| Like the original Book of Forms, which was published in 1968 and subsequently became the standard in its field, The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics is intended as a text and reference work for students and teachers of poetry in general and of verse composition in particular. Although the accent is on the forms of poetry, this volume contains all the information essential to a study of poetics ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. |
| The volume begins with a ''Handbook of Poetics" arranged in "levels"the typographical, the sonic, the sensory, and the ideational levels. These chapters survey the two modes of writingprose and verseand various prosodic and metrical systems, clarify terms such as rhythm, cadence, and meter, and provide clear explanations of the processes and methods of versification. Figurative language is defined and discussed, as are considerations such as diction, style, syntax, and overtone. |
| The second part of the volume is called "The New Book of Forms," and it begins with a "Form-Finder Index" in which all the forms contained in the volume are listed and divided, first into specific forms, and then into general forms. Under "specific forms" there are further subdivisions, beginning with one-line forms and working through to two hundred ten-line forms. |
| Should you wish to know the form of a poem you are studying, rather than leaf through all the forms in the book, you can first determine (1) the rhyme scheme of the poem or stanza in question and (2) its meter. Then you can (3) count the lines in the form and turn to the Form-Finder. There, under the appropriate heading, will be a short list of stanza and |
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