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Free verse or meter?
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Free verse or meter? |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
Just a question on everyones opinion on the never ending debate on free verse.Is it poetry? I personally say of course it is, and the majority of poets here write free verse, I write in this form myself at times. But me being me, could not resist stirring the pot a little. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I, myself, as I said before, don't like it [free verse] for myself. I do not write free verse; I write blank verse. I must have the pulse beat of rhythm, I like to hear it beating under the things I write." --Robert Frost, in Robert Frost Poetry & Prose, p. 296 "For my pleasure I had as soon write free verse as play tennis with the net down." --Robert Frost, in Robert Frost Poetry & Prose, p. 415 Iraqi poet and critic, one of the most important Arab women writers. Al-Mala'ika was a major advocate of the free verse movement in the late 1940s with Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. Her poetry is characterized by its terseness of language, eloquence, original use of imagery, and delicate ear for the music of verse. "Stay as you are, a secret world Not such thing as a soul discerns Spinner of poems, the last muse In a world whose mirrors are dimmed What song did not flow with honey If you were to smile your praise upon it?" (from 'Song for the Moon') poetry "free" of rhyme and meter? — free of being any discernible form? — poetry professors debate this term endlessly — what's your definition? Mattoid: Could we start, Tom, by discussing the genre of the prose poem? There seems perhaps a contradiction of terms here. Poetry and prose are separate matters, how can you put them together and expect them to be a 'real' form? What do you think a prose poem can do that either a poem or prose can't do? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I of course, think it is a powerful form of writing, but could not resist the post.I know many writers here would never, ever write in meter.I know some who would never write in free verse, and some who write both.The easy answer is that its all poetry, but thats the easy answer. Jason [This message has been edited by Jason Lyle (05-06-2003 12:05 AM).] |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Simply put, I've been told not to write in meter. Although heaven knows I'm ornery enough to try it now and again. So I stick to free verse, which seems to be my forte. I think it's an individual decision - and when people write with their strengths, the depth can sometimes be unfathomable... It all comes down to being an individual decision. What's good for one simply won't work for another. But sometimes you'll find a vast audience when you, yourself, are accepting of both, and more. |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
I choose to respond to this as a reader of poetry ... Rhyme or free verse? Simply put--when either form is done well, when its written by someone who compliments the form ... its all pure poetry. |
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Local Parasite
since 2001-11-05
Posts 2527Transylconia, Winnipeg |
It really depends on your definition of poetry. Many poets (myself included) almost couldn't imagine writing free verse... I for one simply don't think I could make it work. I love having a definite (or indefinite) structure with which to compose my work, and I rarely write without meter or rhyme being very seriously taken into account... It doesn't mean that I loathe all forms of free verse. Perhaps you've read bad free verse, which is painfully common... I hate to say it (but this is the alley after all), but most of the poets here who write in free verse don't know what they're doing... although there are a handful of stunning free versists whose work I try not to miss the opportunity to read. Poetry is, to me, a craft... it is the craft concerned with the manipulation of words in such a way that they compose a complex thought, provoke thinking... to take something and extract its beauty as you see it, that the whole world might see it as you do... Concerning poets who take their work seriously... the only difference between free verse and meter is individual style. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
Well - now don't I just think that Local Parasite said it PERFECTLY ? quote:YES, I do !!!:clap: *Huglets* ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
ah..we all know there is no poetry except rhyme and meter..all the other stuff well.. it is just that..stuff, and the people who write it... not poets..  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
HEY!  |
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davidmerriman Member
since 2003-04-30
Posts 123Dallas, TX |
...yes...it is... but it better be good. :-) Sylvia Plath is GOOD free verse, i see alot of bad free verse as well. it IS poetry in my oppinion. |
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Ringo
since 2003-02-20
Posts 3684Saluting with misty eyes |
Just my attempt at humor, but how can you tell if an Iraqi is rhyming??? I, myself, prefer free-form as rhyming and a set meter, and such as that feel too fake, and too forced. I have read many on here that do it well, however, I have also read those that only did (in my opinion) an average job at it. When the morning cries and you don't know why... |
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Brad Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705Jejudo, South Korea |
If you don't have to worry about the rhythm, then why do people keep the line break? |
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JP Senior Member
since 1999-05-25
Posts 1343Loomis, CA |
IMNSHO: Poetry is a craft, as was already stated. Rhyme, meter, all a tool of that craft and when properly employed can create works of beauty. In free verse, the craft invoves the line breaks, punctuation, physical arrangement of lines and phrasing, all used to guide the reader, to lead someone to the right emphasis, draw them away at a specific moment, to regulate their pace, all to convey the meaning the poet intended. In all forms of poetry, the use of language, the unique coupling of words, the search for the anit-cliche, that is a skill not easily mastered. As for me... I try my best and sometimes I am happy with what I get (although I am aching to know if I'm on LP's list of poets who don't know what they are doing.)  Yesterday is ash, tomorrow is smoke; only today does the fire burn. |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
Anyone who has studied free verse either by the book or by reading the poets who do it so well, know that there actually is a meter and rhythm to it...and the line breaks help create that...as does using assonance and choosing words and phrases that resonate with one another, not in same sound rhyme but in a way that establishes the pace of the poem. Free verse allows a poet to create imagery and emote with less restrictions than rhyming poetry... but it takes more than just stringing words together in verses with line breaks to make free verse successful. Read Martie...Read Kari, Read Green Eyes, Read Capt Ron, RS Wells, to name a just a few of the ones who do free verse so well...we can learn a lot here just by reading one another. Then there is Nan's teaching forums that is full of lessons and examples of what makes poetry work. OK..the moth is shutting up now... I need some of Duncans succinctity lessons  |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
I think a few may have misunderstood me.I do like free verse, and consider it poetry. The quotes about not liking free verse were written by Robert Frost.I did not do a very good job seperating my post from quotes I added on the subject. I have seen this debate on many poetry sites, it is an old debate.Often poets divide into two camps, and argue fiercly about it. I write both metric and free verse, though I am quite the amatuer at both.Metric is harder for me, but more satisfying if I get it right.I also agree that bad metric poetry feels forced.As to free verse, I only recently tried it, and well...I am my worst critic. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- to take something and extract its beauty as you see it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LP I love this quote. Ron, that is definatly not what I meant. Sunshine, just curious...who told you not to write metric poetry, and why? Some great feedback from all Jason |
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Sudhir Iyer Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943Mumbai, India : now in Belgium |
free verse or meter? probably free verse, because it is FREE nobody said "meter" was for free ... ask the taxi drivers if their meter can be for free ..... sorry for even trying to |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
(chuckling) Jason... I knew that is not what you meant. It is an old argument as you state and one that rages with intensity at times. I always have to ask myself why... why does it matter to people so much whether it is free verse or meter... it is to me as if one would argue whether the sky is blue or cornflower blue... that as with poetry is so often a matter of subjective observation not a matter of objective discussion or measurement. good or bad... long or short..rhymed or free.. if it speaks to the soul or comes from teh soul, who am I to say it is or is not poetry and that it is or is not well done? Now... I'll save everyone some time... what I write is not poetry and I am not a poet..so what the heck do I know.. LOL |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Jason, quote: A very good and astute poet who has meter and rhythm down very well. I tend, in my mind, to almost "sing" my thoughts and hold a count longer than it ought to be held, thereby [in my mind] stretch it to fit. My meter sometimes rambles all OVER the place. When I see others do it, and do it well [take Sy, for a good example] I can "fall into" their rhythm and while I have it right in front of me, can sometimes respond "in time and in kind". But when I'm off by my self and trying to opt for rhythm and meter? My feet both become lefties and I trip, easily. Other good free versers among as are as JM stated [thank you dear,  ] but read Corinne's work, if you want stand alone phrasing [each line is often a poem unto itself]; read Severn, Christopher, Martie, Cpat, Serenity, Brian Sites, Wranx for some indepth FV. They take one's mind, noodle it, add sauce, and serve some fine spaghetti. You read enough of them, and you find yourself full, and quite content.Now, much to the beforementioned poet's chagrin, I still work at meter and rhyme. I really do. But I  to the Masters among us [and there are a number of them] of metered poetry. Look at Nan! She's spectacular and I understand why she's the mistress of the Poetry Workshop! But never, ever fail to recognize that while some of us may never be the masters the rest of you are? We are still writing from the heart, and God love us, we're going to keep working on our writing, probably until we breathe our last. I know I am! |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
Sunshine, I understand your reply now, and I agree, it was Wranx and Aenimal that got me to try free verse, they are masters of it, as well as all the poets that Janet Marie mentioned.to the other side, LP and LighthouseBob masters of the metric.Again I say it is all poetry, and I very much enjoy yours. Jason [This message has been edited by Jason Lyle (05-06-2003 10:38 AM).] |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
There are so many poets here that I enjoy so much, Jason, I almost hesitated to mention any for fear of leaving others out...Aenimal among them...as are still many others. One of these days I'm going to compile a list, but I think I would be reinventing the wheel - that list is already on The Wiz' computers... So I'm just going to enjoy ALL of you for all that you bring to Passions...  |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
pros·o·dy n. pl. pros·o·dies 1.The study of the metrical structure of verse. Hi, my name is Ron, and I'm a prosodist. ( HELLO, RON! ) My sad story, I'm sure, is little different than anyone else in PP (Prosidists Pseudonymous). Like many, my addiction to prosody began in childhood, with a child's all too common fascination with rhyme. My first lover, I think, was Mary and her stupid little lamb. My initial poetic attempts were a reflection of that fascination, in that they rhymed and did very little else. Much later, in high school, I think, a dealer in the guise of an English teacher introduced me to my first taste of the hard stuff. Yea, I'm talking about meter. I was addicted almost immediately, of course, though I didn't realize at the time that my dealer, even then, was still holding back on me. What she called meter was more accurately syllable-stress meter, a system of counting both syllables and the accents within those syllables. This is the most common system in English, and for several years I would dream in iambic pentameter, with frequent nightmares in trochaic tetrameter. Life was hard, and I often found myself standing apart, ostracized from normal human society. But I survived. Then, in college, I sank yet deeper into the quagmire of prosody. I discovered that meter, my old friend that always seemed so mathematical and scientific, often wore far more nebulous masks. French and Japanese poetry, for example, was measured using only syllables and, increasingly, I saw much twentieth century English and American poetry doing the same. I stumbled across Anglo-Saxon strong stress meter, which counted only beats or stresses, and soon realized that many of the nursery rhymes that had hooked me as a child followed the same convention. Meter, it suddenly seemed, wasn't always so simple as I first thought. Confused and weakened, I began exploring the darker side of poetry. Quantitative meter, I found, was based on the duration of vowels and consonants. A "beat" was longer than a "bet" because it took longer to pronounce, which seemed simple enough at first. Wasn't it just long and short vowels? Nope, because the consonants surrounding the vowels also counted, making "stretch" also longer than "bet," even though they shared the same e sound. And this was the meter virtually all Greek and Latin poetry followed? Oh, my! Suddenly, I found myself facing a terrible truth, one that would dominate my life for decades to come. Any method of counting a regular pattern in the lines of a poem qualifies as meter. And poets, being the imaginative creatures they are, had invented many such systems. Robert Francis, for example, counted words. James Laughlin used typewriter spacing (in any couplet, the second line had to be within two typewriter spaces of the line preceding it). W.D. Snodgrass went further still, using graph paper to keep the margins straight up and down, turning every stanza into a perfect rectangle. My addiction to meter apparently was without limits. Facing despair, I ignored the cautions my pleading unconscious whispered to me, delving yet deeper into the darkness. And then, when all seemed lost, I discovered what I felt certain would be my salvation. Free verse, called vers libre by its earliest practitioners, was to be my Calvary. This relatively new form of poetry, first introduced to me by T.S. Eliot, didn't count syllables or words or accents or anything else. It was free of all meter, devoid of that accursed addiction called prosody. It did not measure by the sentence, like prose, nor by the foot, like metered poetry, but served instead as an intermediary, measuring only by the line. With free verse, the poet's main concern is how to move from one line to the next. Where does one end and another begin? You can end-stop or enjamb at will, with precedents but no rules. Louis Simpson contends that poets create line breaks according to personal impulse, while Allen Ginsberg insists breath is the main factor. Marvin Bell criticizes "enjambing out of anxiety." Charles Wright scanned his free verse to make sure no adjacent lines have the same count of syllables or stresses. Mark Strand, in his earliest poetry, tried to make the lines come out fairly even, but later tried to vary the line lengths more to create a ragged appearance. Walt Whitman kept his lines very long, often with rhetorical devices like anaphora, creating rolling cadences as in his "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." William Carlos Williams preferred very short lines, usually heavily enjambed. Robert Duncan perfected the Open Field composition, with varying lines and free indentations and even snippets of prose. As with meter, the way of lines and line breaks was limited only by the poet's imagination (which seemingly had no limit). It didn't take long to realize I was still counting. It was just line breaks now, instead of accents and syllables. More, free verse had to compensate for its lack of standard meter, and to do that it used things like assonance, consonance, internal and slant rhymes, ruptured syntax, and inventive line breaks when least expected. Rhythm and voice still very much mattered. Robert Frost compared free verse to playing tennis with the net down, but neglected to mention that it's not impossible to play a good game of tennis without the net. It's just a whole lot harder. The freedom of free verse was never free, and the cost it entailed was a high one. There is very little beauty in chaos, and even less meaning. Poetry stripped entirely of structure become a hopeless jumble of words. At the lowest level, we provide structure by ordering the words into meaning. At the other end of the spectrum, poetic forms like sonnets and villanelles impose much of the structure for us, determining syllable-stress meter, line lengths, and even the shape of our stanzas. In between these extremes lie an infinite progression of varying structure, each point adding its own beauty and its own meaning, each appropriate for its own unique message. Poets can work their magic by measuring syllables or accents or lines, or by balancing rhyme and rhythm and sound, but in the end, all of the tools they use are simply building beauty and truth into a recognizable structure. In short, no matter the form my words may choose to take, whether adhering to the constraints of traditional meter or the not-so-free free verse, I remain a recovering prosodist. Still looking for a cure where I suspect none ever existed.  |
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Sudhir Iyer Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943Mumbai, India : now in Belgium |
what Ron said... Thanks Ron...regards, sudhir |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
Wow! Ron, you may have just killed this discussion.I can't imagine adding anything to that.Nicely said.That was quite the lesson. Jason |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
(chuckling) Ron... did you count the meter in this or was this free form? |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
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morefiah Member
since 2003-03-26
Posts 150Spanish Town, Jamaica |
Nothing can be added to Ron's 'treatise' on the subject, but I would like to say a bit about my own addiction to poetry just to give another perspective. I have been reading all my life. Read my first novel at the age of six and never looked back. I am an admitted addict to reading with absolutely no regrets. Of course, I discovered poetry and I have read quite a bit of it. My first attempt at poetry was simply because I wanted to know if I could do with the English language what these masters (Shelley, R.L. Stevenson, Walter Delamere, Shakespeare, our own Claude Mckay, and so many others) did so very well. So I challenged myself. All my initial attempts were structured (straight-jacketed?) in rhyme. And this continued for years. But as someone said earlier in the thread, at times it felt false and restrictive. I then tried to emulate some of the free verse that I had read and found that in free verse, I was able to express a lot more of my thoughts in poetic form. I have dabbled in writing poems combining both forms, and have not done too badly if do say so myself. The point is that there is very beautiful poetry in both forms, and in fact some of the most beautiful poems, I am sure we will all agree, would not be as moving in any form other than as written. Metric or free verse. Having said all that, I do declare that I have attempted in the past to learn the science of poetic forms (metric, iambic, whatever) I never really got it. Failed miserably in truth (glaring at Ron, green with envy  ) I realised then that what I do comes from the soul. I could never tell how scientifically correct a rhyme is; I just instinctively know... and in free verse, I just as instinctively know when the words are not right (at least to me) I have written poems that moved others but which I still think of as work in progress for the simple reason that it just does not feel right. I am an amateur, in the sense that I have no formal training in writing poetry. However, I firmly believe that what I do in whatever form it takes, is poetry. The fact that it sometimes feels like it is torn out of my very soul makes it so, and I do believe that this applies to all of us. I continue to write in both forms and continue to love both. Oh, and Karilea, I am quite sure that no one here would consider you anything less than an awesome poet. Even if they do not really like free verse. Garfield |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
morefiah said: quote: If souls knew anything useful about literature, then we could all write equally well in Greek and Chinese as well as English. Everything we know and do comes, not from the soul, but from experience. T.S. Elliot claimed he knew nothing of the nomenclature of poetry, but he was nonetheless a recognized master of meter. Terminology is useful for talking "about" poetry, not for creating it. We learn how to use meter by reading and mimicking, both preferably in great abundance. Which takes us to Karilea's comment: quote: In that case, Karilea, you were given very bad advice. If you can "fall into" a rhythm, you don't lack an ear for meter, you simply lack experience. My street number is 33371. Now, close your eyes and repeat that number. Did you successfully remember it? What do you think the chances are that you'll remember that number a week from now? The human mind is divided into short- and long-term memory. The human ear, I think, works in a similar fashion. When you "fall into" a rhythm because it's in front of you, you are exercising short-term memory. Do that often enough, and frequently enough, and it may eventually become committed to long-term memory. When I write in meter, it's usually iambic and the only thing I need to do is recite a little Shakespeare from memory to fall into the pattern almost immediately. But I DO recite the Shakespeare every single time, maybe from habit, maybe as a security blanket, because that's the way I learned iambic meter. If I want to write in ANY other meter, I have to first read and recite something in that meter before I can "fall into" the rhythm. The more foreign the meter is to me, the more I have to read to become comfortable. For trochaic, the only other meter I use frequently, I turn to William Blake's Tiger" or Poe's classic Raven." Several months ago, there was a thread in one of the Open forums where several people were responding with limericks, and I instinctively knew they didn't quite have the meter (compound anapestic) right. But before I could add my own ditty, I HAD to go read from Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense. For me, at least, meter isn't something easily committed to long-term memory, possibly because I don't write in strict meter often enough. So, I continue to rely heavily on short-term memory, and that means refreshing my ear before I write. I strongly suggest, Karilea, that you not give up on meter (and I know you haven't, yet). Just get in the habit, as I do, of refreshing your ear before picking up the pen. quote: We have only begun to scratch the surface, my friend. |
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morefiah Member
since 2003-03-26
Posts 150Spanish Town, Jamaica |
Ron, sometimes you just plain make too much sense. I defer to your opinion/lesson. Karilea, give it a shot using Ron's tip and lets see what happens. I quite agree that you should not give up on it. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Hee hee...I needed another GREAT excuse to pick up a book, and now I have one! LOL...Thank you! |
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JP Senior Member
since 1999-05-25
Posts 1343Loomis, CA |
Y'all amaze me, truly and deeply amaze me. Your passion for poetry and its beauty, your willingness and eagerness to explore simple ideas as the difference in meter and free verse with such passion and love. I thank God everyday when I read posts here, that I can associate with a group of people who live to experience such beauty and passion. I am awestruck at your combined talent and humility in your own ability. Thank you for being. Yesterday is ash, tomorrow is smoke; only today does the fire burn. |
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Local Parasite
since 2001-11-05
Posts 2527Transylconia, Winnipeg |
aww JP... you brought a tear to my eye...  You too Jason Lyle, to be mentioned alongside LighthouseBob is flattering... that guy's got his meter figured right out, never a step out of place. You might also wanna check out Balladeer, Kit McCallum, or Nan if you wanna see the results of meter in its best form... Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
I have to admit, I went almost 10 years without writing.It was only by chance that I met a good friend, who happened to be a published author, and during a conversation I scribbled down an old poem I had written for her.I was suprised she loved it so much, having never considered myself a writer.She encouraged (and badgered) me to start writing again so I did.I found a website forum for posting...and they ripped me apart.Until I posted on that site I had no idea there were rules to poetry, I rhymed, but omg! line one in stanza 3 was out of meter, stanza 4 ruined the entire poem, and why was half the poem in tetrameter, and half in pentameter? It was a wake up call almost stopped me writing again.I kinda felt dumb.So I tried to learn the rules.Not so easy to teach yourself on the web. When I found Passions my welcome was much different, I still got the critiques, which I need and enjoy, but noone drew blood, and many seemed to enjoy my writing.Now I understand metric a little better, and still enjoy this form the most.It still took another writer to point out that I was writing primarily in iambic tetrameter, before I knew what I was writing in. After reading many good post in free verse, I have started to try that form also, I don't really know if i'm getting it right, but I enjoy it also. In short (lol) I owe all of you here at passions thanks, I have learned, and grown I think, by years in my few short months here.Sometimes just reading some of your work gives my poor pen writers block for days. A question, are there any rules at all to free verse?Is a poem that rhymes, but differs in meter line to line free verse? or just bad meter. I really dont agree with the few comments that metric poetry is forced.It can feel that way sometimes, but when done well it is beauty to read. Jason |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
OK Jason...I challenge you to get yourself into the Poetry Workshop. Not only is it a great playground [just ask Marge] but this month's "work" revolves around Sonnets. Because of all of THIS thread, I attempted a heavy rewrite of a sonnet from two years ago... and now I await the grade. But it won't keep me from working on others. I still feel the meter is off a bit, which Nan will point out, I'm sure...she's got the feet for kicking me in the .... er, I mean she's got her "feet" down correctly and I know she'll be busy cleaning up my work [which always appears better when she does it ... LOL] but if you want to get a fairly good education in a great classroom, that'd be the place to hang out. Just ask Nan...she'll let you in. Her classroom knows no size limits... |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
I liked this thread so much I saved it. Thanks Ron! |
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Aenimal Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-18
Posts 7350the ass-end of space |
Loved this thread, educational and full of perspective. And,Karilea and Jason you make me blush, can't tell you how much it means to me. Love this place |
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morefiah Member
since 2003-03-26
Posts 150Spanish Town, Jamaica |
"And so say all of us" |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
/pip/Forum22/HTML/000107.html Jason...the above thread is from Nan's poetry workshop and will help answer your questions about free verse. I found it helpful when I first began trying to explore writing in that medium. The real beauty of free verse is a poet can develope their own signature style when writing with out the "rules" of meter and restrictions of rhyme. I had always wrote in rhyme, I find a certain comfort in cadence, and reading rhyme poetry is still my fave, but I found I could explore imagery and express my emotions at a more detailed level with free verse...and as I went along...I found that internal rhymes and other more structured forms like alliteration and assonance found its way into "my version" of free verse. Hey...Nan says there are no rules and she's the teach [This message has been edited by Janet Marie (05-08-2003 01:58 PM).] |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Jason asked: quote: Many will contend that free verse, by its very definition, follows no rules, but I've always believed otherwise. In my opinion, free verse follows three (potentially overlapping) sets of rules. Free verse is still writing and must contend with all the "rules" that govern any poetry or prose work. Note I said contend, not necessarily follow, though I think the writer breaks these rules at great risk. No, I'm not talking about grammar or punctuation or any of that stuff. I'm talking about the way words and the way we use them affect the reader. You want to slow down the reader? Use longer passages, with many dependent and independent clauses, usually but not necessary separated by commas, with nomenclature or syntax that demand more attention from the reader (a bit like this sentence). Increase the pace? Use short sentences, short words, and more white space. Want some really bad advice that is so good it's given to every fledgling writer? Show, don't tell. It's bad advice because, taken literally, even the shortest works become boring epics. It's less succinct, perhaps, but more accurate to say that writers should IGNORE irrelevant detail (we don't need to know what Richard did during the first ten minutes after getting out of bed), TELL the relevant but unimportant details (we don't need to watch Richard dressing to learn he favors blue jeans and old shirts), and SHOW anything that really matters (Richard having a conversation with his estranged wife over morning coffee). Knowing exactly when to ignore, tell or show is what makes writing so darn hard. What others (including Ruth) call "flow," I have always called cadence, the pattern of sounds that give the words their music. In my opinion, it's a mistake to think that flow or cadence is what differentiates free verse from prose. Read the Gettysburg Address or the opening to Great Expectations and you'll hear the words sing to you, even though it's "just" prose. Believe it or not, cadence depends to some extent on meter, even if it's not the strict meter of the sonnet. That's why I think knowing meter is important even if you write only free verse. It also depends on stresses and pauses (caesuras). It depends on variations, in word lengths, line lengths, and complexity of structure. It depend on repetition and patterns. (Like the last few sentences of this paragraph). Everything that is true for good prose, and even of metrical poetry, is also true for free verse. There are dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of such general "rules" that a good writer must know and (usually) follow. I don't think I've said it in at least a month or two, so I'm a bit overdue: The poet can learn much from the fictionist. Free verse is still verse and must contend with the need for structure. Any structure! Another way of expressing this rule set is that it's the one the writer imposes on the work in order to create at least the guise of structure. Many mistakenly interpret this to mean there are no rules, when what it really means is that writer gets to make up his own. But he does have to make them up and, having done so, he then has to follow them. The alternative is chaos, which rarely translates to good poetry. In my opinion, this is what makes good free verse more difficult than more structured formats. You must not only invent your own rules, but you must fulfill them as well. T. S. Elliot said, in his 1942 essay, The Music of Poetry, "no verse is free for the man who wants to do a good job." Amen. Free verse is still poetry and, while it may ignore the rules of meter and rhyme, all poetry must still contend with the rules that govern line breaks. Again, these are often broken (as are most rules, sooner or later), but should at least be acknowledged by the poet. Because free verse is almost defined by the line break, these rules deserve a few moments of exploration. (In other words, I'm about to get real boring again.) More than any other single feature, poetry and prose are differentiated by the line break. That is not the minor thing so many think it to be, and that is especially true in free verse where the writer has so much more control. How long should a line be? Walt Whitman wrote by breathing, each line breaking where the breath comes to a normal pause. It could be as short a breath as a comma, or as full a stop as a period. Whitman's lines were uncommonly long, but the poems are a delight to read because each line pulls you to its natural end. A poetic line that ends in punctuation, reflecting a human breath, is called "end stopped." (If anyone ever wonders why I so often decry ellipses ... it's because they usually make verse TOO breathy to be easily read aloud.) The alternative is enjambment, where the poetic line does not naturally pause, but instead, the same sentence carries directly to the next line. Enjambment comes from a French word meaning to put one's leg across, or to step over, which describes exactly what one lines is doing to get to the next. A line break STILL creates a pause, a moment for the reader to breath, but it is typically much shorter than any breath represented by a punctuation mark. At the least, enjambment is good for creating a feel of naturalistic motion in verse. We don't, after all, speak in anything approaching pentameter. It can also be an incredibly powerful tool for adding emphasis and tension. (In my opinion, many free versers abuse enjambment to the point where it loses much of that power. More the pity). It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, In this passage of a Wordsworth sonnet, there are three good examples of different ways to end a line. The first line is, obviously, end stopped. The second line at first appears to be end stopped, but as the reader progresses, he finds the line is expanded by the third line in a slightly unexpected way. I call this surprise enjambment, a very useful trick for varying pace. The third line, of course, is an example of more typical enjambment. (If anyone ever wonders why I so often decry poetry with no punctuation, it's because end stops and enjambed lines, especially surprise enjambments, lose all of their visual clues.) One of the most important effects of enjambment, and this is especially true of surprise enjambment, is that it makes the reader more aware of the multiple domains of thought within the poem. That is, it momentarily releases the reader from the line as a unit of measurement and forces an awareness of longer units, such as the stanza or the whole poem. Enjambment makes the reader look both forward and backwards in the poem, anticipating a line ending while simultaneously holding to the as yet incomplete thought just read. It helps creates unity. That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need This couplet from Milton better exemplifies what I mean. As an isolated phrase, "God doth not need" signals both God's omniscience and omnipotence. Alone, it give meaning to the line. But it is not alone, and Milton's enjambment into the next line expands on the previous, forcing the reader outside of a single line of thought into a greater whole. He uses enjambment to cleverly go from the general to the specific, giving unity to his theme. Enjambment also gives the writer greater control over which words will carry emphasis. The long tradition of rhyme in poetry has "trained" the reader to listen for the end of a line, giving that final word more prominence than any other word in the line. A crafty writer (pun fully intended) can use this expectation of the reader to good effect, introducing emphasis where the writer most wants it. At the very least, the poet should probably end lines with strong words that are important to the narrative or imagery of the verse, avoiding the weaker conjunctions, articles, and prepositions. Ideally, most enjambed lines will end with concrete nouns and verbs, taking advantage of the position to add even greater weight. Not incidentally, the same technique can be used in reverse, to lessen the emphasis of otherwise important words. This creates additional tension in the poem, as what is important is made trivial, and can also be used as secret clues to the reader. In my most recent poem, I talk a lot about a particular house, but never use the word to either start or end a line, or in any other way add emphasis to that noun. That's because the house isn't really a house, something I want the reader to understand without ever being told. Emphasis can also be effectively added by the relative length of a line, something at which free verse excels. Ten longish lines followed by a very short line of only two or three beats makes that final line almost shout to the reader. In my opinion, this is often abused and I think one should be certain the content is worthy of the emphasis. A single word on a line all by itself is about the same as beating the reader over the head, something we probably don't want to make a habit of doing. I also very often see writers of free verse pen a lengthy series of very short lines composed of just a few words each, which obviously makes this technique impossible for them. When every line is the same short length, none will stand out from the rest. These writers are sacrificing the potential for added emphasis, ostensibly in the name of a faster pace. Lines, and their big brothers, stanzas, determine the "shape" of your poem and can be used to create anticipation, tension, ambiguity, emphasis, double meanings, pace, cadence and a host of other very useful effects. These rules apply to all poetic forms, but are possibly even more important in free verse where the line so dominates the form. Those who create line breaks solely on what "feels right" to them are relying on years of reading and the hope and prayer that they've absorbed the rules through unconscious osmosis. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either. But when they struggle and can't quite get a poem to "feel right," knowing the rules can sometimes help them understand why. See, Jason? I told you we hadn't even scratched the surface. |
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Aenimal Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-18
Posts 7350the ass-end of space |
I love free verse and I agree with Ron there are certain rules I've followed otherwise they come off forced or awkward. Of course I sometimes break them and have been scolded for it grin Hey Kamla I fell into free verse and really don't think I could write any other way. Luckily I have had some great teachers and guides along the way. Severn really taught me to break up my poems and give them better flow, whereas my early post suffered from being one large chunk of words. I think I've been able to better gauge where I place my breaks and keep the readers attention by steering them through my thoughts. I've been greatly influenced by Ed's work(wranx) with regards to storytelling, and of course Karen's (serenityblaze) in tightening my words and giving them punch. There's so many I wish I could list them all. This is why I love PIP so much. The influence, the teachers, the friends and the place to bring it all together. Thanks all [This message has been edited by Aenimal (05-08-2003 07:05 PM).] |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
and library button |
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Jason Lyle Senior Member
since 2003-02-07
Posts 1438With my darkling |
Thanks to all of you for your insight, never when I started this post did I imagine I would learn so much. Ron, thank you.It will take me some time to absorb all that.You taught me alot in this thread. As already stated by a few, it is discussions like this that make this site what it is, And I also LOVE THIS PLACE Jason |
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