How to Read a Poem

Preface vii

Acknowledgements viii

1 The Functions of Criticism 1

1 The End of Criticism? 1

2 Politics and Rhetoric 8

3 The Death of Experience 17

4 Imagination 22

2 What is Poetry? 25

1 Poetry and Prose 25

2 Poetry and Morality 28

3 Poetry and Fiction 31

4 Poetry and Pragmatism 38

5 Poetic Language 41

3 Formalists 48

1 Literariness 48

2 Estrangement 49

3 The Semiotics of Yury Lotman 52

4 The Incarnational Fallacy 59

4 In Pursuit of Form 65

1 The Meaning of Form 65

2 Form versus Content 70

3 Form as Transcending Content 79

4 Poetry and Performance 88

5 Two American Examples 96

5 How to Read a Poem 102

1 Is Criticism Just Subjective? 102

2 Meaning and Subjectivity 108

3 Tone, Mood and Pitch 114

4 Intensity and Pace 118

5 Texture 120

6 Syntax, Grammar and Punctuation 121

7 Ambiguity 124

8 Punctuation 130

9 Rhyme 131

10 Rhythm and Metre 135

11 Imagery 138

6 Four Nature Poems 143

1 William Collins, 'Ode to Evening' 143

2 William Wordsworth, 'The Solitary Reaper' 149

3 Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'God's Grandeur' 153

4 Edward Thomas, 'Fifty Faggots' 157

5 Form and History 161

Glossary 165

Index 169