A WAY WITH WORDS IV Understanding Poetry

Professor Drout believes the best way to appreciate poetry is to study its structure; that is, its metrical and rhyme patterns. The meaning is inseparable from the form. Concentrating on verse in English, he presents his study in an ersatz historical order, starting with Old English and working his way down to today's seemingly formless verse. He has a youthful voice and an awkward informality that make him sound a bit like a geeky freshman. He reads representative selections floridly but without the finesse that could communicate aesthetic values. In the end, he does not convince the listener that the poems he admires are as profound and artful as he believes them to be. Y.R. 2010 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2009]