This review of Sing Me the Creation was written by Margaret Jonas for the newsletter of Steiner House Library.
This is an enlarged and revised edition of the previous work which came out in 1994, from a published poet and very experienced leader of workshops and courses. Although usually a gift, creative writing can also be taught and developed and for anyone wishing to nurture poetry writing this book is highly recommended. The additions are further exercises and examples from poetry courses students. Although many exercises are meant for group work, there are plenty of suggestions and exercises that the lone would-be-poet can try, which are very stimulation and enjoyable as I can testify.
We are led to consider the basics of words – vowels and consonants – and grammar comes alive as we look at statement, question, command, exclamation, which are also related to the four elements/temperaments. The tools of poetry – metre and rhythm, alliteration, assonance, the place of the rhyme are all included but nothing is brought in a dull or dry way. We work playfully with words and sentences and can begin to feel ourselves magicians of language. There is also always a more serious, spiritual underlying note, recalling the nature of the Word itself, and with comments about the nature of poetry in the past and present. Although given for the English language, probably many exercises could be developed for other tongues. It is a sourcebook that should be of great help to English teachers as well as to creative writing classes and any poetry lover.
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