The Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms

摘要

The Princeton Handbook is a concise version of the fourth edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics published in 2012. The Encyclopedia justly holds a reputation as one of the most authoritative reference works in its field. Running to 430 pages and 226 entries, against the 1,639 pages and over 1,000 entries of its encyclopedic cousin, this Handbook is the approachable companion for readers and scholars of poetry and poetics. Having written a review of the Encyclopedia some years ago (RR 2013/190), I admit to some relief in the physical portability of this Handbook version, its concision makes it a far more manageable encounter. As befits its name, the Handbook both presents and feels like a book to keep on hand for ready reference. The front matter of the Handbook comprises a Preface, Acknowledgements, Alphabetical List of Entries, Biographical Abbreviations, General Abbreviations and a list of Contributors. The Preface itself is concise, limited to 1.5 pages, which serves to contextualise the Handbook and to provide brief explanations about the appearance of translated titles of works. Stating that, "The entries selected for this volume are chosen for their value in a classroom, a reading community, or a personal experience of poetry", the Preface suggests that this volume seeks a wide readership. A glance through the Alphabetical List of Entries shows the selected entries cover technical and conceptual information. This selection provides a solid grounding in the basic technical terms used in formal discussions of poetry and poetics, as well as some perhaps less familiar terms. Beginning with Accent and ending with Zeugma, the Handbook functions well as a quick reference work and as a resource for deeper, exploratory reading. The combination of terms which may be familiar from formative encounters with poetry during study at school, sitting next to the unfamiliar and maybe strange (e.g. "zeugma"), draws the casual browser of this book into a wider engagement. Comparing the entries in the Handbook with those in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics, it seems as though many entries are the same. Some entries are revised such as the entry for Lyric, a major entry in a poetics reference work, which in the Handbook is a shortened version of the entry in the Encyclopedia. Many entries are followed by a bibliography referring to texts mentioned in the main entry and other relevant material for further related reading.