Well, Charley, that certainly looks like a lot of work!
On a quick read, the main thing I noticed was some disagreement in the tables between your singulars and plurals. That is, a singular definition may be explained in terms of plurals, and even some of your "forms" are listed as plural ("alexandrine couplets") where others are singular ("amphibrach"). On a low-level note, I think poets value precise and controlled use of language, & will notice it if the language is out of control.
You do have a long list of poetic forms! I'm a bit puzzled by some of it, though: why you have, for example, a "Bowlesian" sonnet but not a Shakespearean or a Miltonic one? Shakespeare and Milton both made the sonnet greater than it had been. The sonnet has a long and rich history spanning several countries, and the form is dictated as much by its rhetorical structure as by anything else - no understanding of a Bowlesian sonnet could really be complete without at least a nod to Sir Philip Sidney, say.
You give two stress examples for alexandrines, without explaining that it works differently in French, and why. It's actually a syllabic line.
"Rondeau redoubled" is more usually called "rondeau redouble" I believe (forgive me, I can't do an accent on ths keyboard).
Also, rather than inventing a classification system (type, form, metrical requirements, rhyme requirements) it might be more useful for you to say something about each form? (See above.) Maybe a couple of examples?
You say: "Given the information in the entry, you should be able to write a poem in the form", but that is clearly not the case. It really IS just a list. I don't believe that a mere syllable-count is enough to acquaint someone with what, say, ballad (or indeed "ballade") form is all about. What material would someone arrange in ballad stanzas?
Finally, you say that for your book you were collecting "101 tips" (you make them sound like fingertips) from people's crits - I take it, from this site, as you've posted here? Interesting. Were you planning to credit people for their ideas and knowledge?
Oh, and I also noted your ideological provisos, where you talk about not liking anything that criticises God or America, and you think swearing & vulgarity is a sign of lack of creativity. So I'm assuming you won't be printing examples then? Hate to have to illustrate with Donne's "To his Mistris Going to Bed", or "The Flea"? Or pretty much any political poetry, or is it just America you don't like poets to dislike? Or is it okay for people who are dead to do it?
Sorry; I don't think I'm really your target audience, anyway: I read a LOT of poetry.
[This message has been edited by Katy Evans-Bush (edited October 13, 2005).]
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