There are answers that enable us to understand how poetry is constructed.
This site, Thinking Poetry, seems to be a good one for information. I know that the young sometimes decry history, or the study of ancient art, or literature, yet I know we learn much from examining that which we love.
Study the masters and figure out how they created what they did. For example, visit the Margaret Reid Traditional Poetry site for past winners. That will help you find a bar for which you can aim!
We've been studying poetry since the beginning of time:
Fowler, W.C. (1855). The English Language in its Elements and Forms. Harper & Brothers.
Morgan, J. (1814). Elements of English grammar. Goodale & Burton.
However, keep writing, look for the Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
They are accepting traditional verse poetry. They mean a poetry form that has been around for 50 years or more. They want poems that follow some kind of formal or informal pattern.
This pattern might involve rhyme, meter, length of line, repetition, or some other pattern, strict or loose.
Feet, meter, forms,
rhythm and rhyme
patterns popular
from the beginning of time.
Forms that qualify include free verse
T.S. Eliot Ezra Pound Walt Whitman Stephen Spender)"sprung" verse:
Gerard Manley Hopkinsnarrative verse:
Alfred Noyessatirical verse:
e.e. cummings: "my sweet old etcetera" Dorothy Parkernonsense verse:
Edward Learlyric verse:
Tennysonromantic verse:
Wordsworthreligious verse:
James Russell Lowellchildren's verse:
A.A. Milnecomic verse and parodies:
W.S. Gilbert A.P. Herbertalso:
sonnets, haiku, ghazals, ballads, odes, villanelles, sestinas, songs, hymns
Check out this Glossary of Poetic Terms describes many forms. And traditional and exotic forms of poetry found on the winning writer's resource pages.
Odes: Praise poetry!
1 comment:
Hi Jenn! Thanks for your various comments on my blog and for mentioning the site I'm building.
That traditional verse competition looks very interesting; I might submit a few poems of my own.
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