The Poetry Gymnasium: 94 Proven Exercises to Shape Your Best Verse

This book contains ninety-four exercises designed to inspire creativity and help poets hone their skills. Each exercise includes a clearly-stated learning objective, historical background matter on the particular subgenre being explored, and an example written by students at Western Kentucky University. The text also contains model poems by leading American poets including Sherman Alexie, Billy Collins, Denise Duhamel, and Dean Young. The book's five chapters correspond with the five canons of classical rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery.