The Poetry Handbook

John Lennard subtitled his Poetry Handbook, "A Guide to Reading Poetry for Pleasure and Practical Criticism," and it's an apt description. The book covers meter and layout, rhyme and syntax, with poetic examples that whet the appetite for verse. Written with evident love for and knowledge of the subject, the handbook is a requisite reference for students of poetry and an inspirational refresher for anyone who's ever thrilled to the cadences of trochaic tetrameter, duples, and rising rhythms.