04-10-2009, 08:27 AM | #1 (permalink) |
warrior bodhisattva
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
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Poetry Exercises: Form
One way to practice poetry is to tackle the many forms that have been designed over the centuries. In the 21st century, we often take the free verse form for granted. Many of us will look at free verse as a free licence to do what we want with poetry, but this shouldn't be the case (and it can be argued that such a standpoint enables the production of many mediocre and bad poems that could otherwise be better). Many of the better poems in free verse were written by poets who have a mastery over forms. They could write good sonnets if they wanted to. It is their understanding of meter, rhythm, and such that empowers them with such a command over the free verse form.
In my own development of writing poetry, I have decided to tackle the various forms so that I can get a better understanding of words and how they fit together in meter and rhythm. Rhyme often comes into play as well, which is often discarded in the free verse form. However, many poets use rhyme in different ways (i.e. not at line endings) to play with language, so experience with rhyme is a good skill to develop as well. I challenge you to pick from the various forms of poetry out there and to write some poems using them. You can find a good list of forms here: List of Poetry Forms Here are some examples of mine from my blog: "Apples & Oranges" (Companion haikus)________________________________ "Villanelle I"__________________________________ "Villanelle II"Use this thread to provide constructive feedback to others as well. The point of this is not to produce our best work; it is to learn how language works in a specific context so that we can rethink how we write in other forms (even beyond free verse). Feel free to break form (even the best do it) if it will help you get something out. Note my "Villanelle I" has done so by dropping the refrain and playing with "sky" and "try" compared to "Villanelle II," which uses the proper refrain form. Remember, don't get hung up on how "good" or "polished" your work is here. This isn't a place to post your masterpiece; it's a place to play and learn (i.e. try to break out of your haiku comfort zone ).
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 04-10-2009 at 08:33 AM.. |
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exercises, form, poetry |
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