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Why Poetry Matters

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Why Poetry Matters

By: Jay Parini
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
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About this listen

Poetry doesn’t matter to most people, observes Jay Parini at the opening of this book. But, undeterred, he commences a deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives. By the end of the book, Parini has recovered a truth often obscured by our clamorous culture: without poetry, we live only partially, not fully conscious of the possibilities that life affords. Poetry indeed matters.

A gifted poet and acclaimed teacher, Parini begins by looking at defenses of poetry written over the centuries. He ponders Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus, and moves on through Sidney, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Eliot, Frost, Stevens, and others. Parini examines the importance of poetic voice and the mysteries of metaphor. He argues that a poet’s originality depends on a deep understanding of the traditions of political poetry, nature poetry, and religious poetry.

©2008 Yale University Press (P)2008 Yale University Press Literary History & Criticism
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Critic reviews

"If you are going to tell Jay Parini that poetry doesn't matter, you should probably start working on your debate points now-he's got a lot more." ( Burlington Free Press)

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Profile Image for Annett

Explains the rudimentary and then some

An impassioned and lucidly argued defence of poetry that I especially recommend to undergraduate English students, or indeed anyone interested in language and writing, as a rollercoaster introduction to a sadly neglected art form.

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