We feel strongly that this book can aid teachers in their struggles
with the hydra of curriculum. If the basis of the English classroom is
the responsible and expressive articulation of the English language,
then poetry, as the art of language, deserves pride of place in the class-
room. To cite one of the most basic aspects of poetry, students should
know what every word in a poem means. Any word a student does not
know should be defined by the student in his or her notebook. Vocab-
ulary is generated within a meaningful context, since the act of read-
ing a poem is a natural and exciting way for a student to make sense of
some very carefully chosen words. Thanks to poems, people have
been learning new words long before Hot SAT Words came along.

Other typical aspects of the English classroom such as grammar can
be taught in terms of reading poetry. Poems provide natural contexts
for learning; they are not unrelated exercises or drills but purposeful
syntheses. Since poets continually rethink basic issues such as punc-
tuation, poems are great places to observe the choices and decisions
that confront any user of the English language.

Poems, of course, are of worth in and of themselves. The art of lan-
guage has many lessons to offer, but poetry can never be reduced to a
set of rules. This book can be used in its entirety (for instance, as the
basis of an elective class devoted to poetry) or chapter by chapter or
exercise by exercise. The teacher, student, and general reader should
feel free to use this book as imagination dictates. Imagination is, after
all, the heart of poetry.

-- David Cappella

-- Baron Wormser

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