Two slender volumes filled with information about poets and
poetry, Beauty Poetry: She Walks in Beauty and Nature Poetry: Make Me a Picture of the Sun by
Sheila Griffin Llanas will be of interest to readers who like words, rhyme,
rhythm and history. Each volume contains eight poems with a chapter devoted to
each poem. Each chapter provides a biography of the poet, a short discussion of
the poem in its historical context, an analysis of the rhyme and rhythm scheme
and a discussion of the meaning of the poem. The writers are well-known poets
of the English language, such as William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, William
Shakespeare and Lord Byron. Many of the poems, but perhaps not all, will also
be familiar. The explanations of all elements of each poem are easily
understood and, just as an art expert can point out the importance of brush
strokes or tints in a famous painting, Ms. Llanas isolates particular words and
phrases that add to the understanding of a poem. These books are a good
introduction or a good refresher to poetry.
