Book Review

A Magical Clockwork — The Art of Writing the Poem

by Susan Ioannou
Wordrights Canada
Toronto ON
CAN $16.95

Reviewed by Leila S. Goldberger

In her book, A Magical Clockwork — The Art of Writing the Poem, Susan Ioannou conveys her belief that much like the way "… a wrench is still useful in a digital age," her book takes a simple approach to examining "… the mechanics of the poet’s art and the many ways the parts of a poem fit together" (p. vi). In other words, A Magical Clockwork is meant primarily to serve as a writer’s tool; a "practical study of poetry" (p. 1).

In the first part of the book, Ioannou focuses on the mechanics of poetry by breaking them down into four helpful areas of concentration: The Parallel World (Assumptions, Immediacy, and Movement), The Persona, The Image, and Sound.

Early in Chapter 1, Ioannou expresses her assumption that "… art of any kind is neither life nor its direct imitation. "Art … is made; life just happens." To illustrate "Immediacy" she examines imagists such as Ezra Pound and the idea that "[p]recise, concrete language is the foundation of vivid writing that lets the readers see, hear, touch, smell, and taste an experience for themselves." She describes the use of the "Persona" as a guide "who has travelled the land before and can point out the highlights along the way" (p. 33). She explains how images can be used as symbols and metaphors and discusses the sound and rhythm of a poem, the impact of free verse on metre, and the use of techniques such as enjambments and white space for pause. Through these discussions, Ioannou introduces us to the use of language in poetry and to the possibilities that language presents to us as writers.

Ioannou also emphasizes the importance of verbs to the movement of a poem. This seemingly obvious observation struck me as one of the most valuable in her book. It is all too easy, when caught up in the fury of writing, to forget about the power and impact of something as simple as a verb. Her example on page 19 of the static noun versus the active verb hit home for me.

A silent lace
Of snowflakes
-my window’s
white curtain,

versus

Snowflakes
Lace my window,
Like a curtain
Whiten silence.

First the poem is still. So still that the silence resonates in your mind. Then, movement. Clear as day. The experience of these two stanzas was like a mini-epiphany or what Ioannou refers to as an "Aha" moment (p. 25) — a moment in which all at once you know something to be true.

Ioannou has also provided many well-chosen quotations from poems to help illustrate her points; however, I found that the quotations, interspersed among her commentary, cluttered the page and halted the flow of my reading. I would have preferred to read the poem as a whole first, draw my own conclusions, and then read Ioannou’s comments to compare our findings.

For the better part of the book I felt that something was missing: the inspiration, the passion, the white heat of the moment. The experience of writing the poem. The last two chapters, "Vision" and "The Magic," spoke to me, and I found myself wishing that they had been the first two. That the last line, "[T]he poet hopes its solid shining will be succulent with artistic truth," had been the first.

In these last pages, I felt Ioannou was truly speaking in her own voice and not through the quotations of other writers. She offered little truths like "[a]ll poets know the spiteful voice that hisses … ‘You can’t write that. What would your colleagues/spouse/children think?’" (p. 137) and great advice to ease the pain and drudgery of the how to such as "[a]llow yourself holidays from writing, knowing inspiration will return." (p. 138) and "[a] poet can’t think wide and narrow at the same time, but must either create or analyse" (p. 138). Chicken soup for the writer’s soul, if you will.

As Ioannou acknowledges, her book is not meant to revolutionize poetry. Instead A Magical Clockwork succeeds at examining the fundamental elements of a poem, making it an ideal read for anyone who is just beginning to delve into the world of poetry. I would also recommend it to established writers as a valuable reminder that there are still many lessons to be learned from reading other peoples’ work.

Leila S. Goldberger is an editor and SGML analyst in the high tech industry. She is also a professional singer/songwriter and has published several poems.