Why read The End of the Poem?

Book cover of The End of the Poem

Book description

The End of the Poem contains the fifteen lectures delivered by Paul Muldoon as Oxford Professor of Poetry, from 1999 to 2004. Rather than individual and discrete performances, these lectures form a dazzling set of variations around the sustained theme of 'the end of the poem'. Each lecture explores a…

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Poetry

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Why read it?

1 author picked The End of the Poem as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rae Spencer

Author

Each chapter is a deep exploration of a single poem, highlighting sounds and words in ways the poems’ authors may or may not have intended. When I met this book, I had been writing poetry for years—unfocused drafts distilled from raw experience and emotion that I later revised into purposeful communication.

Then I read The End of the Poem. Suddenly, I wanted my poems filled with riddles and echoes, delicate Easter eggs for my readers. This book taught me there is an uncontrollable synergy between writers, words, and readers. Each reader will encounter a writer’s intentional (and unintentional) choices…

From Rae's list on The best books that could have been dull but are actually poetry (and are sometimes about poetry).