This invaluable compendium, consisting of over three hundred entries, presents all of the major and most of the minor verse forms from poetic traditions around the world. Skelton provides a synopsis of each form, together with a list of rules, and then brings each form to life with an original poem. The culmination of years of research, study, and creative effort, The Shapes of Our Singing is not only an unparalleled resource but also a striking testament to the poetic impulse.