Types of Shape: New, Expanded Edition

by John Hollander

This book is a collection of pattern poems - poems whose printed format presents a picture of some familiar object that is also the subject of the text. Patterned poems, also called shaped verse, are part of a long tradition that extends from Alexandrian Greek poets to Lewis Carroll and beyond. The poems in this book, written by the poet John Hollander, are on subjects ranging from a beach umbrella and a popsicle to time, love and idea. First published in 1969, the book has now been expanded to include ten recent poems in addition to the original 25, plus an introduction in which Hollander reflects on what a shaped poem is and how and why he wrote them. There are also explanatory comments for each poem.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 1991

Reviews

[Alene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of pattern poetry (aka: concrete poetry, visual poetry). I found the shapes and visual aspect of the book intriguing. Originally published in the late 1960's, before the availability of savvy editing and graphic art software, typesetting required a sense of patience and creative problem solving. The book is wonderfully put together. It's visuals are art pieces and combined with the text, become mini stories. This edition allows for commentary and notes from Hollander, which is a nice addition that allow readers to understand the origins of each poem.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to give Hollander props for how groundbreaking this was in the 1960s. The first edition, dedicated to James Merrill (of the Merrill Lynch fortune but also a beloved poet and huge benefactor to the arts) raised a lot of brows and received some heavy resistance for its categorization as poetry. Though the wording itself is abstract and I occasionally get lost in the run-on sentences, the forms are tight and neat and I could easily see my students devouring these and trying to create their own. My personal favorite was "Lazy Susan" - just a brilliant play on words and personification.

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read the edition pictured here, but rather the original, which has no picture on Goodreads. I will search out this updated edition when I can, since I really enjoyed this book. It's rare to find an entire book of concrete (picture) poetry, and these were well-done. One thing I found interesting is that the poems themselves sounded and felt like streams of consciousness for the most part, which of course they could not be, because so much planning obviously had to go into making them fit their desired shapes. So, you get a paradox here between the concrete form the poem takes on the page and the language Hollander uses, which for the most part doesn't feel artificial or forced, but rather flowing and spontaneous. When I have more time, I may try to type one of these poems into my review so you can see it, but for now, Google Books has some pages on display -- one of them is the opening poem of the book, Skeleton Key:

http://books.google.com/books?id=W2PF...

My favorite poems in the book were Crise de Coeur, This Way Next, and Swan and Shadow. Very inspiring for anyone who's ever made the attempt at writing concrete poetry.

[Whoof]

delightful