Metaphor: The Logic of Poetry

In this revised edition of The Logic of Poetry: A Handbook of Metaphor, originally published in 1974, the authors explicate selected poems by analyzing their uses of metaphor and metaphoric device. The first two chapters of this introductory textbook are devoted to an explanation of what the authors call the metaphoric eye, which can be described as the ability to enter the world of poetry with all senses on the alert, one poem at a timeoan ability that is learned only by experience. The next three chapters discuss specific kinds of metaphoric models. The two concluding chapters focus on advanced poetry and then address the question of what makes a poem good or bad. The various technical aspects of poetry, such as meter, rhyme, tone, and structure, are discussed in detail, and a broad cross-section of excellent English, American, French, German, and Russian poetry is selected for study. The authors have included a glossary of technical terms, a useful index, and a number of remarkable black-and-white photographs.