By the time Carol Ann Duffy wrote the poem in the late 1980s, free verse had become pretty standard for poets writing in English. In other words, the speaker isn't necessarily making an important argument by using free verse. Instead he or she is simply reflecting the poetic standards of...
although we can agree on the observable characteristic of a poem—its form, meter, use of poetic devices etc.—no two “experiences” of the poem are going to be the same, since they include the interaction between the objective characteristics of the...
and I want to make sure I don’t talk too fast, or too glibly. Usually I try to create a hospitable tone at the beginning of a poem. Stepping from the title to the first lines is like stepping into a canoe. A lot of things can go wrong.”(http://www.poetryfoundation...
I taught hisSonnet,In Memoriam M.K.H., 1911-1984to my Advanced Placement English Literature class this week. They listened firstto hear him read the poem:(NOTE: be sure and listen to the little comment about “x’s and o’s” he makes at the end) The cool that came off the sheets...
No sooner are essays on Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinhanded in, then the copies ofParadise Lostare handed out to the Advanced Placement English Literature Students. Yes, there are over 10,000 lines of blank verse in the poem, but don’t shudder for them…they will be fine. This epic poem ...