QUESTION #1 CHOOSING POETIC FORMS

QUESTION #1 CHOOSING POETIC FORMS   

This is the first question to kick off the Question and Answer section of my website. Please feel free to e-mail me with your questions whether they concern form, poetic devices, subject matter, themes, or any other aspect of poetry writing and publishing that you are curious about. There are probably as many views about these things as there are poets, but I am very happy to share my thoughts with you. You may even have a question about one of my poems, or a recurring theme. Feel free to ask me anything about my craft and I will do my best to give you a comprehensive and honest answer.

QUESTION:
How do you choose the form of the poem?

ANSWER:
These days, most people seem to write in free verse meaning the length of the lines is flexible and they do not have to use rhyme, or a strict metre such as Shakespeare’s famous iambic pentameter which they say is so appealing to us because it mirrors the human heartbeat. (By the way, metre relates to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables used.) One of my favourite poetic forms is the extended metaphor poem in free verse; I have several of these exploring the poetic process and countless others on other subjects. In the age of individualism, we are obsessed with freedom, so I guess the popularity of free verse is not surprising. You may be surprised to know that it was the Romantic Poets, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, who broke out of the rigid rhyming schemes and elevated subjects of past poets, so we really owe our freedom of form to Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, Blake, Shelly and Byron.

However, there are a myriad of other forms to choose from. To rhyme or not to rhyme is often influenced by the seriousness of the poem. If you want your reader to reflect on the issues, emotions or actions, you are likely to choose free verse and include enjambment and caesura, so that they will read the poem more in the style of prose, drawing attention to the messages and tone being conveyed, rather than being distracted or amused by a rhyming scheme. However, I am not one of those people who think that rhyming poems should always be humorous, or frivolous. In fact, I used a very prescriptive rhyming scheme for my poem, ‘Our Planet’s Pitiful Plight.’ You can see a detailed annotation of this poem under the Poem of the Month tab. It takes the form of a villanelle which uses rhyme and repetition in a very strict pattern. The repetition of the lines conveying the main message seemed, to me, an ideal way of reinforcing the problem of pollution and our need to address it.

In my poetry collection, Infinite Connections, I have also created several new forms of poetry: Poetic Memes, Poetic Distillations, Memos to Self and a New Sonnet form which employs a sestet and octet and finishes with the volta as a separate rhyming couplet, making it sixteen lines long, instead of the usual fourteen. I have only published one of these so far. I may put another one up under the Resources tab as a point of comparison. There are detailed explanations of these original poetic forms in my collection.

I have also used the haiku form in a different way from the traditionalists – though of course the haiku has been evolving for a very long time, even in Japan. My poem, ‘Winter Haiku Blues’ is a series of four images of winter and its effect on me. The negative nature of the poem suits the haiku form, and the images build the tension much like the build-up to a storm. I have also enjoyed writing a haibun which, typically, combines the haiku with a descriptive paragraph, though I have slightly varied that by using a prose poem with a summarizing haiku and a connected prose poem and summarizing haiku. Together they paint a desolate picture of our world during covid.

Another of my favourite poetic forms is the prose poem. I have written several of these and really enjoy finding strong poetic devices to distinguish these poems from typical prose. I really love using this form to tell a story that delves deep into the psyche. However, poets use them for a variety of subjects, particularly describing spaces, or experiences, with a stress on powerful imagery and the senses. I encourage you to try one, if you haven’t already. If you have never written a poem before, this might be a good way to start, as it is closer to prose.

Don’t be afraid to try those forms with strict rules such as sonnets, haiku, cinquains and villanelles. Having a framework and limitations can act as a wonderful stimulus to your creativity. It teaches you to think outside the box and not be content with anything you have thrown down on the page. You have to work at it to fit the form and that’s what makes it a better poem. I’m not sure that this response has clarified how I choose a particular form. I think the subject matter and intention are a strong guide to the shape it takes but, ultimately, I feel the poem, itself, chooses the form, not me. The form takes shape as I am writing about what is brewing inside.

I hope that has given you a guide to some common poetic forms and you feel inspired to explore even more.

My very best wishes,

Julie