iPoetry

FEAR not, fans of poetry: The app world has not left you behind. Some will even help you write your own poetry.

Poetry from the Poetry Foundation, free for iOS and Android, is my favorite way to read poems digitally. It includes thousands of poems, from Shakespeare to modern-day poets. While most are text entries, some are also available as audio recordings.

The app’s main purpose is to help you discover new poems. When you fire it up, whirling graphical dials spin automatically to select two categories at random, perhaps “worry” and “youth” or “humor” and “life.” Then you see a list of all the poems that fit these categories.

Tapping on a poem in the list takes you to a page where you can read the poem’s text or, if available, listen to an audio file. (…)

If you are interested in writing a poem rather than reading one, a great place to start is Haiku Poem, for iPads and Android devices. This app coaches you to write haikus by counting each line’s syllables, suggesting words you could include and offering you artwork to decorate your poems. It is aimed at schools, but if you’ve not written a poem in years, this offering’s gentle, cheerful style may help you get back in the groove.

For writing poetry in a longer style, Poet’s Pad may do the trick. It’s $10 for the iPad and $5 for Android (though it was on sale for $2 this week), and acts as an interactive writing platform. / New York Times 31.7. 2014