The Craft of Criticism

Consisting of practical critiques of poems, this book attempts to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of criticism.

Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Critiques; 1. 'Poem in October', Dylan Thomas; 2. 'Piazza Piece', John Crowe Ransom; 3. 'To His Coy Mistress', Andrew Marvell; 4. 'Two X', e. e. cummings; 5. 'The Twa Corbies' (with 'The Three Ravens'), Anon.; 6. 'To a Steam Roller', Marianne Moore; 7. 'To Autumn' (with 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', 'Ode to a Nightingale', and 'Ode on Melancholy'), John Keats; 8. 'The Poplar Field', William Cowper; 9. 'She Dwelt Among Th' Untrodden Ways', William Wordsworth; 10. 'Hibiscus and Salvia Flowers' (with 'Kangaroo'), D. H. Lawrence; 11. 'Thistles', Ted Hughes; 12. 'Deceptions', Philip Larkin; 13. Sonnet 138, William Shakespeare; 14. 'Tomorrow, and tomorrow...' (from Macbeth), William Shakespeare; 15. 'Snow', Louis MacNeice; 16. 'A Martian Sends a Postcard Home', Craig Raine; 17. 'The Draft Horse', Robert Frost; 18. 'London', William Blake; 19. 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death', W. B. Yeats; 20. Sebastian's sestina (from The Sea and the Mirror), W. H. Auden; 21. 'Lady, Weeping at the Crossroads', W. H. Auden; 22. 'Procrastination', George Crabbe; Conclusion; Glossary.