ll let it. The Point of Poetry is the perfect companion for anyone looking to discover how.
My thoughts..
The Point of Poetry is a cleverly put together selection of twenty two quite different forms of verse from some wonderfully diverse poets, from William Blake and William Shakespeare, to Christina Rossetti and Carol Ann Duffy, there's something which will appeal to everyone, and interspersed throughout is the author's interpretation of each poem, and the encouragement to give poetry a chance.
The Point of Poetry is a cleverly put together selection of twenty two quite different forms of verse from some wonderfully diverse poets, from William Blake and William Shakespeare, to Christina Rossetti and Carol Ann Duffy, there's something which will appeal to everyone, and interspersed throughout is the author's interpretation of each poem, and the encouragement to give poetry a chance.
I absolutely get the point of poetry but completely understand that there are people who don't and for those who don't then this book will go along way to help them make sense of what makes poetry so beautiful and so addictive. I first fell under the spell of poetry at primary school when I had to learn Silver by Walter de la Mare, the rhythm of the words and the silent appeal of gentle moonlight makes this still one of my favourite poems.
I was delighted when I started to read The Point of Poetry and found so much to enjoy in the way that the author describes each featured poem, bringing the beauty and hidden meaning to life in a thought provoking way. There were also some nice surprises, with poems I wasn't at all familiar with, and the thrill of new discovery is what this book so fascinating. It's a chance to rediscover old favourites whilst at the same time finding something completely new.
I was quite sad when I came to the last chapter of the book, I'd so enjoyed reading the previous chapters that I didn't want the book to end, and then the author gave me an absolute gift with a whole chapter on Paradise Lost. Now I know that John Milton isn't everyone's go to author and I must admit that I haven't thought about reading Paradise Lost for a long, long time and then suddenly I read...
" Nine times the space that measures day and night
To mortal men he, with his horrid crew,
Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf,"
And I was immediately back in the long hot summer of 1976, sitting in the garden and revising for my English A' Level, learning this section of Paradise Lost by heart, and for me that beautiful connection is what makes the The Point of Poetry so very special.
About the Author
oe Nutt is a former teacher with twenty years of English teaching experience. He has written books on Shakespeare, John Donne and most recently a guidebook to Paradise Lost for one of the world’s foremost academic publishers. He is now one of the leading educationalists in the UK and writes a fortnightly column for the Times Educational Supplement.
Twitter @joenutt_author #ThePointOfPoetry
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Thank you so much for this wonderful blog tour support Jo x
ReplyDeleteAlways welcome, Anne. Thanks for the invitation to be part of the tour.
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