The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics

Since 1968 Lewis Turco's Book of Forms has been a staple in the libraries of writers, teachers, poets, and others who care about the craft of poetry. The 160-page first edition was followed in 1986 by the 292-page New Book of Forms, reprinted six times and one of UPNE's Top Ten Best Sellers. Now Turco has expanded and updated his classic once again, adding many new forms, including the ghazal, rubliw, double dactyl, various Japanese forms other than the haiku and tanka, Clerihew, amphigory, backwoods boast, and quaternion. Twenty percent larger than before, it now includes six in-depth prosodic essays and an entirely new discussion of the rules of scansion, never before formulated in such a simple system and not available in any other handbook.

The Elements of Poetry section has been reorganized in three genres: Dramatic Poetry, Lyric Poetry, and Narrative Poetry. Many new poems from all of English and American literature have been added or substituted in order to provide clear examples of all terms and forms to be found in the book. In short, no handbook ever published in the English language is as complete and helpful as the third edition of The Book of Forms.