This engaging introduction to poetry covers the entire tradition of poetry in English, providing close readings of interesting and varied texts. In this updated second edition, coverage has been expanded to cover medieval poetry and to give more weight to literary theory and women poets, while a new chapter focuses on key contemporary poets.

'The most lucid and accessible guide to the study of poetry available.' - Christopher Lee, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
'You can't teach poetry unless you love it. Barry Spurr clearly does. He knows not to demean or exploit it. Poetry taught me poetry, but it was a teacher who turned me on to it and gave me the initial orientation I needed. This book suggests that Barry Spurr is another teacher of that rare kind.' - Les Murray, winner of the T.S. Eliot Award (1996) and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry (1999). Australia's leading poet.

'belong[s] on the shelf of every lover of poetry and student of literature.' - Stephen McInerney, Quadrant

Preface and Acknowledgements
PART 1: READING POETRY
Reading Aloud
Describing a Poem
Varieties of Poetic Style
Evaluation of Poetry
PART 2: POETRY THROUGH THE CENTURIES
Introduction
Medieval - The Genesis of English Verse
The Renaissance - A Time of Tension
The Early Seventeenth Century - The Pilgrimage to 'The Kingdom of Man'
Romanticism - In Praise of Imagination
Victorianism - Faith and Doubt
Modernism - 'Make it New'
After Modernism
Contemporary Poetry
Historical Tables
Further Reading
Glossary of Literary Terms
Index

BARRY SPURR is Associate Professor of English Literature, University of Sydney, Australia.