There are good things about this anthology. The explanations of the forms are clear and concise. For the most part, the examples chosen serve the book well in illustrating each form, and the attempt at including diverse voices, which Strand and Boland discuss in their Introductory Statement, is laudable. The prose is readable and poetic.

Those positives were balanced out, however, by a pretty large flaw: for an anthology of English language poetic forms, there are a lot of forms not found in The Making of a Poem.

This book omits not just obscure forms, forms only recently introduced into the accepted canon of English poetry at the time of publication (such as the ghazal), or variations on included forms, but also widely used, popular forms that one would expect in a book of this type, such as the limerick, any of the variations of the cinquain, or the rondeau (of In Flanders Field fame).

Ultimately, the omission of multiple important forms felt like a lack of follow through on the premise of the book. ( )

I was tempted to file this book under the biography tab; for. that is what it really is: the biography of poetry.

I am wiser for the stroll through the many forms and genres of poetry. It will certainly add to my enjoyment of the reading but may also enhance my embarrassment during the writing thereof. ( )

An interesting explanation of the various poetic forms, with great use of examples. ( )

In the introductory statement the writers say this book is intended to answer those basic questions such as how does a sonnet work, what is a Sestina & what rules govern it, how many lines make up a Villanelle & what is it’s rhyme scheme? To do this they have traced the history of the various forms, in many cases back to the peasant origins and work songs of the countryside or the Balladeers who sung stories, spun the tales & spread the news through their communities and out to a wider audience. By answering these questions, by providing an overview of the major poetic forms, their history and the rules that they follow, bend or break, they hope to provide the reader with a key that will open the path to what will be a lifelong journey, with this book as a guide and map.

After the introduction, both editors state their case for poetry via their own personal experience, first as readers, discovering the art and on to the status they later achieved as poets in their own right, it’s this experience, insight and passion that stops this book being a dry academic exercise and makes it a suitable aid at what ever level you want to use it for, whether a university student or just someone wishing to understand more.

http://parrishlantern.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/making-of-poem-norton-anthology-of.... ( )

This works perfectly fine as an anthology but the criticism offered by the authors is somewhat of a hit and miss. But, if you have long deferred looking at structured poetry because your first encounter with it made it sound all very rules-y, this anthology will help you change that viewpoint by making it clear that the poetic form is as much a mood setting factor as the actual words. The best argument for this is in the many wonderful poems collected under each chapter. Personal favs so far include the villanelle from Elizabeth Bishop, Miller Williams' sestina and Gwendolyn Brooks' ballad. ( )