As a growing poet who has progressed since his college days, I have
made a few observations about poetry that I would like to share.
The Goal of Poetry:
The
intentions of the author are quite important. The possibilities are
also vast. Normally, poetry is a reassembling of language in order to
create greater emotion, feeling, meaning or value. But this still does
not highlight specifics, and a great deal of poetry is used to convey a
specific feeling or idea. There is also the use of epics, which are used
to create and move a story.
Language Used:
When
analyzing the language of a poem, first ignore the structure and put
everything into one line (or paragraph) of text. Are there rhyming
words? Are there like-sounding words? Is the language flowery or
redundant? How are these words ordered? Does the poem sound like natural
speech? Analyzing the language can tell you a lot about what the author
is trying to do, and is especially important in free verse poetry that
does not follow a set meter (something I usually specialize in).
Organization of Language:
This
is the focus on structure. Is there a meter present? What do the
stanzas look like and how are they organized? How many lines are in the
poem? Are any of the established rules of structure broken? Language
which may not sound particularly well may flourish in a properly
delivered poem. However, while creating rules for such a delivery does
create a certain form of expression that you may desire, it will
ultimately reduce the language you are capable of using. This is
especially true if you wish to use rhyming words, or techniques like
iambic and trochaic meters.
The End Result:
Poems
that are easy to read and just roll off the tongue are going to be read
multiple times. Certain lines are going to be catchy, and the actual
content does not always matter. Even made up words, when strung together
melodically, will be a joy to read.
Poetry can be really technical, but not convey much emotion or meaning to the reader.
Sometimes we sacrifice something that sounds amazing in order to stick
with the established format we are going for. This is especially true
for poems with a set number of syllables per line, though if meter is
present, there may be a valuable trade-off.
Rhyming poems with a consistent meter are ultimately the easiest to read and say out loud.
They are also some of the most challenging things to write, especially
if you are writing something rather long and wish to avoid repetition.
This is all worth it though if you succeed, as these written works are
likely to become your favorites (or at least that is the case for
myself). One trick to writing these poems is to increase the number of
syllables each line possess, reducing the total number of lines while
sharing the same amount of information. However, you will eventually run
into problems when the rhyming words at the end of each line become too
far apart.
My personal favorite poems to write are
free verse. I feel I can best take another individual on a journey if I
am not limited by the usual confinements. I also follow set patterns
occasionally, like a fixed syllable length and the reuse of certain
words on different lines. I especially like using words that sound
similar, but do not actually rhyme, and I may have these at the end of a
line or put together. I also frequently employ the technique of using
multiple words with the same beginning sound or letter.
Hopefully
this will help someone out there who is trying out new forms of
writing. I wholly encourage people to give the different types of poetry
a try, many of which have not been listed. Even if you are not looking
to express yourself, it definitely improves how you are able to
comprehend language.
