An indispensable guide for poets, readers, students, and teachers. "The Poem's Heartbeat may well be the finest general book available on prosody."--Library Journal (starred review) "A provocative, definitive manual."--Publishers Weekly Finally back in print, this slender, user-friendly guide to rhyme, rhythm, meter, and form sparks "intuitive and technical lightning-flashes" for poets and readers curious to know a poem's inner workings. Clear, good-humored, and deeply readable, Alfred Corn's book is the modern classic on prosody--the art and science of poetic meter. Each of the book's ten chapters is a progressive, step-by-step presentation rich with examples to illustrate concepts such as line, stress, scansion marks, slant rhyme, and iambic pentameter. "By the book's end," noted a rave review in The Boston Review, "Corn, magi-teacher and impeccable guide, has taught the novice to become artist and magician." The Poem's Heartbeat also includes a selected bibliography and encourages readers and students to carry their investigations further. The word "line" comes from the Latin linea, itself derived from the word for a thread of linen. We can look at the lines of poetry as slender compositional units forming a weave like that of a textile. Indeed, the word "text" has the same origin as the word "textile." It isn't difficult to compare the compositional process to weaving, where thread moves from left to right, reaches the margin of the text, then shuttles back to begin the next unit . . .

“A stunning accomplishment. This story pierces the heart.” —Chicago Sun-Times RUN RUN RUN. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating…thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP. It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’s shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything changes over time, just like the apple Annie’s been assigned to draw a hundred times. Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this tender and intuitive story told in free verse about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life, and how she fits within them. Named one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing “Tenderhearted. Vintage Creech. Its richness lies in its sheer simplicity.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “The story soars as Annie’s feet fly.” —Bookpage

Many people in Great Britain and the United States can recall elderly relatives who remembered long stretches of verse learned at school decades earlier, yet most of us were never required to recite in class. Heart Beats is the first book to examine how poetry recitation came to assume a central place in past curricular programs, and to investigate when and why the once-mandatory exercise declined. Telling the story of a lost pedagogical practice and its wide-ranging effects on two sides of the Atlantic, Catherine Robson explores how recitation altered the ordinary people who committed poems to heart, and changed the worlds in which they lived. Heart Beats begins by investigating recitation's progress within British and American public educational systems over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and weighs the factors that influenced which poems were most frequently assigned. Robson then scrutinizes the recitational fortunes of three short works that were once classroom classics: Felicia Hemans's "Casabianca," Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," and Charles Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna." To conclude, the book considers W. E. Henley's "Invictus" and Rudyard Kipling's "If--," asking why the idea of the memorized poem arouses such different responses in the United States and Great Britain today. Focusing on vital connections between poems, individuals, and their communities, Heart Beats is an important study of the history and power of memorized poetry.

An anthology of poems and prose writings in which nurses reflect on their everyday experiences and their reactions to the joys and tragedies they witness on a daily basis.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The personal and poignant debut poetry collection from the award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer revolves around the emotions, struggles, and experiences of finding your voice and confidence as a woman. “I’ve realized that some feelings can’t be turned into a song . . . so I’ve started writing poems. Just like my songs, they are personal and honest. Just like my songs, they have hooks and rhymes. Just like my songs, they talk about what it’s like to be twenty-something trying to navigate a wildly beautiful and broken world.” Deeply emotional and candid, Feel Your Way Through explores the challenges and celebrates the experiences faced by Kelsea Ballerini as she navigates the twists and turns of growing into a woman today. In this book of original poetry, Ballerini addresses themes of family, relationships, body image, self-love, sexuality, and the lessons of youth. Her poems speak to the often harsh, and sometimes beautiful, onset of womanhood. Honest, humble, and ultimately hopeful, this collection reveals a new dimension of Ballerini’s artistry and talent.

Nonfiction with a direct approach, strong graphic illustrations, and rhythmic text to extend imaginations.

As gentle as a summer rain, Liz Newman writes with a mellifluous style, reminiscent of the classical poets. There is a gentle, soothing syntax in her words, a lovely treas-ure trove of poetic compositions. The author addresses the very elements of life, crafting a book into sections which form the cornerstones of human experiences; Life, Love, Loss, and Learning. Each section is skillfully comprised of words that touch the soul.¿Your body is failing you, but so am I, be-cause I don¿t know how to save you,¿ is a heart-wrenching stanza from the poem, `Mu-tiny on Immunity.¿ For the reader, the feeling of the helplessness and impending loss is permeable and real. Throughout this beautiful book, there are hidden jewels which cause you to revisit the poems again and again. The author suggests that the poems herein can also be read randomly. I especially enjoyed that this book can be appreciated, regardless of where one chooses to read; each piece stands on their own merit. A debut for this author, Liz Newman has created a beautiful collection, a joy for readers who love a classically written compilation. Well done! Brenda-Lee Ranta author, Allegories