Fundamentals of the Art

Fundamentals of the Art of Poetry takes the reader on a journey that sets out with a consideration of the various arts humankind has created, and then focuses on the special art of poetry: what poetry is, what it does and must do in order to 'succeed' for whom it does what it does, and, in detail, how it goes about doing what it tries to do. Twenty-two chapters deal with subjects like 'The Constituencies for Art', 'What Meaning Means', 'Acceptable and Unacceptable Propositions', 'The Right Word in the Right Place', 'The Sounds that Matter in Poetry', 'Energetic Metaphor: the Major Figure' and so on, including an eloquent epilogue 'Touching Genius'. Writing with great brio and tough-minded lucidity, the Belgo-American poet, dramatist, scholar and essayist examines a host of concepts concerning the arts in general and poetry in particular. This highly original Ars poetica will be of interest to general readers, college students, poets curious about their own metier, and last but not least, literary critics and theorists who will encounter many a discreet challenge to current ideas in its pages.

Oscar Mandel is Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology.