Can you recommend a good book for learning to write poetry?
by 
dillydaydream
ANSWERS: 4
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I'd perhaps take a different way about it by asking a question (not aimed at you! just in general): is it possible to write a good poem if you've never read a good poem? So, a good book to help you to learn to write poetry would be a good anthology of poems. One I've always loved (and my English teacher at school used to raid it for lessons) is The Rattle Bag edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. It's got lots and lots of poems in it by lots of different people, some ancient and some modern(-ish). Read as many as possible and then start stealing ideas from it!
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To really open your mind and heart to poetry writing, you absolutely must read some Gertrude Stein. I am not recommending her to say, "go mimic her style"... I am making the suggestion because I believe that having a lot of perspective on a subject broadens your ability to understand and even truly appreciate a subject. Reading "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" changed me as a writer.
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read poetry that inspires you
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I can recommend this poetry book to help inspire you though. https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=46134
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