Title Details

INTRODUCTION


(TO NEW POETS)


A wonderful world of adventure is right before you. It’s in your hands right now, and all you need to explore the whole realm of human experience is a little imagination and a lot of curiosity. You’re about to enter the world of the poet; not someone else’s world, but rather your very own poet’s world.
Did you know the very history of human thought and action for thousands of years has been kept vivid and immediate by poetry?
Before recording equipment was invented (including books), perhaps a hundred generations of story-tellers have kept alive great deeds and simple observations in poems. Vast epics of ancient kings,
grotesque monsters, and beautiful maidens have survived the ages by being told in verse. Poetry possesses many special effects to keep memory alive.
In this book we’ll see some of these special effects as they are used in writing to keep language alive. We’ll see some of these special effects called elements of style as they were used over four hundred years ago by an English poet named William Shakespeare. We’ll see how they are used in our world today and how you can be using them too.
Wordplay is what we’ll be doing. Words are a game of the heart and of the head. You’ll see fantasy and reality coming to life in your own words. You have the heart of a poet and the mind of an adventurer. All you really need to express your dreams and desires is a trail to follow and a few sign posts along the way to bring your thoughts into the light of the written word.
Yours tools are as simple as a sharp pencil and a stack of paper. Oh, I almost forgot: a dictionary is you best literary friend. If you don’t have a dictionary of your own, every library has several that you may use. Try to develop your vocabulary to its fullest using an unabridged dictionary. Study quotations from the great authors to help you understand and absorb library precision.
If you’re ready, let’s start on the adventure in poetry!


RCM
June 1997