Hello guys, as you may know I've been working quite hard on my poetry lately, but I've been focusing mainly on blank verse, and don't know much about other poetic styles. Here are a few questions that have been on my mind recently: 1. Does each line have to have the same foot count? I know in blank verse, for example, each line must have five feet, but are there other forms of poetry where the foot count is not constant? 2. Do you have to follow a predetermined metrical structure outside of free verse? Again, I'll us blank verse as an example: in blank verse most of the feet (60% I believe) must be iamb, but can you write a poem that's not consider free verse if you come up with your own metrical structure? (e.g. the first line is written in all iamb, the second in all trochee, the third in all iamb, the fourth in all trochee, etc.) 3. How do you know if the meter is structured enough for end-rhyme? I know these are probably pretty dumb questions, but I'm still learning Thanks in advance for any help!
There are a ton of types of poetry. Each on has its own set of rules. You could really do a quick google search for types of poetry and I'm sure find examples.
I have done this, but most poetic forms don't explain technical aspects (such as meter), they just explain the content of a poem (e.g. an epic is described as a long, narrative poem, but it says nothing about what the meter or structure of an epic should be). So, I just thought I would ask some questions about poetry as a whole
There are books that breakdown how to write a million types of poetry. I had two of these books when I was in grad school, but I don't have them any more and don't remember the titles. I'm sure you could easily find books like this and I do this you can find the stuff you're looking for online. You might just have to do a couple searches. Good luck.
No. Again, Free Verse doesn't mean free of Rhythm, it mean's free of a pre-determined Meter. Go look at The Red Wheelbarrow, A famous free verse poem, and count the syllables in each line. This requires a little more understanding of meter, but it has to do more with Syllable spacing. I just read (I think Frost) a poem where all the feet are iambs, but he varies the foot count for each line; however, the lines that rhyme with each other has the same foot count (same amount of syllables.) - Bob, Blank verse takes a long time to master, but just because of the learning how to hear syllable part, but because you have to learn to who use Blank verse to create meaning. Now, this is my own personal Rhetoric, but I use trochee/spondee openings when there is some type of disturbing event. Example ...Tom Stabbed the /dull knife /into /the inf/ant's heart. (Trochee/Spondee/Iamb/Iamb/Iamb). Creating your own Rhetoric with Blank Verse (and mastering it) is where you gain power with the form.
