How to Read a Poem

194 Pages·2006·1.493 MB·English

by  Terry Eagleton

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“From the first page, the reader of How to Read a Poemrealises that this,
at last, is a book which begins to answer Adrian Mitchell’s charge: ‘Most
people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people’.
Eagleton introduces himself as ‘a politically minded literary theorist’.
The remarkable achievement of this book is to prove that such a the-
orist is the only person who can really show what poetry is for. By a
brilliant and scrupulous series of readings – of Yeats and Frost and Auden
and Dickinson – framed in a lively account of the function of criticism
as perhaps only he could expound it, Eagleton shows how literary the-
ory, seriously understood, is the ground of poetic understanding. This
will be the indispensable apology for poetry in our time.”
Bernard O’Donoghue, Wadham College, University of Oxford
Terry Eagleton
The author is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at
the University of Manchester. His recent publications include The
English Novel(2004), Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic(2003), The Idea
of Culture(2000), Scholars and Rebels in Nineteenth-Century Ireland(1999),
Literary Theory: An Introduction(second edition, 1996) and The Illusions
of Postmodernism (1996), all published by Blackwell Publishing.
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To Peter Grant,
who taught me poetry and a good deal more
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How to Read a Poem
Terry Eagleton
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© 2007 by Terry Eagleton
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
The right of Terry Eagleton to be identified as the Author of this Work has been
asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the
UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
First published 2007 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
5 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eagleton, Terry, 1943–
How to read a poem / by Terry Eagleton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-5140-5 (hbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-5141-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. English poetry—History and criticism.
2. American poetry—History and criticism. 3. Poetry—Explication.
4. Poetics. I. Title.
PR502.E23 2007
808.1—dc22
2006008194
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Set in 10.5/13pt Dante
by Graphicraft Ltd, Hong Kong
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom
by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate
a sustainable forestry policy, and which hasbeen manufactured from pulp
processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore,
the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met
acceptable environmental accreditation standards.
For further information on
Blackwell Publishing, visit our website:
www.blackwellpublishing.com
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements viii
1 The Functions of Criticism 1
1 The End of Criticism? 1
2 Politics and Rhetoric 8
3 The Death of Experience 17
4 Imagination 22
2 What is Poetry? 25
1 Poetry and Prose 25
2 Poetry and Morality 28
3 Poetry and Fiction 31
4 Poetry and Pragmatism 38
5 Poetic Language 41
3 Formalists 48
1 Literariness 48
2 Estrangement 49
3 The Semiotics of Yury Lotman 52
4 The Incarnational Fallacy 59
4 In Pursuit of Form 65
1 The Meaning of Form 65
2 Form versus Content 70
3 Form as Transcending Content 79
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Contents
4 Poetry and Performance 88
5 Two American Examples 96
5 How to Read a Poem 102
1 Is Criticism Just Subjective? 102
2 Meaning and Subjectivity 108
3 Tone, Mood and Pitch 114
4 Intensity and Pace 118
5 Texture 120
6 Syntax, Grammar and Punctuation 121
7 Ambiguity 124
8 Punctuation 130
9 Rhyme 131
10 Rhythm and Metre 135
11 Imagery 138
6 Four Nature Poems 143
1 William Collins, ‘Ode to Evening’ 143
2 William Wordsworth, ‘The Solitary Reaper’ 149
3 Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘God’s Grandeur’ 153
4 Edward Thomas, ‘Fifty Faggots’ 157
5 Form and History 161
Glossary 165
Index 169
vi
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Preface
This book is designed as an introduction to poetry for students and general
readers. I have tried to make what some find an intimidating subject as lucid
and accessible as possible; but some bits of the book are inevitably harder
going than others. Less experienced readers might therefore prefer to start
with Chapter 4 (‘In Pursuit of Form’), Chapter 5 (‘How To Read A Poem’)
and Chapter 6 (‘Four Nature Poems’), before moving on to the more theor-
etical chapters. Even so, I think the book makes more sense if it is read from
start to finish.
I am deeply grateful to John Barrell at York University, Stan Smith at
Nottingham Trent University, Emma Bennett, Philip Carpenter and Astrid
Wind at Blackwell, and William Flesch at Brandeis University for their help-
ful suggestions.
TE
Dublin, 2005
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Acknowledgements
The editor and publisher gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to
reproduce the copyright material in this book:
W. H. Auden, ‘Musée des Beaux Arts,’ from Edward Mendelson (ed.),
Collected Poems. New York: Random House, 1976. Copyright 1940 and
renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random House,
Inc.
Alan Brownjohn, ‘Common Sense,’ from Collected Poems. London:
Enitharmon Press, 2005. Reprinted by permission of Enitharmon Press.
H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), ‘Sea Violet,’ from Louis L. Martz, Collected Poems
1912–1944. New York: New Directions, 1983. Copyright © 1982 by The Estate
of Hilda Doolittle. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing
Corp. and Carcanet Press Ltd.
Philip Larkin, ‘Days,’ from The Whitsun Weddings. London: Faber & Faber,
1964. Copyright © 1988, 2003 by The Estate of Philip Larkin. Reprinted
by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux LLC.
Bernard O’Donoghue, ‘Pencil it in,’ from Here nor There. London: Chatto &
Windus, 1999. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.
John Pudney, ‘For Johnny’ from For Johnny: Poems of World War II. London:
Shepheard-Walwyn, 1976. Reprinted by permission of David Higham
Associates Limited.
Stevie Smith, ‘Not Waving but Drowning,’ from Collected Poems of Stevie Smith.
New York: Shepheard-Walwyn, 1975. Copyright © 1972 by Stevie Smith;
copyright the Estate of James MacGibbon. Reprinted by permission of James
& James (Publishers) Ltd and New Directions Publishing Corp.
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