| User | DavidHirt | | Topic | Form | | Message | Many poets write in form. Some because they think poems should be written in form, some because they understand the form they are using. There are people who write sonnets because they are sonnets. There are people who write sonnets because the sonnet is a form of love poetry and they want the idea of love to be part of the poem even if the word is never stated. So, the question is, does a reader who doesn’t understand a form or appreciate a form, miss out on part of the poem? Does a good poem transcend form or is form integral to it? |
|| Replies ||
| User | UnderINK | 2007-04-09 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I believe a poem should work in such harmony with its form that you can hardly even notice it. I believe form is there to support a preexistent idea and not be the most important part of the poem. I don’t understand form that much. Or, rather, I understand it but don’t care to relate names to styles. I only understand that if I like the poem and its message, it’s a good poem. The few styles I do know make no difference to me and my opinion when I read something. |
| User | Azuire | 2007-04-04 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I started out with four line-end rhyme form, before my poor little brain realised there was more to form poetry than four lines. Actually I’m sort of addicted to sestinas now (although I’m blatantly ignoring all the metre rules) and I really enjoy writing them. Form poetry is not restrictive, just as free verse is never completely free. |
| User | DavidHirt | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I wish I could post my Lycanthrope poem here, but I can’t lineate it right to post it here... It just doesn’t work.
|
| User | alteredlife | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I meant... *and I guess it’ll show a different side to you* Oops, lol... I have no idea how that line got so horribly distorted the first time around... |
| User | alteredlife | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | The thing with free-verse is... most established writers never just ’throw things out there’... each line-break is based on the emotive impact as well as the tempo, the way it should be read out etc. So something that seems chaotic-looking but reads out well isn’t as haphazard as you may think. I think that’s the general argument traditionalists seem to come up with (from my experience chatting about it to others).
Yes, bust it out... and I guess it it’ll showsa different side to you... one perhaps wilder and more unrestrained? I guess I’ll find out... =) |
| User | DavidHirt | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I write plenty of non-traditional form verse, but it always seems unfinished to me. I’m an artist AND a poet and throwing my thoughts out on a page doesn’t work for me. I’ll post some of my more free verse. It’s not as good. Even when not using a standard form, my ear is shaping and forming the poem to the poem itself. The first line I think generally shapes the rest of the poem. I’ll post a free verse one next. |
| User | alteredlife | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | To be blunt David, I’d like to see you break out of forms and try free-verse just once (along with other mostly formal poetry writers). I think you may rely on form a bit too much. And I say the complete opposite to all free-versers out there... let loose, dammit... live a little, experiment, learn, combine etc. You never know what’ll happen otherwise. |
| User | alteredlife | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | But to answer your question, which I never really did, I think a reader would miss out, however slightly, if they didn’t know the form being used, for sure. But... a good poem uses form to its advantage... or lack of form, which is still a form lol. |
| User | alteredlife | 2007-03-28 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | Free-verse has form too, albeit usually far more chaotic. I think it depends on subject matter first and foremost. Of course, there are a whole load of other considerations, but one shouldn’t limit oneself. Metered, free-verse, rhythmic, dissonant... they’re all part and parcel of the same package to me... depending on what you write about. |
| User | blankscreen | 2007-03-27 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I think a good poem utilizes form to further portray thier message which can be states on its own as well. Form is just another way to get the point accross. A lot of people write sonnets because it gives a certain old-fashioned uniformity to thier piece, for example if it was a sonnet which was a bit broken (not a full sonnet) it could portray how that speaker is trying to stick to uniformity but still break from the boundries because it must be done. Therefore someone who doesnt understand form should still get the message just as a good poem should get its point accross with or without the form. |
| | |
