I hope you realize you're encouraging me to lose all sense. I'm un-serious enough. I have to remember that I started this journey hoping to make myself swoon. So far, I'm just chortling at silly imagery after fits of rhyming...hehe Thank goodness. That is exactly what I wanted to hear. I was a little stressed out looking at all the different formats, and finding nothing fit what my brain spouted out! It just wanted to do a certain rhythm. I have to say, it was originally intended for my children. But they only got to hear the first part. It was really cute to hear them giggling and saying, "Mummy, why did she marry a bear?!" I just wiki-ed it, and saw sections of it that looked perfectly digestible to me. Imagery is good, so I'll certainly flag it. Besides, it keeps repeating "The Lady of Shalott". Maybe my brain will like the repetition. hehe You're an angel. I love getting suggestions. It's good getting fast tracked to the interesting stuff. The poetic dimension is rather expansive.
There are two anthologies I'd recommend for finding your taste: This audiobook with Ian McKellen and Michael Caine, and Harold Bloom's The Best Poems of the English Language. Maybe you could pick up both titles at your local library. When you've found some poets you like, get their selected poems first. And this is a piece of advice I got from an art student actually: read aloud. As you read, mark your favorite poems with a sticky note. When you've read through the book, read your favorites again. They should be revisited many times, just you'd play good songs over and over. Their style will rub off on you, and often times you'll discover new sides of the poems, but most importantly it's a source of pleasure.
You took me in a journey @LinnyV . As I first opened the thread I thought of a couple of tips I could give you. Being an amateur poet, I'd say something like "write and let your style flow" or something much sillier compared to all the other advice given. Right now, I'm more challenged to take part in a similar pursuit as yours than helping you out. Not because I'm selfish, but because you finally made me wonder: so really, how should I take this approach to poetry after all? Among so many ideas, "read classics", "read contemporary", "read aloud", "write and write", "look for forms", "get it flowing"... I'd guess the answer would be somewhere in between all of that. Where exactly?... There's only one way of knowing it - trying to find out. I'm really glad you brought this challenge to me, and perhaps to others as well. My sincere gratitude.
@Mocheo Timo - Thank you for such a lovely comment. You can sit next to me on the poetic journey as I wouldn't mind the company. I hope you'll have as much fun and surprises as I am having. This thread has answered a lot of novice questions I've had about poetry, stuff that would have taken me hours of researching. Hopefully, others can reference back on the advice here and pick and choose whatever suits their mood. @Wayjor Frippery - I started reading the Howl today to hubby; you were right, it is much better read out loud and slowly. Link to Poem - Howl by Allen Ginsberg (Beat Poet) http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/49303 @KokoN - I finished reading Lady of Shallot to the whole family on the car trip home from a restaurant this evening. It was very good and I did love the imagery. The amusing thing was, hubby immediately recognised it as one of the songs he listens to regularly from Loreena Mckinnett (he loves her). Had to keep telling him to shut up so I could concentrate since he kept trying to sing it. hehe When we got home, I wasn't so keen to listen to song after hearing his attempts to sing. But I'm glad he made me listen to it. To me, it is so much more beautiful in song form. I've included the link below. Link to Poem - Lady of Shallot by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45360 Link to Lady of Shallot sang by Loreena Mckinnett
Yes!! I love that your husband knew the song and that you liked it! I love the song version of it so much too. So more suggestions, like I promised: One of my favorite poets is probably Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who of course many people know he's famous. My favorites by him are Paul Revere's Ride, The Village Blacksmith, and he wrote my favorite Christmas song "I Heard the Bells."
Hello Poets! I've been watching the votes on the Poetry contest with interest. It seems to be moving sluggishly (in my opinion) and I feel that this site must have many more interested Poets lurking about. I wasn't even aware of the contest previously. So maybe it is the same for others. That's why I decided to flag it here. It only has 4 poems this round, so it'll take minutes to read and vote. You never know, one of those poets could be the next Yeats.... Okay, I might be slightly exaggerating. But if you haven't done so already...PLEASE VOTE ! https://www.writingforums.org/threads/voting-for-poetry-contest-274-theme-hotel-for-the-broken.146445/ And make sure you enter the next one!
Don't feel embarrassed about what you write. When I began to write poetry, I felt like it was too emotional or angsty to show anyone, but I got more and more confident about it. A lot of people write poetry and never show anyone even though they could have been very good at it. Another thing: Poetry does NOT have to rhyme, or make sense, or have a meaning, or have consistent stanzas. My best poem ever had no rhyme scheme and the stanzas were not the same amount of lines.
Any chance of sharing this? If you're inclined, you can post here or PM,I'd love to read it. But ignore me if it's too personal. And thank you for your supportive words. I'm planning on capturing the essence of my twins in poems. It's a project fluttering in the back of my mind. You can have photos, but I think the poems will capture the experience of them at age 4,5 &6. They do things and say words that I know I will forget in years to come if I don't write them down now in a meaningful form. Poems are perfect for this.
a whimsical poem by poe I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth, Better than banking, trade or leases — Take a bank note and fold it up, And then you will find your money in creases! This wonderful plan, without danger or loss, Keeps your cash in your hands, where nothing can trouble it; And every time that you fold it across, 'Tis as plain as the light of the day that you double it!
... and because I love this thread, I am bumping with some more poetry thoughts... I have not yet officially started my poetry journey. That means I have not spent time doing my reading material - I will keep citing work stress. I have just spent time rhyming and writing whatever I want because the wonderful people's of this thread said I could. ;-) But really, I have found all those little moments of writing silly little poems to be happy moments of my day. I also find that my children's ears perk up when they hear me reading my poetry and they immediately want to read along. I've noticed on this forum there are no Poetry reviews. By this I mean people taking up the challenge of reviewing well known pieces of poetry and the style of famous poets. I wish that experienced and passionate poets of this forum would because I personally think I would learn from people's interpretation of poetry. Okay, this is my primary agenda of this post! Finally, a quick reminder... You can still enter in the Poetry Comp this week! https://www.writingforums.org/threads/poetry-contest-275-theme-summertime.146929/ I've already entered. It took me all of 15 minutes, and written in a moment of work stress when I was about to snap. In that moment, I just needed a distraction. This, is to me one of the powers of poetry. It doesn't need to take long, it can be completely spontaneous and it can be anything you want. And if you're looking for a quick creative fix, poetry is it. I've even resorted to writing apologies in poetic form....
Okay, this might sound weird, but youtube should be your best friend if you want to learn poetry. Reading and listening to poetry aloud is key. And you can find Elizabeth Bishop, Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Listening may help you out more than reading if you are trying to gain an appreciation for poetry. Plus, you can find a ton of lectures discussing these poets and their works on youtube. Some of them can be quite interesting. I'm not really a poet, but I do like poetry and sometimes write it. Actually, I do write a good amount, but I struggle with this. But reading it is something I really like now. I do think reading and writing and studying poetry did pay off when it comes to my other writing. I feel more clear headed when I write fiction now and my prose seems to come out smoother.
It shouldn't be allowed, she's like ten years old or somethin'... [this was just the beginning, she grew up, got better, who said poetry was boring?]
Not sure if this is bad or anything but I tried poetry once! I feel like I sucked so bad I am dragging down the concept of poetry by trying it! You are awesome. I am sure you will do great. You got my support!
My first day in my undergrad creative writing class our teacher told us to write the worst, sappiest poem we could think of - that was our homework assignment. The next class period we all had a good laugh reading our poems out loud to the class. After that he said "Now that you've got that out of your system you can concentrate on writing good poetry". So don't be afraid to write the bad stuff, get it all out there, get it out of your system. Plus there's most likely an audience for bad poetry as much as there is an audience for bad literature.
@deadrats - Warm welcomes to the forum! I agree with you. I think poetry adds to my writing and if anything, being open to it has given me another means of expression. I hope you share some stuff you write on this site when you're ready. I did have a quick look on youtube on a couple of poets you mentioned. I somehow ended up following up Sylvia Plath related material...Now that was very interesting. So thanks for the little push. I was in the mood to explore a bit more of poetry last night. @Wayjor Frippery - for a moment there I wondered if that was you in human form... @GuardianWynn - Wynn, you did not try poetry and stop?! You must continue - I'm sure it wasn't that bad. It's good for your writing health anyway. Even if you don't care to write it, I think it's worth every once in a while to read some, especially the well known pieces. For me, it's fascinating to ponder why a collection of words have people so enthused. I still often don't get it, but I enjoy the mystery of why. Feel free to write me an ode to my awesomeness. *fluttering lashes* hehe @NeeNee - Also warm welcomes to the forum! Thank you for sharing. Why did I not get that interesting exercise in high school? (Uni was comp sci so no poetry) I'm sure I would have paid more attention to poetry if one of my teachers did that. Hey, I resemble to that statement! If I saw a title that said "A Collection of Bad Poetry", my eyes will be drawn to it and I'd be walking out of the store with it in hand. And as for bad literature, I'm sure the three eBooks I downloaded last night would be considered bad literature by many. Bad is subjective after all.
Well, stop is a subjective word. I haven't done it in a while but I occassionally get the muse to create another frankenstien's monster. lol. We are the same though in our lack of comprehension. I swear I don't even understand the poems I have written! That is the level of suck we are dealing with!
Thank you for the welcome. I think "A Collection of Bad Poetry" sounds like a pretty good title for your first book. I would probably buy that book myself as would many others.
You have to post some in the critique threads then, you can definitely tag me on those please! Yes, I agree - it's a title that says "Buy me now!" hehe. Unfortunately, my first book will not be a collection of subjectively bad poetry but possibly an example of subjectively bad literature. I'll hide that title under my pillow for now, until I am ready to reveal to the greater world beyond WF what an Anti-Poet I truly am. lol Hopefully no one will steal it!
I already have. 3 pieces are on here. One in the workshop, two on my blog. I could send ya links if you want.
@GuardianWynn you have poetry on here? How come I never knew that? Send me the links and I'll have a look at it in the next few days. I'm very interested.
Ya never asked? Actually I have 4, but forth was in a context, I remember it was on water or the ocean. I forget where that one is. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/my-one-poem-for-napowrimo.138748/ https://www.writingforums.org/entry/the-order-star-and-moon.63028/ https://www.writingforums.org/entry/the-order-the-green-queen.63029/
I when I write poetry , i usual general know what I about poem .let say , its going sad poem than I would I listen to sad instrumental music to get in mood . So on , but sometime it doesn't work like that .Sometime some poetry lines just pops from nowhere , when I am walking on street or taking shower ( probably attributed to fact I listen music half of day ). So , the advice is listen to music on daily basis.
@GuardianWynn - Well, now I know. So feel free to tag me in any Frankenstein poetic creations. I will actually have a look today but may not comment right away. @haider - Warm welcomes, I am loving how so many noobs to this site are poetically geared. And I am sure almost everyone agrees, music inspires us. I'm going to share the latest song I listen to day in and day out, because it is actually the inspiration of my WIP. This was also something, I found as a result of this poetry thread - so as always thank you thread for being part of my inspiration. This project (my story) completely absorbs me as nothing else has for years in my search for the right story for my first novel. These days I use poetry and music to drive my writing. I've always used music but it's now the awareness and appreciation of the meanings behind the words that adds another level of interest. My interpretation of the lyrics of this song is very much linked to so many elements of my plot and I was previously not a lyrical conscious person. I've no idea why but I feel so strongly of adventure and romance and immediately, I have vivid imagery of a far away world. The Mystic's Dream A clouded dream on an earthly night Hangs upon the crescent moon A voiceless song in an ageless light Sings at the coming dawn Birds in flight are calling there Where the heart moves the stones It's there that my heart is longing for All for the love of you A painting hangs on an ivy wall Nestled in the emerald moss The eyes declare a truce of trust And then it draws me far away Where deep in the desert twilight Sand melts in pools of the sky When darkness lays her crimson cloak Your lamps will call, call me home And so it's there my homage's due Clutched by the still of the night And now I feel, feel you move And every breath is full So it's there my homage's due Clutched by the still of the night Even the distance feels so near All for the love of you. - Loreena McKennitt https://josvg.home.xs4all.nl/cits/lm/lorecd51.html I've not seen the song coupled with this vid until today or the Movie "Kingdom of Heaven", but it further inspires. I'm sending hubby out to pick up the movie - I love Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson. I was going to go on about Sylvia Plath which is actually what interested me last night. But I've gotten distracted again, so another time!
