What books can I get to understand poetry?

[dratsab]

Should I start with a non-fiction book that explains it to me or is there some simple poetry books I should start with and work my way up? I tried listening to Paradise Lost on audiobook, but got confused immediately and gave up. Even if I just read it physically, I still can't manage to understand most of it. It seems like it has to be deciphered. And I'm a competent reader, right now I'm reading Plato, and before that I was reading Ayn Rand and Marquise de Sade, and I have a decent vocabulary. Is there a way for me to understand poetry? Because I would like to be able to, but I don't seem to get the appeal.

[desiresjab]

You probably started in one of the worst places possible. I mean--Milton? You need something modern or contemporary, to begin. Poets living in your own age are more likely to reach you through their own words without a guide being necessary. Get a modern anthology and see if anything in it appeals to you. If something does, then follow that poet and see if their voice still rings true. What you personally like is the best road in. An old book like Voices of Poetry edited by Kirschiner might be of assistance, or many other books of that type.

Poetry can go right over the heads of the unitiated sometimes, and the initiated too. Read slow to see if a poet has things going on in his words that a cursory reading would likely miss. After a while you will begin to understand what it is you like about poetry, and the styles you are most susceptible to.

[dratsab]

Hmm, that sounds like a smart idea, haha. Okay, I will look into that. Thanks.

[Edward Ferrari]

Hi, Non-fiction can definitely help but, though it's a bit of a truism, it depends what you want. Whether you need to understand in order to analyse and so write, say, a paper on the subject or if you merely want to cultivate your appreciation of the art. Personally, for both I'd recommend reading whatever poetry you can get your hands on out loud. Read Gerard Manley Hopkins out loud, read Don Paterson (you can get his selected poems in the US) out loud. Think about it more as routine exercise for your jaw than something dependent on understanding, if you can get the physical routine right the rest will follow. Let me know more and hopefully I'll be able to make some more recommendations.

Warm regards,
Ed

[Edward Ferrari]

In the meantime 'How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry' by Edward Hirsch comes highly recommended.

[dratsab]

I know it's a late reply, but thanks for the book recommendation. I was thinking of giving Bukowski a try. Is he good for beginners?

[Lykren]

I don't think Milton is necessarily a terrible place to start, but it's important to realize that poetry offers many different things. Try Rexroth's translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry, try Dickinson, try Shakespeare, try Heaney, Carson, Frost, Pessoa, Larkin, Whitman, Rimbaud, Sappho, Bashō, Donne. Poetry is as variegated as beauty itself.