Jeffrey Wainwright is a poet, translator, and critic. He taught for many years at Manchester Metropolitan University where he was Professor in the Department of English until 2008.

Now in its third edition Poetry: The Basics remains an engaging exploration of the world of poetry. Drawing on examples ranging from Chaucer to children's rhymes, Cole Porter to Carol Ann Duffy, and from around the English-speaking world, it shows how any reader can understand and gain more pleasure from poetry. Exploring poetry's relationship to everyday language and introducing major genres and technical aspects in an accessible way, it is a clear introduction to how different types of poetry work through the study of details and of whole poems. With a revised chapter on the different practices and ideas in the writing of poetry now, including sections on film poetry and digital poetics, this is a must read for all students of English Literature.

Preface

1. Because there is language there is poetry

2. Deliberate Space

3. Tones of Voice

4. Measures

5. 'Free Verse'

6. Rhyme

7. Stanza

8. Image - Imagination - Inspiration

9. Writing a Poem Now: Philosophies Of Composition

Conclusion

Glossary