Eating Poetry

In “Eating Poetry,” Mark Strand expresses the reading of poetry as a life-changing, joyous experience. In the poem’s opening stanza, Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.There is no happiness...

"Eating poetry" is an odd image that we usually do not relate to reading a poem. It conjures a vision of tearing a page of poetry from a book, chewing it up, and swallowing it. Strand's speaker...

If we take Mark Strand's “Eating Poetry” as an extended metaphor for the joys of reading, then we can certainly see the reaction of the librarian to the speaker's devouring of books in ironic...

In this poem, the speaker has been in a library, reading poetry. The speaker calls what he is doing "eating" poetry, rather than reading. This unusual turn of phrase captures our attention in a...

In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker explains that he has been "eating poetry." The ink from the poems runs down his chin, and he is happy and satisfied like someone who has just eaten a...

Mark Strand’s poem “Eating Poetry” describes his transformative elation at reading poetry. The title seems like it has metaphorical meaning, until the reader realizes that he literally ingests the...

Strand's diction, as in most of his poems, is quirky and informal. First, Strand's poem is essentially a single, extended metaphor. In the poem, the poet has been transformed into a naughty dog...

"Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand has what is called an irregular rhyme scheme. That means, rather than regular rhymes at the end of each line, a free-verse rhythm is established. In regular rhyming...

In the third stanza of “Eating Poetry,” the mood shifts from unbridled elation to surreal unease. After the speaker happily devours pages of poetry and disappoints the librarian with his behavior,...

The most likely message that Mark Strand is trying to communicate in his poem is the joyous experience that reading really good poetry often can be for people. When you read a really good poem,...

In Mark Strand’s poem “Eating Poetry,” the speaker describes his jubilation at reading and then literally devouring poetry in a library. So inspired by the words and images, he cannot help himself...

Mark Strand begins his poem "Eating Poetry" with a surprising image: Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry. The happiness of the...

In the opening stanza of the poem the speaker proclaims, "There is no happiness like mine. / I have been eating poetry." This could be read as a metaphor for the speaker's excessive fondness for...

Regarding the style of "Eating Poetry," one could classify it according to the genre of poetry, the movement, or the mood and tone. All of these are ways of addressing the "style" of a given poem....

I did a poetry unit with my class where each day was dedicated to a different sense. On the day we wrote about sound, I played clips of different types of sound effects and songs for them. The...

I like what you are saying about "entering the belly of the beast." There is something almost subconscious or unconscious that happens at the moment of creation, whatever the medium may be. As...