What kind of writer are you?

Patience and Fortitude #1 “Some Poets”

What kind of writer are you? 

Some poets like to make observations about the natural world. Spinning intricate word webs to catch a reader’s fancy by describing sunsets, animals, bugs, oceans, clouds, etc, nature poets find solace in observing the non human world.

Some poets use their craft as soap box editorial poetry, espousing opinions on topics not always easily approachable, yet significant in that a valid conversation needs to address some sort of reasonable compromise.

Some poets use poetry as a cathartic device or even a primal scream method of airing one’s troubles out, for all to see, a sort of poetry therapy. Once out, the pains can be reconciled and dealt with on a basis of sound heath and reliable truths.

Some poets are romantic poets , and focus on themes of love and loss. It is a broad field to kick the ball around in, with a flexible playbook  of emotions to maneuver within unlimited boundaries of adoration.

Some poets write dark poetry, delving deep within the depths of a tortured soul attempting to translate a wicked world into something not only acceptable but also enjoyable… and not so scary after all but relatable.

Some poets exist on the flip side of the spiritual coin, operating on devotional poetry, concentrating  on the hope of redemption within a world weighed down by all that is contentious to a peaceful spirit.

Then there are those everyday poets that just like to write for writings sake. Relentless journal fillers turning to fancy means of communicating their ideas, these poets love to turn a phrase, experiment, and just simply love to write for no other reason but to create.

Yet every poet hits a wall. Lack of quality material, forgetting an unforgettable phrase, losing poems due to a computer problem, life and death events, distraction of every order,…. these issues dog every bard in one way or another.

What kind of a writer are you? What keeps you writing poet?  Have you ever hit this wall? Let me know if any of this resonates with you dear reader! We love to hear from you. 

See you tomorrow for a resounding conclusion to see where I’m going with this article in Patience and Fortitude #2 ! To be continued…

Matt Elmore 

Poetic devices 7: Internal rhymes

When I first started writing poetry, way back in my late teens, I wrote in a fairly simplistic style. I'll admit, most of my lines were written to be incorporated into rock songs as lyrics. But some of my verses stood alone as poems. I learnt to use end rhymes because that is often the way song lyrics are constructed. 

It was only much later in life that I unearthed internal rhymes. I discovered that can add another dimension to my poetry. They take a little more thinking than simply writing a poem with, say, ABAB end rhymes. Choice of words is important, but so too is attention to the sound of words or phrases. Poets can manipulate the pace and feel of poetry using internal rhymes.

This poem was written recently, and you'll see it exploits the idea behind internal rhymes. Line 7 in particular uses 3 rhymes (page, sage, age) in one line. It also uses another literary device known as enjambment, which will be the topic of another blog post.

Lines 3 and 4 weave in and out of two separate internal rhymes. It's a little more complex, but effective. Hopefully this creates a cool tempo and injects a little more interest into the composition:

All That Sin

Your grin will soon begin to thin
when all that sin is factored in.
Your smile will ail and guile will fail
when all your style begins to pale.
The arrogance of second chance
completes a dance of circumstance.
You close the page of sage; old age
departs the stage with silent rage.

It's not that difficult to master if you think about it. But word choice is vital. Think of phrases that also might rhyme inside a line. 

The poem Galoshes by Rhoda W. Bacmeister is very popular with school children. It's used to show them what can be achieved by using internal rhymes to create musicality and rhythm in poetry. It is also a useful example of onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition and assonance - all in one poem!

Galoshes

Susie’s galoshes
Make splishes and sploshes
And slooshes and sloshes,
As Susie steps slowly
Along in the slush.
They stamp and they tramp
On the ice and concrete,
They get stuck in the muck and the mud;
But Susie likes much best to hear
The slippery slush
As it slooshes and sloshes,
And splishes and sploshes,
All round her galoshes!

There are more outrageous internal rhymes in poetry. You just have to look out for them. Or perhaps you can create your own? I will leave you with one more example from the absolute master of the internal rhyme - one of my favourites - the English spoken word artist Harry Baker. This is a verse from his poem Knees, taken from his Unashamed collection:

Knees

My knees make your knees 

weak at the knees.

For my knees your knees

get down on one knee.

They ask my knees to join your knees

in holy matrimo-knee.

My knees say wait and see.

My knees have been known to tease.

I love the multiple internal rhyming, and absoloutely adore the pun in line six! You can have a lot of fun with internal rhymes. Have a go!

Steve Wheeler

Image from OpenClipArt

Other posts in the Poetic Devices Series:

1. Simile

2. Metaphor

3. Repetition and refrains

4. Alliteration

5. Assonance

6. End Rhymes

Poetic devices 6: End rhymes

What was the first poem you ever read? Bet you can't remember. Neither can I. Chances are it would have included end rhymes. Nursery rhymes are for children and this is usually their first exposure. It will probably have included the simplest end rhyme scheme like this:

Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full

Or maybe something a little more complex like an AABAAB end rhyme scheme:

Jack and Jill
went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
and broke his crown
and Jill came tumbling after

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon, Jack Spratt and several other well-known nursery rhymes feature the exact same format.

The end rhyme adds to the attraction of the verse, and helps us all to remember the story. Plenty of adult poetry is also composed of end rhymes, sometimes in a more complicated pattern such as a Villanelle, Limerick or Sonnet. And yet, when people first start out writing poetry for themselves, they usually default to ABAB rhyme schemes, often in the shape of a 4 line quatrain. 

There's nothing wrong with this of course. We all have to learn somehow. But it's no co-incidence that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT also default to this same format when asked to write a poem. It's a telltale sign if you are trying to detect poetry generated by AI. 

Tyger, Tyger by the English poet William Blake is a classic example of an AABB end rhyme quatrain:

Tyger, Tyger burning bright
in the forests of the night;
what immortal hand or eye,
could frame thy fearful symmetry?

It's simple but incredibly effective in setting the scene for an atmospheric poem full of imagery. 

But here's a caveat - although end rhyme poetry is something just about every poet gravitates toward, it can also be a trap. Poets can spend hours agonising over how they are going to get their poetry to rhyme. Some end up sacrificing meaning and credibility by coming up with trite and banal end rhymes that detract from the beauty of the poem. 

You know what I'm talking about. It's a trap best avoided. If you are writing poetry with end rhymes, do make sure that the poem doesn't lose its sense or purpose because of a silly little end rhyme that matches sonically, but actually damages your poetry. 

Steve Wheeler

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Other posts in the Poetic Devices Series:

1. Simile

2. Metaphor

3. Repetition and refrains

4. Alliteration

5. Assonance

Poetic devices 5: Assonance

"What does assonance mean?" asks Frank Bryant, a professor of literature. "It means getting the rhyme wrong," he declares, before falling drunkenly off the stage, and crashing into his audience. 

The professor, played by Sir Michael Caine in the movie Educating Rita, takes a very jaded view of poetry. He's more interested in booze, and escaping from reality. Not unlike several well known, real-life poets...

But in one sense he's correct. 

Assonance isn't about end rhymes or 'getting the rhyme right.' It's about powerfully expressing ideas and emotion through the similar sounds made by adjacent words. The resemblance of vowel sounds is where the assonance occurs. If you use assonance effectively, it can change the tempo of your poetry or even intensify the mood you are trying to convey.

Here's a great example of assonance in the poem by Edgar Allen Poe called Bells:

Hear the mellow wedding bells

Golden bells!

What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!

Yes, Poe uses end rhymes too, but it's the assonance of mellow, wedding, bells, foretells that really makes the poem resonate. 

Another excellent example of assonance can be found in The Cold Wind Blows by Kerry Roper. This is a rich examples of internal rhymes too.

Who knows why the cold wind blows

Or where it goes or what it knows

It only flows in passionate throes

Until it finally slows and settles in repose

Want to make your poem memorable? What to step away from predictable rhymes?

Steve Wheeler

Image from Your Dictionary

Writing Children’s Poetry

Do you remember those sweet fuzzy days when a parent would read you a bedtime story? Read it again read it again! Or even back to your earliest years of school… choosing a book from the shelf at quiet time, sitting down, and having a read? 

Who don’t remember “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats, or “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendack? Or how about Charlotte the spider’s encouraging words to the farmer to persuade him how wonderful of a pig Wilbur was in “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White? Precious stories!

The engagement of childrens’ minds is not such a hard one. IMAGINATION is at the heart of what kids think about. It’s a shame many lose that in adulthood. As a daycare teacher for 3-5 year olds and substitute for many many primary mornings… I witnessed this up close and personal at story time.

Often times I would read the same book in the early early grades… only I would change the stories just a little… oh the giggles concerning clumsy tigers, turtles in track and field, and ballerina hippopotamuses! I just made those up… but there is that wonderful imagination… we ALL have!!!

Children’s poems have one foot in imagination and the other in reality. Actively taking subjects from children’s imaginations, such as animals or inanimate objects and giving them human characteristics, is one common device. More common themes could involve sibling rivalries, daily activities, favorite things, and responsibilities.

Take this excerpt of a poem by Judith Viorst…”If I Were In Charge Of The World”… notice the chocolate sundaes, brushing teeth, and flushing the toilet…

If I were in charge of the world
A chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable
All 007 movies would be G,
And a person who sometimes forgot to brush,
And sometimes forgot to flush,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

                                       —

Many children’s poets also mix a few adult references in there as well to entertain those tired eyed mommies and daddies that have to read this poem over and over and over! The quick reference to OO7 being G rated I’m sure made many a parent smile. 

Shel Silverstein achieves this so well in many of his works, including this one from “Where The Sidewalk Ends” entitled The Worst Monsters I’ve Ever Met..

                                        —

I met a ghost, but he didn't want my head,

He only wanted to know the way to Denver.

I met a devil, but he didn't want my soul,

He only wanted to borrow my bike awhile.

I met a vampire, but he didn't want my blood,

He only wanted two nickels for a dime.

I keep meeting all the right people—

At all the wrong times.

                                       —

Notice how he takes childrens’ fears and knocks  them down to kiddie comfort levels of reassurance? This is so absolutely clever on Silverstein’s part. This comfort is what could bring a child back to this poem again and again…

Have you ever written a children’s poem? It’s not hard! Just go back to that innocent programming before the adult concerns and weave a fun narrative using that forever perennial blossom of the poet soul… IMAGINATION!!!!!!

Was this article helpful? Inspiring? Troublesome? Please feel free to leave your comments below… and thank you for reading!! 

Matt Elmore

Religion In Poetry

The Dali Lama once said. “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” 

What constitutes a “religious poem”? Does it have to spell it out… or can it simply be suggestive, as in identifying divine characteristics such as kindness without an identifiable agenda?

The subjectivity of spirituality in poetry, or even art in general, tends to be secularly disseminated. Religion is sold as this or sold as that, always tending to be branded AS SOON AS THE OBVIOUS KEYWORDS APPEAR… “faith”, “vibrations”, “karma”, “prayers”… etc.

The freedom of art is that there are no rules. The same applies to philosophy. The ancient Greek philosophers  and Roman philosophers  sat and calmly discussed the possibilities of our roles in this natural world AND the heavenly realms.  Debates were civilized and conducted within the framework of reason, with a somewhat scientific and civilized approach. Understanding ideas was encouraged!

Poetry affords a similar platform. It levels the playing field, neutralizing boundaries into infinite expressions, as well as expounding upon questions (and answers) of the sublime. Imagination has always been one of mankind’s most peculiar attributes…

The formation of perspective usually lies within both heart and mind, what we feel and what we know. A disconnect between the seen and unseen seems to lie at the heart of every conflict with religion… a mystery of faith if you will.

There are common threads within most religions and even with atheists. Humility, mercy, charity, kindness, love,… all demonstrate attributes that have a place in our lives, whether we are spiritual or not. These threads are what keep our planet from being frayed apart by absolute dissension. Even if we do not agree to disagree, the fact that every perspective exists is in itself a conundrum that will never go away.

So where does that leave poets? Exactly where poets start, where their heart takes them… to expound upon what they believe with all the extent of their craft. It is up to the reader to decide what is wrong or what is right…

What do you think reader? I would really like to know! Please leave your comments at the bottom of the article, and as always, thanks for reading. See you next time!

Matt Elmore

Poetic devices 4: Alliteration

Hedgehogs hogging hedges! Martians munching marshmallows! Zombie zebras in the zoo! Fair is foul and foul is fair (from Macbeth by Shakespeare, of course).... What's it all about .... beyond the crazy wordplay?

The poem Astrophobos by Howard Phillips Lovecraft contains the following stanza:

Mystic waves of beauty blended
With the gorgeous golden rays;
Phantasies of bliss descended
In a myrrh’d Elysian haze;
And in lyre-born chords extended
Harmonies of Lydian lays.

What is so special about this passage of poetry? Well, there are plenty of features including allusion, and the lyrical tempo, both of which I will deal with in future posts. But you may notice that there are two instances of words with the same initial consonant sounds in close proximity - beauty blended and gorgeous golden - that add a mystical and magical quality to the work. This is known as alliteration, and is an often ignored poetic device that should attract more attention. 

There are numerous examples of alliteration in poetry, both throughout the ages. One of the most impressive recent pieces I've seen is by illustrious English spoken word artist Harry Baker (whom I saw perform live earlier this year). It's a piece that travels through the entire alphabet of alliteration, to bring a truly delightful confection of wonderful, stellar images. The poem, called The A-Z of Time and Space is performed below by Harry with copious use of his hands (some serious semaphore) and facial expressions (grimacing, grinning and gurning). See what I did there?

What does alliteration do for poetry? Well, it's a phonic technique to emphasise an idea. It relies on similar consonant sounds to help the poem flow and make sense (or not in the case of some nonsense poetry).  Used effectively, alliteration can add that extra something special to make your poetry stand out from the crowd. 

Try some alliteration in your own poetry. How could you use it to emphasise your themes, or bring additional dimension or meaning to your writing? Please post potential poems in the comments section below!

Previous posts in this series

1: Similes
2: Metaphors
3. Repetition and refrains

Steve Wheeler

Image by Emile Education 

Saying So Much With So Little

Is a meme poetry? What about a quote? How short must a poem be to be considered poetry?

I’ve noticed that many longer works tend not to get as much attention as shorter poems as a moderator of Invisible Poets  and  Wheelsong Poetry on Facebook. 

Writing memes seems to be prevalent as a sort of attention deficit alternative to constructive wisdom. Although short, many do constitute snippets of practical knowledge, which bounce into the realms of poetry. The same thing with quotes

Considered the shortest poem ever written, I’d like for you to consider both the content and the clever application of this timeless poem from 1927…

                                         —

Fleas

by  Strickland Gillian

Adam Had’em 

 

                                        —

With such ripe content applied in such a brilliant and originally whimsical manner, Gillian sought to address a most poignant question… how long have fleas been around?! Also known as  Lines On The Antiquity Of Microbes“, I am guessing Strickland was trying to make up for the brevity of his work with a big fancy title!

Talk about short and spontaneous! Mary Frye wrote this on a brown paper grocery bag in a flurry of merciful pity for a grieving friend…

                                        —

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep:
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starshine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry:
I am not there; I did not die.

                                       —

Although not a short short poem, this sweet work in twelve lines wonderfully sums up where the spirit may be when one stands at the foot of the grace and wept for a lost loved one.

I’ve had my nose in a dogeared old paperback of the collective works of Robert Frost, of which this one caught my attention…

                                        —

Fire And Ice

By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

                                        —

The struggle of contrasts between the metaphors in this seemingly simple yet ambiguous poem creates a tension that begs a reader to read it again for different meanings.

Reading multiple times to discern hidden messages is the ultimate comment one could give a poet, much as a burp in some cultures would be a compliment to the chef! 

Wringing truth out of short fabrics of tiny poems to wet the whistle of a reader is not as easy as it seems! Only the most multidimensional messages seem to stick, so it is best to find as many hidden meanings as possible to sandwich in there, as the above examples illustrate.

Do you have any suggestions for this article? I’d love to hear them! Please feel free to comment below, and as always, thank you for reading.

Matt Elmore

Poetic devices 3: Repetition and refrains

They say that history repeats itself. It has to. Because no-one ever listens. 

That was, of course, a clever line from a poem by Steve Turner from his Nice and Nasty collection. But repetition is also a poetic device. In songs it's known as a refrain. A line or a whole chorus is repeated throughout the song, mainly to carry the hook line, but also to emphasise a phrase or a key point. In poetry the latter is always a good reason to repeat a line. 

There are a variety of fixed form poems that build a repetition of selected lines into their structure. The Villanelle is one example; another is the Pantoum. In both, the refrain shapes the rhythm and tempo of the poem, but can also emphasise and drive home the message the poet wishes to convey. In rhetorical poetry and prose this is known as anaphora. 

Dog by Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a poem written from the perspective of the poet's dog. The poem appears simplistic at first but as you read it you quickly realise it is deeply philosophical, and the repeated lines begin to hammer home the message that the poem is really about us and our own inner dialogues.

The dog trots freely in the street
and sees reality
and the things he sees
are bigger than himself
...
The dog trots freely thru the street
and the things he sees
are smaller than himself
...
The dog trots freely in the street
and has his own dog’s life to live ...

The entire poem can be read at this link.

Another type of repetition is known as epistrophe, where the same line is repeated at the end of an entire stanza or multiple lines. Again, this can be used effectively for emphasis, but can also be used to maintain the tempo of the poem. For a great example of this, watch the Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke performing his excellent poem Beasley Street (this version has a music backing). 

Building repetition and refrains into your poetry takes a little effort, especially if you want it to make sense. But with a little effort and some practice it can become second nature. Quite a few of my own poemw draw to some extent on repetitive lines and rhythmic use of words. Try it. It's a lot of fun. (I said try it. It's a lot of fun).  

Previous posts in the poetic devices series:

1: Similes
2: Metaphors

Steve Wheeler

Image by Maurits Escher on Wikimedia Commons