The word “stanza” means one thing when it refers to a poem: a snippet of text, a line or several. In Italian, it means “room.” Poet Chen Chen combines those definitions when he writes, thinking: what ...

An Emily Dickinson poem, the first line of which has now almost become a cliché, says, “Tell the truth but tell it slant / Success in circuit lies / Too bright for our infirm delight/...The Truth must ...

Jane Hirshfield is the author of seven books of poetry, including most recently Come, Thief, and the classic collection of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry. Who better to ask: Why write ...

In a poem, a writer uses language, form and structure to present an idea in a new way; the words on the page become a way to communicate between the poet’s mind and the reader's. When reading poetry a ...