Reddit reviews The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide

I'm surprised you haven't gotten an answer yet, but the short answer is Modernism, with a capital M.

Hopefully a theory head can pop in and expand, as I don't feel especially qualified (I know there are a couple of you out there lurking!), but a little more from me.

Basically, Modernism was an arts and philosophy movement that arose largely in response to the Industrial Revolution. That precipitated immense changes in the structure of western civilization and out of this chaos the desire for something that closer represented their time, and not an idealization of the past, obsolete ways. Pound's declaration "Make it new!" certainly embodies the feeling of the era. Instead of being constrained by rhyme and meter (anyone who tells you they aren't constraints is being artsy fartsy and not realistic, they are quite literally constraints) they looked to take Coleridge's definition of poetry as the "best words in the best order" to a further place than the Romantics had. Communicating accurately became more important than the nmemonic device of rhyme which once helped people remember epics, because at the same time intention, interpretation etc became important.

Think of how much has changed in the last 30 or so years because of how the internet has changed the world in regards to communication/commerce etc. The industrial revolution was like that, but because it was the first major step towards what we'd see as modernity, it was way more shocking. While there were cities before, most of the western population was very spread out and most products were made by yourself or local cottage industries. Smash cut to bustling metropolises and smoggy port towns. So yeah, it was a very tumultuous time.

I'm sure someone could elaborate and doing a bit of reading on Modernism will get you the insight that you're looking for. If your project is a really big one or you want a much more in-depth look into the role of sound in contemporary poetry, and have a tolerance for dry theory essays, Robert Pinsky's book The Sounds of Poetry is very insightful. I hadn't cracked it's spine in half a decade when I busted it out to find a quote about there being no true spondees on a whim, so it is a $5.99 that keeps giving, haha.

Here are some books I've read that I guess you could call "craft" books. I'm not speaking against craft books. They can be helpful, but again I would remind you that the best teacher is poetry itself. Craft books have to be taken for what they are, which is often that poet's own perspective on poetry that may conflict fundamentally with your own. But, there are some things that are helpful, and I know some of them may seem kind of "basic" but trust me they are helpful. You should never think you have poetry figured out. Once you feel that way I think you've already lost.

Anyway here are some books I've read, not always through classes but some are.
A Broken Thing: Poets on the Line- Edited by Emily Rosko & Anton Vander Zee. This is a collection of short essays by poets on the poetic line. Look at it as a way of collecting ideas about what lines can do, because many of these essays will contradict each other. It's not because one is wrong, it's because the line can do a lot of things. https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Thing-Poets-Line/dp/1609380541/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524596709&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=a+broken+thing+preston+the+line

The Making of a Poem by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland is a great book if you want to study forms more closely. It is an anthology of poetic forms, so it gives you the basic "rules" of the form, and then a ton of old and modern examples of the form. A good way to do a close study of specific forms. https://www.amazon.com/Making-Poem-Norton-Anthology-Poetic/dp/0393321789/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524596728&sr=1-1&keywords=making+of+a+poem

Sound:
Two come to mind. One is The Sounds of Poetry: a Brief Guide by Robert Pinsky. This is one that will feel somewhat basic because Pinsky frames it for beginners, but I promise it is helpful to review. He really understands sound better than most. https://www.amazon.com/Sounds-Poetry-Brief-Guide/dp/0374526176/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524596743&sr=1-1&keywords=sounds+of+poetry

Two, if you want to understand meter better, which every poet should, this is the best book on meter: Poetic Meter and Poetic Form by Paul Fussell. It's out of print but you can probably find a copy at a local library, or at a university library. You may have to pay for access to it, but it's cheaper than a $100 for a used copy.

Finally, Singing School by Robert Pinsky. Again, going to feel a bit basic. The whole book's purpose is to teach you to write and read poetry by doing imitations. Do not devalue the importance of imitating better poets than yourself. Every poet, even Keats, started by doing imitations. This book is a good guide to starting a practice of imitating. Imitations actually help you discover yourself as a writer better because you realize where you can and can't sound like another poet. Those are good things because often those can't's are what you find to be the things that make you unique. It also just really hones some basic skills every poet should have.
https://www.amazon.com/Singing-School-Learning-Studying-Masters/dp/0393348970/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524596763&sr=1-1&keywords=singing+school

Hope this helps! Best advice I can give you is read actual poetry and write every single day.

If you're really interested, here is an excellent, short, illustrative book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Sounds-Poetry-Brief-Guide/dp/0374526176

But to be very brief, you just have to feel out the rhythm of the poem and construct lines out of words that fit that rhythm naturally. Just counting syllables isn't enough: you have to pay attention to stresses.

This poem tries to have a strong pattern of alternating stresses: STRONGweakSTRONGweak. "MOVing SLOW he" etc. But then in the second line he screws up right away by following a stressed syllable by two distinctly unstressed ones: "STARTing his JOURney..."

There's no way to make that fit in the rhythm he's just established. You can try to say "STARTing HIS jourNEY" or "startING his JOURney..." but they both sound absolutely bizarre because that's just not how we speak.