This was great. I've always been very un-self-conscious about formal matters - until falling in with the Substack poetry crowd. Very useful stuff for one as drastically undereducated as myself! Great examples and synthesis.
its interesting to get a window into what a more estute poet thinks of when composing. i liked this post. im more of a heideggerian dullard on this front: in the experiencing of the writing, the proper form will present itself. which basically means copying poems i like by tennyson or auden. but only very rarely write poems.
The funny thing is that I actually write almost entirely by ear, and then after I finish a poem, I’m like “oh huh, that’s iambic” or whatever. (So very much like your heideggerian approach.)(This gets me in trouble when I try and write proper formal verse.) So me going “this is what I was doing here” is more me doing poetry analysis on my own poem, which is maybe kind of weird and pretentious, but I wanted to unpack some of the strengths of free verse. I’m an amateur at a lot of forms. :) (Case in point, the “sonnet” I wrote about the snake has an extra unrhymed line, simply because I usually have multiple versions of a rhyme scheme going and somehow kept two opening lines of a quatrain without noticing, which is highly embarrassing.) Copying is how you learn poetry! the few times I’ve done something more complicated (terza rima, villanelles, etc), I had to find an example to copy, because it helps to see/hear it done.
i didnt think this was ostentatious at all. not weird either. it did reveal a level of care, thought, and knowledge with which you approach your craft that is probably well above the norm. which is all the more reason to share. it did make me think: maybe i should take an hour or two and try to learn what these words mean so i can recognize them and perhaps produce them. it must bring with it a higher freedom of expression or so i would imagine.
There you go, probably won't even take you an hour. :) Perrin's Sound and Sense is a great book that dives into more devices than just rhyme + meter. Mary Oliver's Poetry Handbook is also pretty helpful.
I think poetry is the same as any art form--the more tools you have, the more "free" your expression can be, for sure. Which is one reason why I'm a huge fan of free verse.
Please bring more
Essays to the fore
For this was much enjoyed
By moi
This was great. I've always been very un-self-conscious about formal matters - until falling in with the Substack poetry crowd. Very useful stuff for one as drastically undereducated as myself! Great examples and synthesis.
Thank you! There are some amazing poets here on the 'stack for sure. Most of my poetry knowledge comes secondhand from lit classes.
its interesting to get a window into what a more estute poet thinks of when composing. i liked this post. im more of a heideggerian dullard on this front: in the experiencing of the writing, the proper form will present itself. which basically means copying poems i like by tennyson or auden. but only very rarely write poems.
The funny thing is that I actually write almost entirely by ear, and then after I finish a poem, I’m like “oh huh, that’s iambic” or whatever. (So very much like your heideggerian approach.)(This gets me in trouble when I try and write proper formal verse.) So me going “this is what I was doing here” is more me doing poetry analysis on my own poem, which is maybe kind of weird and pretentious, but I wanted to unpack some of the strengths of free verse. I’m an amateur at a lot of forms. :) (Case in point, the “sonnet” I wrote about the snake has an extra unrhymed line, simply because I usually have multiple versions of a rhyme scheme going and somehow kept two opening lines of a quatrain without noticing, which is highly embarrassing.) Copying is how you learn poetry! the few times I’ve done something more complicated (terza rima, villanelles, etc), I had to find an example to copy, because it helps to see/hear it done.
i didnt think this was ostentatious at all. not weird either. it did reveal a level of care, thought, and knowledge with which you approach your craft that is probably well above the norm. which is all the more reason to share. it did make me think: maybe i should take an hour or two and try to learn what these words mean so i can recognize them and perhaps produce them. it must bring with it a higher freedom of expression or so i would imagine.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55a8033ae4b07e2e8e936394/t/55f9c171e4b05f22759ef12c/1442431345487/Latin+AP+Vergil+2015+List+of+figures+of+speech+rhetorical+devices+.pdf
There you go, probably won't even take you an hour. :) Perrin's Sound and Sense is a great book that dives into more devices than just rhyme + meter. Mary Oliver's Poetry Handbook is also pretty helpful.
I think poetry is the same as any art form--the more tools you have, the more "free" your expression can be, for sure. Which is one reason why I'm a huge fan of free verse.
thanks. this is perfect.
ive never tried free verse and find it rather daunting. looking forward to reading more of yours!