|
So I just recently started making poems about everything. Never studied any styles, just kind of writing what first comes to mind. In 2 days I wrote four poems, upon observation, my most "successful" poems have been very simple and rhythmic.
I've been experimenting with A few styles but find myself wanting to mimic Dr. Seuss because I'm not very educated in writing other types of poetry. The past day I've been researching the many different styles of poetry, but with so many to choose from, I have no where to start.
If anyone would like to critique my poems, they can be found in my blog please rate and suggest ideas or offer advice. Seeing one out of five stars for me was an indication that my style of poetry needs work, perhaps not pleasing to that particular individual. I would love it if more people would rate my work so I can get a better indication of what is to still be desired.
I love writing poetry about SC/SC2 and other topics, but what I desire is for others to enjoy these as much as me. So don't be afraid to give me a piece of your mind.
|
Also people tend to dislike Dr. Seuss style rhymes because after 6th grade, you begin to realize how simple it is to write them. People like poetry because it is an Art. And when you write in elementary school style, people will read it and think "I can do this..why should I read it."
When you write in rhymes (especially simple rhymes) you let words control your poem, instead of the point/feeling/emotion controlling it. You will find yourself manipulating the poem to fit the word instead of using the word that should have been used though it didn't rhyme.
This is when people really get annoyed with rhyming. When you throw in a word that rhymes really well, but is a really poor word choice, but it was used simply becaue it rhymed.
Just my 2cents on the matter. Hope it helps.
(I also don't understand a lot of modern poetry tho for example
"The boy stared at the dog, and the dog stared back at him!"
and then people cheer like "wow that is so deep" and I just get like "wtf does that even mean?"
"That is the point man!"
And this is usually where I get disgusted to the point of walking away.
I LOVE Robert Frost though.
He is a "form junkie" in the fact that he always sticks to one and follows it strictly. And most of his poems are very ambiguous, though often misinterpreted. (I know this is kind of oxymoronic but my point is, people often analyze Frost's poems and say "it means this....." when actually MOST of his poems have multiple meanings, and there is no just 1 correct answer.
For instance, re-read The Road Less Travelled. IT IS NOT ABOUT taking the harder/more difficult path that you took and that's why your an achiever. Because it actually talks about both paths being fairly easy to take. His emphasis is more on making a decision than what decision you make.
Most commonly incorrectly analyzed poem that is used in high school graduations n things of a similar sort on a regular basis.
|
This blog could have been
a lot more interesting
if you were clever.
|
On April 06 2011 15:20 Dubzex wrote:
This blog could have been
a lot more interesting
if you were clever.
is that a haiku?
|
On April 06 2011 15:19 mnofstl007 wrote:
... where is this blog of poetry?
Click blog next to quote and the other buttons, PM profile, etc.
|
On April 06 2011 15:22 Roe wrote:Show nested quote +On April 06 2011 15:20 Dubzex wrote:
This blog could have been
a lot more interesting
if you were clever. is that a haiku?
Yes, I believe it is. It is a pretty poor one, but a Haiku nonetheless.
|
Hm, think about the difference between prose and poetry. If I wrote something like:
Hm, think about
the difference between
prose and poetry
It's simply prose with enjambment for "poetic effect." I think that, in poetry, you have to be a little more careful with how you use words. Use them sparely, and make every word count. You have a few lines like these in your previous poems ("I think and ponder, what to write as an author").
|
Write more poetry. Read more poetry. Also before you submit, try reading the poem out loud - that way you can easily see inconsistency in the rhythm. One more thing that can be easy to focus on in the beginning is the choice of words. For example if you choose a lot of words with "s" "f" "r", you can get a very dark sounding poem - see E. A. Poe, and vice versa.
I don't say these things will help you become a "better poet", but these are the two I focused on from the beginning. Last but not least. Don't submit everything you write. Even if it's just for the sake of getting some criticism, people will tend to stop reading your stuff if you flood them too much. The best way is to write that one perfect poem, but then lay it to rest for a week or two, come back to it and see if it's still perfect. If it is, go ahead with the publishing. If not you can still show it to the fans years later when they ask you how you began with poetry  Good luck.
|
Go farther back for your form. Poe, Byron, Donne, etc. If you are fluent in other European languages, there's a wealth of fantastic structured poetry out there. See what you like, analyze why it works, and try to emulate it.
Also (shameless plug), look at my blog - it's doggerel next to Poe, but Poe's too dead to write about Starcraft.
|
Emulating light verse is a perfectly reasonable thing to do and a nice place to start. Light verse is a pretty neat place to start because it is easy for people to get into, and it is fun to write and people to read it and hear it.
While it is most peoples first instinct to leap straight into the rhyme of things, a far more important thing to consider and pay attention to is the metrics. I don't mean for you to pay attention to all the stupid iambic pentameter, alexandrine, or ballad meter kind of stuff but just look at your favorite lines of your favorite light verse and look at how it works, not on the level of rhyme scheme but on the level of how the author uses the metrics to control the pace of the poem and then how they use the pace to help enhance the poem as a whole.
For example, triple meters tend to have the effect of speeding the poem up. It's almost like a dance, and it lends itself well to the use in light verse. Limericks, for example, use triple meter, and part of the delight of reading a limerick comes from the meter of the poem. Double dactyls, another light verse form, also uses triple meters to this same effect.
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a book of light verse that was written by T.S. Eliot, who also wrote a bunch of other really well known poems, like The Waste Land and Prufrock and I'm sure there are others, but it's a good example to look at because here you have the most serious of poets who usually talks about the most serious of things that moves into the territory of writing light verse. You can see how he uses meter in these poems as opposed to the meters of his other poems, and how the meters function within the context.
Compare the meter of Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service to something like Macavity:
In the former, you have "Polyphiloprogenitive/ The sapient sutlers of the Lord/ Drift across the window panes/ In the beginning was the Word" versus "Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw--/ For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law./ He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:/ For when they reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there!"
Both gravitate towards an iambic organization. However, despite them both operating, for the most part, within this iambic context, Eliot opts for triple meter substitutions in Macavity, and also chooses to make the rhythm a lot more distinct than Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service. Even at it's most regular ("A painter of the Umbrian school/ Designed upon a gesso ground/ The nimbus of the baptized God/ The wilderness is cracked and browned") Eliot doesn't evoke the same sort of humorous, light kind of verse that the intensely metered Macavity does.
So my recommendation to you, if you want to write good poetry, make sure you pay attention to the metrics of the poem because it does so much and is the backbone of all poetry. Even all this free-verse kind of unmetered stuff, there are still these familiar patterns and rhythms, and even meters, that make the poem enjoyable to read. Getting a good grasp on the fundamentals of metrics and form is the first test of the sincerity of a poet.
|
Before anyone gets beyond my scope of understanding, Give simple suggestions that will help build a better foundation. Perhaps a few lines that I can analyze written by common people not professionals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
