Authored by a team of experienced scholars and teachers and aimed at non-native students of English literature, An Introduction to Poetry in English approaches its subject from multiple angles. First the book explores in five opening chapters the musical qualities of poetic language (metre, rhythm and rhyme), poetic form (both fixed and free), the links between poetry and orality, and the transmutations of a poetic theme. Then, a selection of poems provides examples of these poetic features as well as texts for further study. Finally, eleven commentaries on works by poets from William Shakespeare to Benjamin Zephaniah demonstrate how to apply the concepts explained in the book through close readings of individuel poems. . . Éric Doumerc is a I.ecturer (Maître de Conférences) in English at the University of Toulouse. His main research interests are Caribbean literature and culture, and oral poetry more generally.. Wendy Harding is Professor of English and American Literature at the University of Toulouse. She specializes in Medieval English Literature and Contemporary American poetry and fiction.. Written and edited by Michel Barrucand, Françoise Besson, Eric Doumerc, Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard, Aurélie Guillain, Wendy Harding, Isabelle Keller-Privat, Lesley Lawton, Catherine Lanone, Sylvie Maurel.