spacer 55
Poem of the Day | Top 30 | Poets | Shopping | Forums | Search | Comments
Today, on May 17th, 2008, the site contains 193 poets, 8,680 poems and 4,481 comments.
Mark Strand - The New Poetry Handbook

1    If a man understands a poem,
     he shall have troubles.

2    If a man lives with a poem,
     he shall die lonely.

3    If a man lives with two poems,
     he shall be unfaithful to one.

4    If a man conceives of a poem,
     he shall have one less child.

5    If a man conceives of two poems,
     he shall have two children less.

6    If a man wears a crown on his head as he writes,
     he shall be found out.

7    If a man wears no crown on his head as he writes,
     he shall deceive no one but himself.

8    If a man gets angry at a poem,
     he shall be scorned by men.

9    If a man continues to be angry at a poem,
     he shall be scorned by women.

10   If a man publicly denounces poetry,
     his shoes will fill with urine.

11   If a man gives up poetry for power,
     he shall have lots of power.

12   If a man brags about his poems,
     he shall be loved by fools.

13   If a man brags about his poems and loves fools,
     he shall write no more.

14   If a man craves attention because of his poems,
     he shall be like a jackass in moonlight.

15   If a man writes a poem and praises the poem of a fellow,
     he shall have a beautiful mistress.

16   If a man writes a poem and praises the poem of a fellow overly,
     he shall drive his mistress away.

17   If a man claims the poem of another,
     his heart shall double in size.

18   If a man lets his poems go naked,
     he shall fear death.

19   If a man fears death,
     he shall be saved by his poems.

20   If a man does not fear death,
     he may or may not be saved by his poems.

21   If a man finishes a poem,
     he shall bathe in the blank wake of his passion
     and be kissed by white paper.

Added: on May 1st, 2006 at 7:04 AM | Viewed: 48821 times | Comments (21)


The New Poetry Handbook - Comments and Information

Poet: Mark Strand
Poem: The New Poetry Handbook

Comment 21 of 21, added on November 14th, 2006 at 4:19 PM.

Hi my name is tierea and i waz just shown you my poems so here is one.its called *DONE* im done im threw threw messin with me feels like you waz just playin with my mind cause everytime i call your phone fells like im waistin my time so i dont call nomore cause like you said im not on the same level you on so i take your word and stop blowin up your fone like everybody says just leave that boy alone so i do but when i see your face i fell right back in love with you and when i say im threw everybody knows thats not TRUE so now im done im threw threw messin with you *DONE*

Tierea from United States
Comment 20 of 21, added on May 15th, 2006 at 7:57 AM.

May not be true but good imagination of all probabilities of poetry, and poets and poetry lovers.

Mohanchand Patil from India
Comment 19 of 21, added on May 1st, 2006 at 7:04 AM.

um..this poem was really dumb..

D.J. from United States

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The New Poetry Handbook, has received 21 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Mark Strand with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info

Strand Info
Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.