Rating: 
Summary: Good for Its Purpose
Review: The book is divided into chapters that each concentrate on one element of poetry such as tone or metaphor. Each chapter presents a few famous poems, comments about the topic, and some exercises to help you learn the topic. The book includes an extra helping of classic poetry at the end of the book.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful collection of poetry
Review: This is a wonderful collection of poetry, no doubt. Offering various styles and poets, the poems in "Sound & Sense" are absolutely beautiful. I don't have much to say about the constant remarks by Perrine. Why? He makes this into an English textbook. But! - poetry is not like math. There is no step-by-step way to read or write poetry, and there is no RIGHT way to do so either. This book tries to lay it out too much. Yes, I see that is is an "introduction" to poetry, but a reader will fall into the idea that poetry can only be approached through the mathematical ways laid out in "Sound & Sense." After all, Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society" (film) did ask all his students to rip out the introduction of an earlier version of "Sound & Sense." Why? Poetry should be read, and if you wish to analyze, there's no way to set about doing it.But - the collection of poems is reason enough to buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful collection of poetry
Review: This is a wonderful collection of poetry, no doubt. Offering various styles and poets, the poems in "Sound & Sense" are absolutely beautiful. I don't have much to say about the constant remarks by Perrine. Why? He makes this into an English textbook. But! - poetry is not like math. There is no step-by-step way to read or write poetry, and there is no RIGHT way to do so either. This book tries to lay it out too much. Yes, I see that is is an "introduction" to poetry, but a reader will fall into the idea that poetry can only be approached through the mathematical ways laid out in "Sound & Sense." After all, Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society" (film) did ask all his students to rip out the introduction of an earlier version of "Sound & Sense." Why? Poetry should be read, and if you wish to analyze, there's no way to set about doing it. But - the collection of poems is reason enough to buy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Ninth Edition Available, Titled Perrine's Sound and Sense
Review: This textbook methodically explores poetic form and structure. This approach could have been quite limiting, but Perrine manages to analyze poetry without undermining his central message - poetry is to be enjoyed. I highly recommend this book to both readers new to poetry and those that already have considerable familiarity with the major poets. A ninth edition is available, but with a title change. Sound and Sense is now Perrine's Sound and Sense. Look for more reviews under this new title (ISBN 0155030280).
Rating:
Summary: Bullseye
Review: Where has this book been all my life? Perrine's Sound and Sense is not just about poetry, it's a thorough yet concise discussion of the English language and writing. Some reviewers have panned it for offering insight to poetry--they feel that poems should not be explained but should be experienced individually. For the uninitiated though, some direction is often desired. At times Perrine's does not offer enough explanation for me. Many of the notes on the poems offer only a smidgen of insight but do proffer several questions to generate thought and discussion. These questions do often provide clues to a poem's meaning. I'm still guessing about many of the poems, but at least now, I think I'm on the right track.
Rating:
Summary: Bullseye
Review: Where has this book been all my life? Perrine's Sound and Sense is not just about poetry, it's a thorough yet concise discussion of the English language and writing. Some reviewers have panned it for offering insight to poetry--they feel that poems should not be explained but should be experienced individually. For the uninitiated though, some direction is often desired. At times Perrine's does not offer enough explanation for me. Many of the notes on the poems offer only a smidgen of insight but do proffer several questions to generate thought and discussion. These questions do often provide clues to a poem's meaning. I'm still guessing about many of the poems, but at least now, I think I'm on the right track.
Rating:
Summary: a very well written text book.
Review: While attending a community college in1972 I took a literature class in which this book was used. I have never regretted it.. In fact I still recall quite a few poems we had studied and have a much better appreciation for poetry from using it.
Rating: 
Summary: Sound and Sense is given more credit than it deserves.
Review: While I would not deny Perrine's and Arp's level of scholarly prowess in crafting this work, much of that scholarship is unnecessary and, at times undesirable. I used this book in my Advanced Placement English Literature class in high school, and I did not come away especially "enlightened" about poetry. Perrine and Arp seem to forget that the best poetry is inspired and should jostle thoughtful readers into philosophic contemplation. Any hint of this is lost in the way the authors dissect each work, measure it, judge it according to their calculus, and, in the process, strip it of its former beauty. Even the time honored works of Shakespeare, Donne, Dickinson, and other great poets come away with this seemingly undeserved black mark.
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