" ... Petersen clearly demonstrates the techniques and structures utilized by the Hebrew poets with plenty of examples from the biblical text. Terminolology has become quite confusing in this area, but Petersen cuts through these difficulties. Controversial matters such as the existence and function of meter in Hebrew poetry are treated in a balanced manner. Furthermore, the book goes beyond mere demonstration of poetic features and fulfills the promise of the title by illustrating how an understanding of these features informs the interpretation of poetic passages of scripture. This is a good place to begin before moving on to the more extensive treatments of the subject by Gillingham or Alter, or the more complex and cutting edge analysis of Kugel."--Amazon.com.