5 comments about Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

1. Read the book if you want to better understand the acts of the play CATs



2. Great book for any cat lover
   
   author of "Hobo Finds A Home"



3. I had read this book before and loved it, but when I met Boris, a real, live version of Rum Tum Tugger, I had to buy a copy to show his owner.
   It is amazing how little had to be done to turn these poems into a great musical comedy. I am, of course, talking about Cats. Most of the poems went directly into the show without any change whatever in their wording, and only three songs were added. Let's give full credit to Mr. Webber, It took a musical genius to do that, and one of the added songs, Memories, could stand alone as a masterpiece in any company, but most of the delight of the show comes from the wonderful feline characters created in this book.
   Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Gus the theatre cat, Spindleshanks, Bustipher Brown, McCavity, Mr. Mistofflees, Mungo Jerry, and Rumpleteaser all moved effortlessly from page to stage with no changes. That has to be some sort of record. If you loved Cats (the show) you need to read this book. If you love cats (the critters) you'll want to read this book. If you like poetry, you should read this book. If you like dogs, read the battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles. (You can skip over the part about the intervention of the great rumpus cat.)
   It was written for his godchildren, but it's a great read for everyone. It's not expensive, so get it to read to your children, but read it for yourself first.



4. This is a must have for anyone who loves the broadway musical "Cats". Totally delightful!



5. My grandson is participating in a rendition of 'Cats' at his elementary school and I wanted the book to show him how productions like 'Cats' are based on literature. In this case he was thrilled to be able to read the original poems and then see how they are staged for an audience. The product was delivered in perfect condition in a very timely manner. I would recommend this to anyone.

5 comments about Tanka Tanka Skunk!.

1. I work in a first grade class and love to read them books. This book was their favorite. They loved the rhythm and loved shouting out the chant, "Tanka Tanka Skunk!" It also introduced without saying so, syllables. I tried it with my Kdg. kids today, the last day of school and they loved it!



2. My three year old and I love to sing the book as a song. He remembers the pictures and the rhythms.



3. My 2 and 3 year old love this book. They both pound out the rhythm as we read it and they get very excited about reading it faster and faster and trying to keep up with the rhythm. Not a great bed time story since it tends to get them riled up instead of calmed down. It's one of the few books in their collecton that I don't get bored reading over and over again. Like another reviewer I kept checking this out at the library and finally decided to buy it. The illustrations are large and easy to see and have helped my kids learn the names of different animals.



4. My son "reads" this book cover to cover. Chants the rhythms without the book around and plays his dad's drums to the beat when I read it! I can't say enough about how fun this book is. To the author, Steve - keep up the great work!!!



5. This book has great text to support syllable development. Pictures are amazing! Children will love it. Good for every early level classroom and home with your children.

No comments about Enemies of Promise.

No comments about Think On My Words: Exploring Shakespeare's Language.

2 comments about The Rumi Collection.

1. I greatly enjoy the poetry of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. His poems move me to action -- they put a smile on my face -- bring a sigh to my heart. I have at least half a dozen if not more books by the Mevlana.

   Of all these books, this is perhaps one of my favourites. Many recent authors have taken to reinterpreting the Sufi Master; but I feel that in those works, the original author's message becomes intermixed with the translators'.

   In this translation, the translator has attempted to keep close to the original intent and writing of the Mevlana, yet not getting into difficult English like earlier translations by R.A. Nicholson.

   The result, to me at least, is a more powerful spiritual punch and deeper tug at one's heart-strings.

   If you love the poetry of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, this is one book you should add to your collection, so at least you get a better feel of his voice.




2. Rumi was an incredibly prolific 13th century Persian poet and theologian whose writings continue to have world-wide appeal and resonance in our modern world. I was fortunate to receive this lovely book, and immediately began to read.
   
   It was like drinking the coldest, most thirst-quenching water that goes immediately to the heart and soul. It was like diving into a refreshing ocean and finding pearls and sparkling treasures. Devoid of the kind of pretension, arcane language and obscure meaning that dull much poetry, it speaks with directness and immediacy, yet is astonishingly imaginative.
   
   A perfect introductory collection, it is nicely edited, prefaced and largely translated by Rumi expert Kabir Helminski. Other translators are also included, such as Robert Bly, a poet whose work I enjoy and whose translations of the German poet Rilke I respect. It is both packed and compact, and it has a useful ribbon to mark your place. Whether you are a novice or a Rumi-ologist, you are sure to enjoy this book. It also makes lovely gift.

5 comments about The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

1. I've been using this book for years. It is well worth the purchase for anyone interested in a book on Tolkien's Languages, particularly Elven.



2. Well written. It should continue to be a good reference book.



3. Well written and accurate, but is NOT 14 concise dictionaries.
   
   It is a map of runes & symbols, and quite lame with a singular dictionary not of all 14 languages - but simply all [foreign] words from Tolkien's books (before Christopher went in-depth). Truely disappointing!
   
   Now that I am bored to tears, I will be translating the New Testament into Quenya. :)



4. even though this book is now said to be obsolete.. i still enjoy using it to write little notes in tolkiens lanquages. i used this book to translate a tolkien passage into a tattoo. its worth it considering you can get it for like four dollars. it has the basic descriptions of the languages.



5. 
   Sure it's cheap, but is that the only reason for buying a book? Noel's work was already inaccurate when it was first published (in 1974!) -- now it's almost 25 years out-of-date as well.
   
   If you're truly interested in learning something reliable about Professor Tolkien's invented languages then spend an extra $5 to $7 and get yourself something reliable that you won't be embarassed to have on your shelf, namely Jim Allen's "Introduction to Elvish". (There's usually several second-hand copies available here at Amazon at any given time.) Yes, this book is also twenty years old. But unlike Ruth Noel's silly little offering it remains a substantive and scholarly work, and still provides a strong foundation on which you can build.

5 comments about The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton (Modern Library).

1. For many of us, this is the volume of Milton for which we have been waiting. The Notes are useful without being overwhelming & the selection from his prose work is very generous. Overall, this is a significant offering to all lovers of poetry, 17th Century literature, and theology. Together with the newly published edition of Shakespeare's First Folio, this edition of Milton is the bedrock of English Literature and should not be read, but re-read for a lifetime.



2. As far as "Paradise Lost" is concerned, this book has superb annotation that is not as overbearing (though useful) as the edition by Fowler; notes are clear and concise, with verse cross-refrences and citation of many commentators. As an undergrad, I can greatly appreciate such reader friendly texts that elucidate obscure or outdated words and phrases, affording a lot more time to enjoy Milton otherwise spent in a dictionary. It also has a great introduction to PL, as well as selected illustrations.



3. You can get the Complete Poems in a dozen different editions, so the heart of a new collection like this is in the notes. I hoped the editors would gift us with a new Milton, find some way to shake up the stereotype, but alas, their poet's the government-issue Great Man swaddled in lightning and footnotes.
   
   Kerrigan, Rumrich, Braden and Fallon--all senior Miltonists, all men--don't feel much need to justify the grand tone and theological speculations of the `Miltonic' to our more secular, less Baroque age. We also don't get a real peek into the controversies and battle lines of modern-day Milton studies. The result's a handsome, helpful, kind of innocuous edition of an indisputably great poet; great in a way that makes you wonder how much work greatness, as Milton and his editors here conceive it, really does for us anymore.



4. The obligatory remark encompassing modern appreciation for Milton was given to us from T.S. Eliot, who believed that, "of no other poet is it so difficult to consider the poetry simply as poetry, without our theological and political dispositions... making unlawful entry." It is impossible to surmise and internalize Milton's poetry without also having to take in the historical aura of the radical man - the Milton of Parliamentary holy war and old-timey religious conservatism. His dour presence floats down to us through filtered history and infuses his poetical works with our new, never-ending quest to search for the motivation of the artist through his or her art. It is this unfair, skewed lens through which we seek the man through the work that we distort "Lycidas" into a declaration of war against the Anglican priesthood rather than a young poet's fearful hope of obtaining Fame before he, too, dies. This skewed lens that views "Comus" as solely a piece of political resurgence of a disgraced Earl's family rather than a confident poet's first attempt to fuse epic aesthetics with austere Christian doctrine. And this skewed lens that lessens the infinite importance of "Paradise Lost," its indelible impact on all major writers in English since, to a longish document of literary curio of occasional allegorical significance.
   
   There is a great deal of time, politicking, and structure to overcome when reading Milton, whether just being introduced to his work or continually engaged with it. These troubles in reading him seep through most of his poems and prose. And even without the myth of the poet clouding his meaning, he was a terribly learned writer, and his work can be difficult to approach for even the casual scholar.
   
   Which is why this edition of Milton's poetry and prose possesses a magisterial significance over all other currently and formerly published editions. William Kerrigan, John Rumrich, and Stephen M. Fallon have done a remarkable job of assuaging the gaps between wizened Milton and a contemporary readership. As stated in this edition's general preface, the aim of this publication was to make his "poetry and prose...almost entirely modernized." The numerous footnotes (thank God, an edition that sagaciously gives us the explanations on the same page as the text, rather than the obsolescent Oxford World Editions than continue to insist on annoying, certainly close to psychically debilitating when reading, endnotes hidden in the last coarse pages of the book) flesh out the world and the mind of Milton for the interested reader, lessening the mental interruptions caused by frequent Google searches for this ancient God, or that historical figure, or that poetical allusion, which editions with fewer, less thorough, or even no footnotes require as supplement to make Milton tenable.
   
   This is a comprehensive publication, the likes of which I wish were made more often. It is a shame, hurtful to our overall cultural integrity, that we generally look on Milton as a religious wacko, or his work as a quagmire of venous allusions, because his poetry his so achingly beautiful, his philosophical observations still probing and important to our time, his love to reunite the past literary traditions with the current so drastically needed by our disenfranchised society hammering itself slowly to pieces in search of something dear to hold on to and unite our affairs. Like the thousand pieces of Osiris' scattered body that Milton offers us in "Areopagitica" as an allegory to fractured Truth, we too can find meaning in Milton's embattled name and work in the difficult, pluralistic today.



5. Somewhere in the illegibly tiny notes to the Riverside Milton are some valuable bibliographic citations and other good information. So if you are a Milton scholar I'm afraid you can't make any excuse to avoid consulting that poorly designed doorstop. Also, if you need original spelling, Riverside is a convenient place to check.
   
   If you are anything other than a Milton scholar who needs to check all the commentaries & annotations of all the editors -- if you are one of the rare persisting "general readers" curious to read everything -- then this Modern Library edition, "The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton," is a much more usable and friendly answer to your needs than the Riverside.
   
   ML's bigger and better font & less stark paper color make a real difference if you plan on reading literature as opposed to making use of a reference book. Both volumes offer extensive selections from Milton's prose; Riverside's best advantage is including Milton's "Treatise of Civil Power" (1659). (Riverside also has all the prolusions; ML just nos. 1 & 7. On the whole, the representation of Milton's prose oeuvre is a wash.) ML's best advantage in the prose, and it is a weighty one, is its treatment of the crucial "Christian Doctrine." Riverside's CD looks more complete than it is, because it widely (and inconsistently) fails to note where omissions have been made. Riverside omits passages of crucial interest to the reader of Paradise Lost. ML gives a very complete and thoughtful selection from CD (lightened by removing most series of proof texts), but its greatest advantage here is providing plentiful & good footnotes, including many references to Paradise Lost. Shockingly, and unconscionably, Riverside provides NO annotation to Christian Doctrine. In my mind, this clearly betrays an assumption that you, the reader, are not actually interested in reading this important work. Flannagan hollowly claims that the (overrated) authorship dispute has "forced" him to print the text without footnotes. (I suspect the fact that Merritt Hughes did not annotate CD--one of the few blemishes in that great edition--also has something to do with the omission.) All you have to do is browse through ML's excellent footnotes & selections to realize how much you're missing here.
   
   Riverside's failure to cross-reference is a more general problem. For example, if you read Paradise Lost in the Riverside, when the footnotes refer you to "Areopagitica" or "The Reason of Church Government," you are only given page numbers in the Yale edition--even though the relevant passages are right there in the Riverside! In comparison, ML always provides its own page numbers, so that you can go read that passage from Areopagitica now, without a trip to the library.
   
   As I said at the beginning of this review, I will not lie and deny that Flannagan's notes often go beyond what is available in ML. But it's hardly as if ML's scholarly notes are a subset of the good information in Riverside--ML has excellent notes on sources and allusions, so there are great references to Aristotle & Anselm, the Iliad, and so forth, that are not also found in Riverside. Sometimes Riverside's notes just try too hard, as when we get three verbose lines defining Aristotle's notion of form, with no attempt whatsoever to apply its meaning to the poem before us. ML is certainly better on glossing the difficulties of Milton's English, and in general ML tends to provide little nuggets of literary appreciation in its critical notes, rather than to try to sum up a status quaestionis.
   
   Finally, a pet peeve: the Riverside misprints ghastly wrong Greek in places where ML has been more careful.

5 comments about Introduction to Old English.

1. As a learning tool, Peter S. Baker's Introduction to Old English succeeds marvellously in that it is concise and clear without erring on the side of oversimplification. The ordering of chapters is intuitive and the key concepts are easily accreted along the way; in comparatively little time readers will acquire a wealth of knowledge, and in its practicality the book is sure not to intimidate the uninitiated.
   
   The basic review of English grammar is both thorough and efficient without being overly pedantic. Unfortunately, more and more students of English are finding themselves ill-equipped and poorly acquainted with the basics of grammar. Baker's review will familiarize them with the grammatical essentials while simultaneously providing a useful review to those more accustomed to them. There is sufficient treatment of the main topics in the text without any superfluous explication that might confuse the introductory reader. Baker's plain English explanations are unambiguous and, where possible, he offers Modern English correlates and analogues that effectively frame the linguistic topic being discussed.
   
   The chapters on the style and grammar of poetry are essential resources. Poetry makes up such a significant part of the extant Anglo-Saxon literature that it would be a failure on the part of the author to leave the student stranded in the intricacies of the form. Taking the chapter on reading manuscripts into consideration, as well as the appendices, Baker helps the student build a truly solid foundation upon which to base further study. The glossary, for example, allows students who are as yet unfamiliar Anglo-Saxon word forms to easily find what they are looking for, and will furnish them with the skills they need to approach more ambitious dictionaries.
   
   The companion web site provides a variety of resources for the student. The Old English "Magic Sheet" is a tool that students will find invaluable in their initial approach to Anglo-Saxon Literature. As the student refers to it repeatedly in his or her reading, he or she will quickly become more familiar with the forms and may soon be weaned off of it. In each chapter there are references to relevant "Old English Aerobics" exercises online, which can assist students in need of some basic practice with the material. The ability to look up a word, part of speech, or clause with the click of a button is a testament to the work that was put into developing the resource. While I must applaud the author's forward thinking and effective use of the technology, getting online may yet provide challenges at times for certain students, and the exercises themselves can prove somewhat short and elementary. A simple solution to these minor problems might be to include self tutorial exercises in a new edition, or to publish a companion workbook at some point in the future. To my knowledge, no such resource exists in Old English, and it must be said that there is simply no substitute for routine practice when learning a new language.
   
   These minor concerns are truly subordinate to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Though the book itself may not be a substitute for practice, passages appropriate for initiates to tackle and translate are included in the anthology, and students will find themselves far better equipped to approach Old English after having covered the main topics. It was with great pleasure that I found my own abilities dramatically improved after simply having covered the sixteen initial chapters. Introduction to Old English proves to be not only an exceedingly effective primer with regard to Anglo-Saxon literature, but an invaluable reference to accompany further readings and studies within the context of the language. Every student of Old English should sleep with a copy of this book under their pillow.



2. Professor Baker's relatively new book is the best one-volume start for someone learning Old English outside of a classroom setting. It is significantly better for this purpose than Mitchell's book, although Baker does not convey quite the same sense of enthusiasm that Mitchell does.
   
   In addition to the expected format for a book such as this, which consists of grammar-oriented instruction, graded readings, and a glossary, there are excellent chapters on metrics, manuscript reading, and a fine bibliography and set of recommended readings. He even provides a chapter for the reader who might be deficient in common grammatical terms.
   
   The highlight of the book, though, are the links to the online exercises, which provide a much more convenient method of practice. Focused practice is essential when learning a language, and the online exercises are much better than the usual handful of perfunctory exercises provided in graded grammars. In many such books, answers to the exercises aren't even provided.
   
   In summary, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn to read and appreciate Old English on their own.



3. Dr. Baker's "Introduction to Old English" is probably the best book for a person to use who has no previous experience with either Old English or traditional linguistics. I used this book as an undergraduate taking a graduate Old English course and found it most enjoyable and useful. Each chapter is quite easy to follow, and usually contain at least one "mini-text" which are short texts in Old English that you can read along the way. This method is especially useful; by the time you begin with the anthology of literature located in the back of the book, you've already read some simplier passages of Old English.
   
   The book is worth its retail price simply for its collection of literature. Included here are the "The Wife's Lament", "The Wanderer", "Wulf and Eadwacer" and excerpts from "Judith" and "Beowulf". This book is even helpful for someone who has no previous study in the history of the English language, although those who do will find this book superbly accesible.



4. I bought a copy of Baker's Introduction to Old English while taking a graduate course in order to supplement the other texts used. I found this to be a fantastic resource for the solo learner. The explanations were precise yet easy to understand and the exercises helped to illuminate the grammar points. I really enjoyed the online exercises, standard these days in foreign language courses, which quickly allowed me to grasp concepts. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Old English.



5. Introduction to Old English, is, overall, very well laid out. It is easy to understand and presents new material in an ordered way. My one problem, however, is with the practice sentences and texts. They require a much higher knowledge of Old English that could be expected at the very beginning levels. Besides that, there are no major problems, and it should be an otherwise good experience.

5 comments about A Guide to Old English.

1. This book is brilliantly thought out and executed. It makes learning Old English wonderful challenging fun. By far the best book of it's kind available.



2. This is not the best reader, the best grammar, or the best primer, but if you're looking to use just *one* introductory book before tackling longer readings with a dictionary, Mitchell and Robinson have created a fantastic resource. Work through and memorise the basic inflections as outlined in the introduction, then read up on the basic syntax, and then jump into the eighteen readings while slowly working through the rest of the grammar. Some initiative is required: Lessons and vocab lists aren't prepared for you. However, combined with a modicum of diligence and industry, this is a great way to learn Old English.



3. If you only buy one book to learn Old English, this should be it. It's been the main text in both of the Old English classes I've taken. It's the most comprehensive offering available (as far as I know): it includes chapters on syntax and poetics and information on A-S culture. The introductions to the texts are often excellent, and--as someone else commented--the texts are organized by difficulty. The glossary is also everything a student could want: not only does it give the meaning of the term, but it lists all the places in all of the texts where the poem is used, and for each usage, it tells you number, gender, and case. Impressive.
   
   However, much of this valuable information is presented as a hodgepodge of information. There is little rhyme or reason to the organization of the verb tables, for instance: the order of tenses often varies from table to table for no apparent reason. There are no section headings (unlike in Bright's grammar, where declensions are clearly labeled). In the chapter on Nouns, for instance, no explicit attempt is made to group the 18+ different paradigms into categories, although it would be easy enough to group these paradigms into declensions. The authors have also decided to include phonology and sound change information within their discussion of the grammar, but--again--they fail to include headings or signposts that could help the beginning student *understand* the connection between the phonology and the grammar. I found the organization of Bright's to be much more helpful. If you are using this text, you should plan on taking a lot of notes: much of the information in this book must be categorized and rearranged into more logical sequences in order to be used most fruitfully.
   
   The best thing--in my experience--is to use this book alongside another grammar such as Bright's Old English Grammar or _An Old English Grammar_ by Quirk and Wrenn. These grammars will both help you understand the "big picture" of English grammar, which you can then use to reconstruct Michell and Robinson.
   
   As of yet, there seems to be no strong, authoritative, highly accessible introductory textbook for Old English, comparable to Wheelock's in Latin. This book is the best of an uneven lot.
   
   **Since I wrote the original review above, I found another textbook which I would recommend highly: Peter Baker's excellent Introduction to Old English. The material in Baker's text is presented in an extremely clear and sensible way. I strongly recommend it as a self-study book or as a supplement to anyone using Mitchell and Robinson in class. (Klinck's book of Old English Elegies plus Baker's Intro to OE would make a potent combination for an elementary course.)



4. Having read several other language texts, I was expecting an organization wherein each chapter consists of an explanation of a set of concepts, in increasing order of difficulty, followed by several examples (initially completely contrived, later becoming more authentic) that illustrate those concepts for practice purposes. This book, however, attempts to teach Old English by first simply listing all the rules of the language (often, as other reviewers have noted, in no particular order) and then presenting a stack of texts to decipher. The quality of the glossary notwithstanding, this is not a good way to learn a language, and only the similarities between Old and Modern English make it possible at all. By contrast, I learned Ancient Greek from the appropriately titled Teach Yourself Ancient Greek much better and more easily despite that language's innate difficulty owing to a far superior tutorial structure. If this is, as others suggest, the best available Old English primer, then I must regrettably conclude that it is not at present possible to learn Old English on one's own purely for fun; if you use this book, you will either fail to learn the language or fail to have fun, or quite possibly both.



5. This book was recommended to me as preparation for graduate studies in Medieval English literature. As some of the other reviewers have noted, the book's organization is somewhat difficult to understand at first, especially if you are used to books like Wheelock's Latin, which is organized in self-study lessons with grammar concepts, vocabulary, and texts presented in order of increasing difficulty. This book is NOT organized in that way, but is still helpful if properly used.
   
   The book is organized in a more encyclopedic fashion, e.g. with all noun declensions (including a number of notes on excceptions and variations) presented together, followed by all strong verbs (with notes), etc. Syntax has its own chapter. Therefore, you cannot expect easily to work through the book in the order in which elements are presented. It is better to remember that the book is organized by topic, not by the order in which a the many aspects of a topic should be learned. I had much better success when I started by memorizing the basic noun paradigms (ignoring the variations and exceptions), the pronoun paradigms, and then starting with weak verbs. I was then able to begin translating the basic texts provided, with the help of the glossary, and by referring to the syntax portion of the book where necessary to decipher the uses of different cases. In the midst of this I read about, but did not try to entirely memorize, the rules of sound changes, which helps greatly when looking up words in the glossary.
   
   In short, it is not difficult to use this book for self-study, as long as you put forth some effort and thought into organizing your own "lesson plans," pulling necessary material from the book in a sensible order. Having learned another inflected language will be of great help in giving you an idea of the order in which concepts should be learned, but the "How to Use This Guide" section does give some suggestions about how to approach the material.

5 comments about All The Fun's In How You Say A Thing: An Explanation Of Meter & Versification.

1. If you check out the cities of the other reviewers, you will notice they are all from around or near LA. That is because they were all, very likely, students of Steele at CAl State LA.

   I wonder if their individual reviews of this book helped them get a better grade in his poetry course?

   While Steele is a good poet (see his poetry books), he has made a name for himself in academia by self-righteously asserting that poetry must be written a certain way to be truly poetic. He does not merely frown on free verse; he rejects it.

   Steele likens free verse to playing tennis without a net. HIs point seems to be that once the rules of a game are broken, something has been lost in the joy of playing or watching it. However, tennis without a net is called paddle ball, and unless you're a New English prig straight out of the pages of Yankee magazine, it's a heck of a lot of fun.




2. I would definitely not recommend this book to beginners. Don't get me wrong, it's probably the best book on prosody out there, but it can be difficult reading. The book is loaded with information, and Steele's knowledge on the subject comes through. But it isn't the book I'd start with. But if you have a general idea of form and meter, then there is no better book to strengthen and teach you. Part One, on iambic verse, should be read by any serious poet. The only problem I found with the book is that Steele uses a lot of Old English, Middle English, and foreign language examples, where I think something we all can sound out would have been a better choice. Still, for anyone who is serious about poetry, this is a book that should be read and studied.



3. I am currently a student in an undergraduate creative writing program, and I love (and write) free verse. A previous reviewer criticizes Steele for his "rejection" of free verse; this reason is the basis of his/her low rating of the book. Timothy Steele doesn't have a deep admiration of free verse. He even calls it secondary to the main accentual-syllabic tradition. Although I agree with the previous reviewer about Steele's view of free verse, I do not, however, think this book is lessened by Steele's view.

   Steele makes it known from the beginning that the majority of the book will be devoted to iambic verse. I bought this book for an intensive study of form and meter, and the book did not let me down. Not only does Steele cover the principles of scansion and metrical variation, Steele takes the reader into the history of our verse and how it has developed over time. He also explores the development of the English language, rhyme, stanza, elision, and grammar's relation to meter. He doesn't even stop there. He covers much more territory; and, by the end of this book, I feel that I have a firm grasp on formal poetic technique.

   The only criticism I have is that Steele does have a tendency to overkill some very basic concepts (the discussion of enjambment goes on page after page, the elision chapter went on for quite a while... it could have been more concise).

   If you are looking for a book to give you a thorough, clear, and engaging explanation of formal poetic technique, this is a very helpful book. I can truthfully say after reading it I am more confident of my understanding of meter and versification and that I am also more confident of my skills as a free-verse poet. I highly recommend this book.




4. Steele here, unlike in *Missing Measures*, is not engaging in a polemic, but is rather engaging in one of the most thoughtful explorations of accentual-syllabic prosody that I have read. His descriptions of the iambic pentameter line and the variations of that line, relative stress, and indeed the diversity of uses to which "traditional" verse can be put are revelatory and even inspiring. It isn't your old da-DA-da-DA-da-DA-da-DA-da-DA.



5. Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to read a variety of handbooks and guides to poetry and by far and away this is the single most comprehensive, educational and well-written work on English prosody currently available. It supercedes the old standbys: Fussell, Beum & Shapiro, Oliver, Baer and Hollander.
   
   The book discusses and explains all prosodic systems: accentual-alliterative, accentual-syllabic, syllabic, quantitative and free-verse. Its focus, quite naturally, is on accentual-syllabic systems, particularly the iambic line. Steele's discussion of trochaic, anapestic, dactyllic and amphibrachic lines are insightful. In addition to prosody, scansion and metrical substitution, Steele covers syntax, enjambment, elision, rhyme and stanza forms as well.
   
   Throughout, Steele gives numerous illustrative examples from English poetry throughout its history, from Beowulf to Chaucer on up to modern, living writers.
   
   If a reader or writer of formal verse has room on the shelf for only one such handbook, this is the one to purchase.