How do you read poetry?

[readertim109]

How do you read poetry? Do you buy whole poetry books? Do you just read single poems? Where would you find a single poem, online?

[knightss]

i generally buy a book (as most of you know i have a book buying problem lol).. sometimes i'll look up authors online and find some random poems.

[Nessa Marie]

I have bought a few poetry books, although it's rare I'll find one I completely like. So ussually I look up authors on poetry sites and read the poems individually.

[therealmsjones]

I am a poet and author of a book so know I do buy poetry books. I think poetry books should stay under 100 pages because after a while, a person will tire after a long book of strictly poetry no matter who or how well the book is written. Just my two cents.

Tammy

[knightss]

mm i've never sat down and read an entire poetry book from begining to end. i think you can appreciate poetry better if you only read a few poems at a time.

[Linda]

poetry is better in small portions. it's never as clean cut as actual reading so it requires more of u filling in the blanks. i like how not everything is there for you and sometimes you have to kindof work to find your own understanding of what u've just read.

[LoveHatesYou]

Very few poets get away with writing tomes... Bukowski- that's about it. I like it when an author writes a novel and then throws in random poems here and there. A few of the beats did it. I think its refreshing. If I eventually put all mystuff into a cohensive work and publish the wonderful piece of personal agony, I think I will do that, throw in random poetry...

[msstroda]

I ususally go to poetry.com and look around. I also have a lot of poems listed there as well, as do other members of my family.

[knightss]

poetry.com sent me a letter saying that i'm a semi-finalist and i'm going to be published in some book.. i just kind of blew it off as a scam. lol

[Linda]

its sad we can't trust anything anymore and we have to assume everything is a scam...or maybe its sad u dont belive u have poetry skills?

[daclawson2]

Yeah I got published in one of those poetry.com books. I really don't know if it was truly published but the poem was a sappy love poem. I didn't care if someone stole it or if it ever got published.

[Niphredil]

doesnt anyone else think that modernish poetry books are just too damn expensive?!? I bought Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy at a discount book shop for ?5 the other day, turned it over and the back said ?14! As a student there is no way on earth I could afford that for one book. It's a pity really cause modern poetry is also far harder to find online than, say, keats or chaucer. So students are going to nine times out of ten end up knowing loads about the history of poetry, but not know what is going on in their own time. While I appreciate that less poetry gets bought, so the price has to go up for the poet to earn anything, I still find that rather sad.

[Authorgen]

doesnt anyone else think that modernish poetry books are just too damn expensive?!? I bought Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy at a discount book shop for ?5 the other day, turned it over and the back said ?14! As a student there is no way on earth I could afford that for one book. It's a pity really cause modern poetry is also far harder to find online than, say, keats or chaucer. So students are going to nine times out of ten end up knowing loads about the history of poetry, but not know what is going on in their own time. While I appreciate that less poetry gets bought, so the price has to go up for the poet to earn anything, I still find that rather sad.

I agree-- a lot of books of poetry are expensive and a complete ripoff. However, with this said, you can find some bargain books of poetry either online or at small indy. book stores.

[NSUSA]

I prefer reading poems one at a time. I don't think I could handle an entire poetry book. This is especially true since I often like to read a poem a few times over in one sitting so that I can understand it fully.

[Corina Elena]

I usually find a quote somewhere, such as Pinterest for example, and google the author afterward. The poems are usually easily available online and I just jump from one poem to the other and decide if I like the author of not. If I do, I might purchase the book for myself or as a gift for someone I believe the book might inspire.