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A Personal Poetry Q & A

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Marc Gilbert
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A Personal Poetry Q & A

Post by Marc Gilbert » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:51 pm

The following is from a reply I posted to another board in response to questions posed by a new member. I hope some find it useful.
 
Could you outline the importance of form and meter?
Does having a meter improve the poem?
Let me answer your questions in reverse order.

Does having a meter improve the poem?

It depends on the poem. If your goal is a metrical poem then of course. If free verse, no, but in both case, it is critical that you remain conscious of the syllabic arrangement of the words you are using and the impact on not only the music, but the meaning, and the emotional effect of your poem.

The effect of a series of unaccented followed by accented syllables is the same regardless of form. The same with successive accented ones. The former has a lazy almost conversational tone and the later communicates urgency, sometimes frivolity. This is true no matter of form. That's only two examples, but I hope you see where it's going.

In traditional metrical verse, there are standard patterns governing the effective use of these sound patterns. These patterns evolved as poets explored the most effective means of conveying their intention in a pleasing manner. As rigid as these forms can seem, the best practitioners often deviate from the pattern at key points for effect. Think of accidentals in music.

Could you outline the importance of form and meter?

No. Not without writing a book. I will try and illustrate. First with a metrical poem:
No Bird - Theodore Roethke

Now here is peace for one who knew
The secret heart of sound.
The ear so delicate and true
Is pressed to noiseless ground.

Slow swings the breeze above her head,
The grasses whitely stir;
But in this forest of the dead
No bird awakens her.

Can you hear how the music has a delicacy that fits perfectly with the imagery and the theme of the poem? It opens in iambic tetrameter, followed by a trimeter. The pattern then repeats. It culminates in a sense of extreme gravity by the time we get to the last line where "No Bird" can almost be read as a spondee and then the 3 syllables of "awakens" rush to the finality of "her". Which is fitting since the poem is about the finality of her, the subject of the poem.

This is a very cursory look at a great poem deserves much better treatment, but I hope it helps.

Now for something completely different:
This is Just to Say - William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

This poem has been analyzed a bunch of ways. Some that make it out to be some obscure reference to man's fall or some form of repression. The whole forbidden fruit thing. I take it at face value. It's delightful. Everything does not have to be deep. But in any case, its structure and tone are whimsical.

This is no accident. Dr. Williams' use of line breaks and accents are brilliant. If you just beat the syllables out on a table they are a joy. Combine the sound and the form and it's easy to picture a man playfully teasing his wife about eating her plums. So again the words and the structure combine perfectly to convey the authors intent.

So at long last my point: Both of these poems are excellent examples of completely different styles. If you really want to understand the importance of the forms involved, try to apply their styles to each other:

Here peace is
For one
that loved
some music

or

As for the plums that were for you
I ate them and was feed
you planned to eat them very true
Once risen from your bed.

It really is about picking the style that best fits your voice or your intent at the time. Please forgive any technical inaccuracies, etc. I think the point should still be clear and its the best I can do without actually have to put work into it :P

If you are really interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Handbook-M ... ary+oliver
http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Dance-Handb ... 800&sr=1-9
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Verse-Charle ... se+hartman
http://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Meter-Form ... 7QH78QQ0QE

I can't believe that last one is $60. I bought mine for $5.25 25 years ago :P
"Poetry is not speech raised to the level of music, but music brought down to the level of speech." - Paul Valery

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