From the widely acclaimed poet, novelist, critic, and scholar, a lucid and edifying exploration of the building blocks of poetry and how they’ve been used over the centuries to assemble the most imperishable poems. We treasure our greatest poetry, Brad Leithauser reminds us in these pages, “not for its what but its how.” In chapters on everything from iambic pentameter to how stanzas are put together to “rhyme and the way we really talk,” Leithauser takes a deep dive into the architecture of poetry. He explains how meter and rhyme work in fruitful opposition; how the weirdnesses of spelling in English are a boon to the poet; why an off rhyme will often succeed where a perfect rhyme would not; why Shakespeare and Frost can sound so similar, despite the centuries separating them. And Leithauser is just as likely to invoke Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, or Boz Scaggs as he is Chaucer or Milton, Bishop or Swenson, providing enlightening play-by-plays of their memorable lines. Here is both an indispensable learning tool and a delightful journey into the art of the poem—a chance for new poets and readers of poetry to grasp the fundamentals, and for experienced poets and readers to rediscover excellent works in all their fascinating detail.

The four prose texts discussed in Literary Rooms position themselves in a literary tradition which highlights the manifold purposes the private room may serve: it is a mirror of the inhabitant, a context in which to position the self, a place of and motor for identity quests, a rich metaphor, and a second skin around the inhabitant’s physical body. Even in times of increasing globalization and urbanization, the room continues to root the inhabitant; it serves as a retreat from the world and as a place in which to (re)negotiate questions of belonging, gender, class, and ethnicity. At the same time, the room is inevitably porous and constantly oscillates between inclusion and exclusion. The literary texts examined in this book are each highly fragmented and gesture towards a fragmentation of the contemporary world out of which they have grown as well as towards an abundance of fragmented self-images. Linking the approaches of narratology, globalization, and spatial criticism, Literary Rooms argues that in order to account for the spatial properties of the room, discourses developed during the spatial turn need to be extended and reevaluated.

Worldwide, rhymes have been recited to children for generations. These rhymes are familiar to the masses, but behind the lyrical prose was information and insight into the world those children and their parents were living in. Nursery Rhymes for Adult Spiritual Enrichment is a collection of 39 notable rhymes that are aimed at connecting adult readers to history, most notably, the years leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and its impact on Great Britain then and shortly thereafter. While many can recite these rhymes verbatim, few, if any, have learned the secrets behind the words. They are more than fun lyrics and memorable tunes; they are rich in history and rooted in the realities of what life was like at that time. Not only will you gain insight into the world so long ago, but you will come to understand the spiritual connection between the rhymes and the undeniable perseverance of a people besieged by tragedy, yet deeply rooted in their faith and in their quest to hold on to joy in a world that offered few opportunities to experience it.

This volume, a directory of astrological correspondences, is the result of a research project that drew together the thoughts of many others into a reference book, assuming the role of a dictionary to astrologers, but vastly more complete. It is the only place where all sign, planetary and house rulerships have been brought together and put in a good workable order. It is organized in such a way that one can use the book for quick and easy reference, and it eliminates the need to search through various other volumes. In four parts: an alphabetical listing, a listing by planets, a listing by signs, a listing by houses. Plus an Appendix with special listings: principal bones of the body, principal veins of the body, chart of an organization, flavors and handwriting forms. Enthusiastically endorsed and used by professionals and students alike, no reference library is complete without this best-selling volume.