Overview
Writing Poetry can help almost anyone learn how to write and understand
poetry. In this unique book, written for both beginning and experienced writers, the
author defines 14 poetic elements in easy-to-understand terms.
- More than 100 examples and poems written by
people of all ages illustrate each poetic element.
- 14 poetic elements defined and illustrated,
including editing
- Ready-to-do exercises and writing ideas
- Tips for composing, changing, and reading
your poetry
Writing Poetry is clearly written so that
beginning poets easily understand and apply the principles. The exercises and concepts in
the book are so relevant and dynamic that experienced poets also greatly improve their
poetry writing. Worksheets, exercises, and writing suggestions provide immediate practice. |
Introduction
Many of us were taught that poetry must contain rhyme at the ends of lines of a
poem. When writing poetry, we had to juggle both sound and meaning, and poems became more
like puzzles than art forms for creative expression. As a result, poetry writing often
seemed complicated or irrelevant.Those of us who were taught that lines of poems must end in
rhyme were not given complete information about available poetic styles. In many
languages, poetry has always been composed in free verse, poetry without end rhyme, set
structures, or meter (regular patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables).
In English, end rhyme was the predominant
poetic form from the twelfth century through the middle of this century. In 1855, Walt
Whitman published his first version of Leaves of Grass, and his collection
of non-rhyming poetry became a masterpiece about the American experience. Whitman’s
work popularized the option of writing poetry without end rhyme, and, during the last
fifty years, free verse has become the preferred poetic form in English. This is because
free ’ verse allows us to choose which poetic elements we use in our poetry.
If the main definition of a poem is not a
series of lines that rhyme, what, then, is a poem? A poem is a compact piece
of writing that contains one or more poetic elements. Rhyme is just one of the many poetic
forms. We can easily learn and use a variety of poetic elements to give shape and
structure to our poems.
Initially, though, writing poetry
may seem like riding a bicycle for the first time. It is sometimes difficult to begin, at
first some of the parts of the bike may seem a little confusing and hard to coordinate.
Soon, though, with instruction and practice, we come to understand the process and find
the balance easily within ourselves. Like bike riding, poetry writing can become second
nature and provide us with clear views of new and familiar places.
We also have great freedom in choosing the
appearance our poetry takes. A poem may contain one or two words per line, or many. Poets
may use no punctuation at all or adhere to the conventions of standard punctuation.
Writers can influence the content of their poems by starting each line with a capital
letter or by capitalizing the beginning letter of each new thought. Other poets use no
capitals at all.
Because the scope of poetry is so broad,
some structure, of course, is needed. I developed the models in this book to facilitate
the instruction of poetry by teaching a variety of poetic elements. As you work through
this book, always feel free to modify the exercises or depart from them completely. The
goal of these exercises is to support creativity by giving you some definitions and
direction.
Once you are on the road, the choice of
where to go is yours. ‘The models and concepts in this book have been used
extensively at every grade, preschool through university and graduate school levels. |
