James Fenton's poetry masterclass
A step-by-step guide to the theory and practice of poetry
A licence for drama
In the last of his series on poetry, James Fenton discusses the poet's role in the operatic tradition
This is my song
Collaborating on a composition can be difficult, writes James Fenton
Soul music
Masterclass: Great lyrics will stand even without a score, writes James Fenton
Negative images
Free verse can seem a bit extreme at times, writes James Fenton
Cry freedom
James Fenton on the end of traditional metrics
The eyes have it
Masterclass: The visual effect of a poem can be as important as its aural impact, writes James Fenton
Slave to the rhythm
James Fenton on how to use rhyme to make a poem more memorable
It ain't necessarily so
James Fenton on rhyme, and reasons for using it
Off with your dochmiacs
Masterclass: Some metrical forms make the leap into English verse, others remain as mere exercises
To villanelle and back
James Fenton on grappling with varieties of form, serious and not serious, major and minor
The patriarch of Petrarchan sonnets
Milton was the expert but there are many variations, writes James Fenton
Writing to a tall order
James Fenton looks at the most complicated forms of rhyme
An Italian affair
James Fenton considers variations of lines and length in the stanza
Changing rooms
James Fenton looks at shorter varieties of the stanza
Down in the deep dark dell
James Fenton on how many syllables make a good long line
Rhyme and reason
Poets looking for speed and rhythm have a useful device to hand in the iambic tetrameter, says James Fenton
Where to draw the line
Long or short? In his latest poetry masterclass, James Fenton gets the measure of verse
The missing link
James Fenton on a trochaic variation that owes much to the Elizabethans
The long and the short of it
James Fenton on the quintessential stresses in English verse
The art of not violating the verse
James Fenton on how variation in a line presents the poet with many challenges.
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