Poetry: A Very Short Introduction

Poetry, arguably, has a greater range of conceptual meaning than perhaps any other term in English. At the most basic level everyone can recognize it--it is a kind of literature that uses special linguistic devices of organization and expression for aesthetic effect. However, far grander claims have been made for poetry than this -- such as Shelley's that the poets "are the unacknowledged legislators of the world," and that poetry is "a higher truth."

In this Very Short Introduction Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry" -- from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Bernard O'Donoghue, Emeritus Fellow, Wadham College, Oxford

Bernard O'Donoghue is an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, where he taught Medieval English and Modern Irish Poetry. Also a poet and a literary critic, his poetry collection Here Nor There (Chatto & Windus, 1999) was awarded the 1999 Whitbread Poetry Award. He has authored and edited several titles, including The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney (CUP, 2008) and Reading Chaucer's Poems: A Guided Selection (Faber, 2015). In 2006, his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was published by Penguin.

Introduction
1: Truths universally acknowledged
2: Poetry's areas of authority and aptitude
3: The language of poetry and its particular devices
4: The kinds of poetry and their contexts
5: Poets and readers
Conclusion
Further Reading
Index
Introduction
1. Truths universally acknowledged
2. Poetry's areas of authority and aptitude
3. The language of poetry and its particular devices
4. The kinds of poetry and their contexts
5. Poets and readers
Conclusion
Further Reading
Index