A pattern sets the poem’s pace

Eavan Boland and Mark Strand explain the villanelle, sestina, sonnet, ballad, elegy and other forms, each with a short history and a range of poems that use it, from the Renaissance to the present.

Mary Oliver teaches how to read and write metrical verse, from scanning a line to the ways poets vary it. The second half of the book is an anthology of metrical poems to practice on.

John Hollander explains English meter, rhyme and stanza forms in verses that demonstrate what they describe, so a sonnet about the sonnet shows the rules at work. The book is short and often funny.

Timothy Steele explains how English meter works, with chapters on scansion, rhyme and stanza, and argues that meter grows from the rhythms of ordinary speech. Its many examples suit readers ready for a fuller account.

Paul Fussell’s short, opinionated study explains the major English meters and forms, from the sonnet to free verse, and argues that a poem’s form carries meaning instead of decorating it.