1. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Understanding poetry.

    Discussion in 'The Craft of Writing Poetry' started by OJB, Dec 30, 2017.

    I thought this might be a useful thread for new writers and fiction writers wanting to know what makes good poetry, well good.

    On a technical level, poetry is a form of writing that is heavily structured beyond the everyday structures of just sentences and paragraphs. Now, I know that when people think of poetry they think of emotional, layered writing that explores the human condition, and while poetry is capable of that, so is excellent prose.

    Now, some people bring up the term 'free verse.' Free verse is free in the sense that one does not need to follow a predetermined Metrical or Rhyme structure; however, a poet is required (free) to construct their own structure.

    To be clear, Free Verse does not mean free of structure, it means free to predetermined structures; you must still create, define, and execute your made-up structure. To help you build this structure, a poet may use any number of poetics in their poem. For simplicity, we will say that there are two types of poetics: Sound and Image.

    Sound: Rhythm, the sound of words, musical devices, etc.

    Image: Imagery, Metaphor, Symbolism, etc.

    -

    To end this basic introduction into poetry, I'd like to look at a few Stanzas from Anise Koltz' (A poet from Luxembourg) The Fire Eater. (This is a long Free-verse poem, so I'll just pick a few Stanzas, but if any of you have time. I suggest you read the whole poem; it is gorgeous.) Translated from French by Pierre Joris.

    -
    None of our complaints
    will be heard

    God is deaf-mute
    No one has taught us
    sign language
    -

    Now before we go to the next Stanza, we have to ask yourself a few questions about what we notice about
    about this poem.

    1. It is not punctuated (I'll get to this at the end of this explanation.)
    2. It has a very 'Anti-God' voice to the poem.
    3. There is a paradox that is shown with God being deaf-mute and no one knowing sign language.

    Let's look at another stanza.

    -
    God
    lights a fire
    in the darkness
    to discover
    in the blue of the flames
    another darkness
    -

    1. Another paradox is that a flame (a source of light) creatures darkness.

    -
    I no longer believe in God
    henceforth
    He has to
    believe in me
    -
    1. Again, very anti-God
    2. Another Paradox. The 'I' wants something he doesn't believe in to believe in him/her (which would be impossible if God doesn't exist).

    -

    This pattern of paradox and anti-God sentiment carries through the whole poem which leads us to understand what the poem is about.

    'The speaker has anti-God views due to Gods 'Paradoxical Nature.' Of course, I don't know Anise Koltz, but I'd wager my interpretation isn't too far off.

    Now, for the lack of punctuation. I chose this poem because a lot of people claim that poetry doesn't need to be punctuated, which is just plain ignorance. So how does this poem get away with it? (you're going to love this answer.)

    Not punctuating your writing is defying the rules of Grammar, just like how the speaker of this poem is defying God with his or her anti-God Rhetoric. (Think long and hard about that.)

    -

    As we can see, the above poem is very structured in its approach by creating paradoxies and anti-God Rhetoric in each of the Stanzas. Once you start to see the structures of poems, you can start really enjoying, writing and judging poetry as a whole.

    -

    I'm interested in what people have to say on the subject.

    -OJB
     

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