The Art of Reading Poetry

A notable feature of Harold Bloom’s poetry anthology The Best Poems English Language is his lengthy introductory essay, here reprinted as a separate book. For the first time Bloom gives his readers an elegant guide to reading poetry––a master critic’s distillation of a lifetime of teaching and criticism. He tackles such subjects as poetic voice, the nature of metaphor and allusion, and the nature of poetic value itself. Bloom writes «the work of great poetry is to aid us to become free artists of ourselves.» This essay is an invaluable guide to poetry.\nThis edition also includes a recommended reading list of poems.