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Writing
Poetry
with
Michael Bahm
These are some thoughts on
poetry, specifically concerning form and style. As everyone who writes
poetry knows, poetry is an extremely personal experience. It is so, both in
the reading and the writing. We also feel that the poetry we write comes
from some inspiration. I feel that at most times when I write that I am
being guided by something that is an addition to my self, a part of me yet
totally separate.
When an idea for a poem comes to mind I start writing immediately. I
will not even think about which form I am or should be writing in. I let
the subject, viewpoint and even the poem itself dictate the form it should
take.
Before proceeding, I would like to have it understood that I don't in any way consider myself
a purist where poetry is concerned. Art, and especially poetry is too subjective to allow myself to even consider being such. If I am anything it
is someone who likes all poetry and I think that all poetry is valid. This
article is presented merely as an aid is furthering an appreciation for the
art of poetry. Please keep writing your poetry, your way. Thanks for stopping here and reading this article and I
hope you take away something useful for yourself.
What is form and why should it matter as far as poetry is concerned? We who
write are the soul of our poem. We are the creators. Each poem is a thing
that "lives" as a part of us. Each poem is distinct not only from every
other poem we write but also from every other poem ever written. The form
it takes will determine how strong or weak it is.
I can stack books on a card table and though it does what I want it to do I
cannot call the table a bookshelf. I can build a bookshelf and though it
too will hold books I cannot call it a good bookshelf necessarily. If I
learn the trade of cabinet making or carpentry then the thing that holds the
books will go from good to the best example of the form of a bookshelf.
Poetry is in essence the same. I can make the first letter of the line,
also called a verse, a capital letter and then make the end word of the
verses rhyme but I cannot necessarily call the result a good poem. It does
what a poem in its basics is supposed to do but is it good.
Poetry is a language, a language of emotions. To those who write it, the
language is an understanding of life that might not necessarily be
understood by those who read what is written. Poetry comes in various forms
and that is what this short piece will try to show. I hope it arouses a
desire to search for more about what goes into making this language so
colourful.
Some forms of this language are the Sonnet, and Villanelle, which allow
emotions to be strong. The Limerick is a form that allows the language to
smile and laugh.
The language has rhythm and the various forms stroll softly through our
minds on distinctive feet.
It should be said that at no time is the language so stiff and rigid that
new forms can't arise and still be called poetry. Free
Verse and Blank Verse are two examples of changes in the language that add to its beauty.
There is another that I call open verse which follows only the whim of the
poet. To me it is just as valid as any other form.
A
Passerby
As I stand waiting
For the downtown bus
She passes,
Pushing her squeaky wheeled,
Rusty shopping cart
Filled to overflowing
With what is not bought
But found.
Her back is bent
From too many miles.
Her face,
What I see of it
Beneath her toboggan,
Is weather worn
And sags
From too few smiles.
The fingers that poke through
The finger-less gloves she wears
Have knuckles too large
For her size.
Her head is down-turned
And she shuffles
More than steps
Toward where-ever it is she goes.
Who is this person?
Does she ask the same of me?
What is her name?
I'm sure she has one
Or did at some-time.
She brings to mind
Poor Eleanor
Though I doubt
She has a face
That she keeps in a jar
And I'm almost certain
No door.
I step from the sidewalk
And onto the grass
To clear this woman
A way.
As she passes
She looks at me,
Smiles,
And quietly her eyes say
"Thank you."
Mine don't know what
To return
~
Michael Bahm ~
Yes, poetry is a language of emotions and the poet is the speaker so let no
one say your poetry isn't as valid as another's. I would also urge you to visit the links on the home page here such as POETS
RESOURCES and GLOSSARY OF POETIC TERMS. I have visited them and they are
well worth the time. I also have a couple of essays on poetry on my own web
site.
May the blessings of the muses be with you
Note:
Throughout this writing you will see notations to the rhyming scheme of
certain types of poetry written as capital letters, i.e. ABAB. This
notation means that the last word or perhaps the last syllable in a verse is
rhymed. The letters used can be any at all but I prefer to work in the
order of the alphabet.
As I sauntered down the street
I strolled beneath my hat.
With shiny shoes upon my feet
And wondered why the people that
I met were filled with snickers.
So proud was I of my new chapeau
And my patent leather shoes
I quite forgot what I would show
Or what would be their news
When I forgot my nickers.
The rhyme scheme in the above poem is written as ABABC DEDEC. The last word
or syllable in each line corresponding with the letter for that line.
Street = A, hat = B, feet = A, that = B, snickers = C, etc. If the word
chapeau were to rhyme with street or feet then it would carry the letter A
but since it is a new ending then the letter notation continues to the next
letter in the English alphabet.
The line (each line) of a poem is called a verse.
Today it is generally accepted that the whole poem is called a verse but in
actuality each line is a verse. The verses are divided into two five-verse
stanzas.
Poetic Form
This is a short piece on poetic form. The things mentioned here are to be taken as tools and though all are useful and at most time necessary they are by no means the only tools used in the building of what is in the final form poetry. I offer this as a way of introducing the things that others and I have used to craft our language into a combining form of both our emotions and visions of life as it pertains to us. These tools can be used in
many combinations and variations. I hope you find this writing useful and through it you gain an appreciation for the beauty that is the poetic form.
All poetry stands on its feet and the feet that poetry is supported by either strengthen the poem or cause it to stumble. The foot of a poem is called the iamb and the iambus is the most elemental form. The word represents the syllables in a verse. The iambus is a two-syllable word or two single syllable words in which the first syllable is short or unaccented and the second is long or accented. This is the basic foot. An example of this is:
Here I
Stand by
The sea
And sky
And I
Shan't hie
To die.
The form above shows clearly how the syllables are accented or unaccented.
When a poem is read and analyzed for structure it is being scanned. Scanning is the dissection of a poem to better understand its structure, its
basics. When one scans a poem the syllables are noted and accent marks are
placed above each showing whether it is short (unaccented) or long (accented). There are several symbols used for this purpose. For this
writing I will use lower case letters for the unaccented syllables and upper
case letters for the accented syllables. As you read the poem above aloud you should notice that more emphasis is
placed on the second word of each verse. The second word is also the second
syllable and this then identifies each verse as iambus in form. I.E.
here I
stand BY
the SEA
and SKY
and I
shan't HIE *
to DIE.
[ * - shan't is the poetic contraction for shall not and hie means to
hasten. ]
When reading a poem one should not place too much emphasis on the accented
syllables. To do so would add what I call false force to the poem and it
would then become contrived. The poem should be read in a normal voice and
the reader should allow the accented syllables to speak for themselves. The
poem should flow naturally.
In the above poem you can see that as I stand looking at the sea and sky I
am in no hurry to leave it. There are two main tools that I use when writing poetry. The first is a dictionary. In the sixth verse I use the
poetic contraction shan't for the two words shall not and in order to make
sure the iambus is constant I use the word hie which means to hasten or hurry.
The second tool, and the one I most strive for, is to have well placed sounds in my poetry. To do this I attempt to have vowel and consonant
sounds compliment each other. At times I will use them to make some discordance in the voice of the poem for effect. I prefer that my poems be
read aloud because of the use of this so that the nuances can be heard.
One of the things I wanted to do in this poem is to give it a distinctive
sound. The first four verses sound as they do because the letters that
end the first word (syllable) is so much different than what must be pronounced
in the second.
here I (both words are different in tone)
stand BY (The d and B must be separated orally)
the Sea (both words are different in tone)
and SKY (both words are different in tone)
In the last three verses I purposely matched tones as well as could be in
order to not only set these apart from the first four but also to add a comical emphasis to them. I wanted then to say that not only would I not
hurry to die but also that I will enjoy not hurrying. When read aloud the
final three verses should sound as,
An tie
Shan tie
To die
With the voice slightly rising on the last syllable of each verse they take
on a sort of singsong type of sound. No matter what language a poem is written in there are little things,
inflexions, etc. in the way words are pronounced that add to the strength of
the feet that the poem stands on. Find these in your native language and
use them to enliven what you write and to add colour to the sound the person reading it hears.
Meter
Meter also distinguishes poetic form and the example above is an example of iambic monometer.
Meter in the formal sense, is how many iambs (feet) there are per line.
I've already shown the iambic monometer. The other forms of meter are:
Dimeter (two feet per line.)
Trimeter (three " " ")
Tetrameter (Four " " ")
Pentameter (Five " " ")
Hexameter (Six " " ")
Heptameter (Seven " " ")
Octameter (Eight " " ")
The iambic pentameter is probable the most often used meter in poetry written in English. Again I will say that I also used sound
to set meter in my poetry. I feel that this movement of sound can do much
and sometimes more than the foot alone. If the two, sound and pure foot
form, work together than the result is particularly effective.
Other forms of the poetic foot are:
The trochee which is also two syllables with the first accented and the second unaccented.
The anapest is a three-syllable form in which the first two syllables are unaccented and the third is accented.
The dactyl is also three-syllables with the first being accented and the other two being unaccented.
These are the four main iambs of all English poetic form. There are three others that are little used and they are:
The Spondee is two syllables with both being unaccented.
The Pyrrhic is also two syllables with both being accented.
The Anaphibrach is three syllables with the first and third being unaccented
and the second being accented.
Fixed Forms of Poetry
Sonnet
A sonnet is a poem consisting of fourteen verses each of which contain ten syllables. The two main forms of the sonnet are the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean. The former is also known as the Italian Sonnet and the latter is known as the English Sonnet.
The rhyming schemes of the two are very different in that the Petrarchan Sonnet is rhymed as ABBA ABBA in the first eight verses (the octave). The last six verses, (the sestet), use either of two rhyme patterns, CDC
DCD, or CDE CDE. In most but certainly not all Petrarchan Sonnets the octave and the sestet are separated by a space.
Sonnet
On The Thought Of Understanding
Sing
oh soul within the darkness of life
Of that which mortals but speculate
Can be the definition of the fate
And cause of one embodied in the strife
Only you can understand what is rife
Within the one attached to you of late
And 'tis given you the keys of the gate
To announce with either trumpet or fife.
And I and mine will live in ignorance
In our isolation behind the mask
Which is sadly our own great mistake
For mortals are too often sycophants
To life and to fulfillment of the task
To notice what does lie before your rake.
~Michael
Bahm~
The Shakespearean Sonnet follows the rhyming of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. There is no separation of the verses in this form.
Sonnet
348
It is so wonderful to sit among
The newly opened flowers as nectar
Which is their life drips slowly onto tongue
To refresh the soul and displace Hector.
It is not for mortal man to be blessed
With the flower's youth while he in winter be
Tho still be life within his heaving breast
And of life's goodness he could mentor thee.
So sit I treasuring your soft sweet youth
Atop the mountain you've no need to climb
For in you more than in myself there be truth
Of what in life is more than just sublime.
So reaching out I'll cup you to my soul
Until the curtain ends my gard'ner's role.
~
Michael Bahm ~
Each form of sonnet usually opens with the thought stated early. This thought can be anything from the longing for a love to the affairs of the world. The Petrarchan Sonnet develops this thought in the octave and either resolves it or contradicts it in the sestet. The Shakespearean Sonnet generally develops its thought throughout the first twelve verses (which are three undivided quatrains) and resolves it in the last couplet.
These two forms of sonnets are fixed and only if these conventions are followed can a poem be called either Petrarchan or Shakespearean. However, as long as there are fourteen verses of ten syllables with some fixed rhyme scheme any poem can be called a sonnet. I should think though that a purist would deem me blasphemous at the least for saying so.
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Villanelle
The villanelle is a poem of nineteen verses arranged in five stanzas of three verses and a sixth stanza that is a quatrain. This arrangement is fixed, as is the rhyme scheme that is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA. Each verse's syllabic form is not fixed. The interesting and fun part of the villanelle is the way in which the verses are used throughout the poem. It is as follows:
The first and the last verse of the first stanza must be used throughout the
poem but in different places. The first verse will become the third verse in the second and fourth stanza. It will also be used as the third verse in the sixth stanza. The last verse in the opening stanza will become the third verse in the third and fifth stanzas and the fourth verse in the sixth stanza. This form allows the villanelle to take on many nuances from light and almost toe tapping to something very heavy. It is a lively and enjoyable form to work with.
Villanelle to Life's
Christening
Oh sing the lovely birds of spring
As still upon the branch lays snow
Herald they do life's christening.
And to the mind the sight doth bring
Our bidding to the winter go
Oh sing the lovely birds of spring.
Winter's fury has had its fling
And as the seeds of springtime grow
Herald they do life's christening.
Bring to us now our gardening
As into trees the sap doth flow
Oh sing the lovely birds of spring.
And funny how we fail to string
The way the sight and sound do show
Herald they do life's christening.
Now to what's best we are sure to cling
And as we do we'll come to know
Oh sing the lovely birds of spring
Herald they do life's christening.
~ Michael Bahm ~
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Limerick
I think of the Limerick, more than any other form, when using the language
analogy of poetry, as the comic's voice. I use it for its ability to be
playful and singsong in sound. Generally the sound pattern of the Limerick
is -
Tee Tee Ta Tee Ta Tee
Tee Tee Ta Tee Ta Tee
Tee Tee Ta Tee
Tee Tee Ta Tee
Tee Tee Ta Tee Ta Tee.
It should be said that there are many variations to this sound pattern and
sometimes the verses, especially the last one can be quite long. The most recognized subject of the Limerick is one that is
rather bawdy but actually any subject works well in this form.
In the world there is sun, air and sea
Along with a you and a me
When added together
We all make the weather
As nice or as bad as can be.
Back
Blank verse
is a form of poetry that is unrhymed and in iambic pentameter.
The Light
While I stand before the light that is you
I see the vision and meaning of life.
You are the purity of all that is
Worthy of standing amid. You are truth
You are compassion. You are the alpha
And omega toward which I strive.
So while I stand in shadow I will let
The light that is you guide my every step.
Back
Free verse
has no fixed feet or meter. It is also not restricted line
structure or stanza form. The definition sounds like prose but it is far
from prose. It is true poetry.
Unjoined Connection
My friend, I lay with you
More completely than I have with anyone
Yet our bodies have never met.
And never shall they touch.
Still, I am intertwined with you
As the ivy is the mortar of the wall
And being thus I feel
You breathing life into what I am.
Long my soul will stand
Beside yours and honestly I know
That death shall have no power
To part two joined so completely.
Back
Essay On Rhythm
Life,
all life, not only the air breathing, blood pumping, food consuming
life we know but all life, animate and inanimate, is rhythm.
Rhythm has no
control over life but rather is what is needed to give life life.
From the
birth of a star to the birth of a baby, to the death of both, everything
moves with and because of rhythm.
Finding one thing that exists which does so without some part of it
touching or applying to rhythm would be harder than floating a Styrofoam
boat on a pool of gasoline.
Take for example, a brick, a hard piece of inanimate clay that if
left alone just sits and does nothing. But the brick has at once
the rhythm
of its form, a geometric polygon with six rectangular sides. There
is also
the rhythm of what it was before it was a brick and the rhythm of what
it
can be when used in relation to other bricks.
I need not go into depth as to what the rhythms of a brick are nor
would I need to give any other examples. Empirically one knows
that
everything is where it is and why it is because of rhythm.
My essay is not to analyze why rhythm exists. It is also not to
advance any scientific proofs. That rhythm exists is known though
not
thought about daily.
I have left the backyard of my house and walked into the forest to
continue. Here I feel, more readily, the rhythm that is constantly
around
all of us. I am more aware of it. In this setting with the
breeze blowing
through the tree tops, the cicadas and grasshoppers chorusing,
butterflies
flying by and even the train's whistle way off in the distance I am made
aware of the rhythm that is all around us and at the same time in us.
I sit on a fallen tree that long ago began as a seed on another
tree. It exemplifies the rhythm of life and though it lies here in
death it
gives that rhythm to the shelf fungus that thrives along its now
horizontal
length. Its death has also allowed the rhythm of the sunlight to
reach the
under story in order that smaller trees can provide to that which is the
rhythm of the forest.
Everything needs rhythm and of everything we humans need it most.
As I have said, everything is where and what it is because of rhythm.
We
humans are the only creatures that can add questions and understanding
to
rhythm. There is a rhythm that permeates all we do, from sleeping to
going
to the grocery to dying. We may, at some brief moments be out of
tune with
rhythm but it is still why we are.
When we move with rhythm and perhaps feel it brush gently against us
there is harmony within us, within our lives. We feel a worth in
and of
being. Without being cognizant of the rhythm we know we simply
feel good.
In this state rain, lightening and even thunder possess an awe-inspiring
beauty. When, for some reason, the rhythm of our living is upset
then
discord ensues and even sunlight can be frightening. When this
state exists
we long for and even seek rhythm. We wish to simply feel good
again.
Rocks, wind, water and anything else that is non-living exists in
and are because of rhythm. All living things except for the human
also
exist within rhythm but also use it to pro-create. We humans do as the
above-mentioned do and we also seek the harmony of that rhythm in order
to
feel good. To us rhythm is pleasure and it is this pleasure we
seek.
We are also the only animal that creates a rhythm of our own inside
the larger rhythm of life. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of
years ago
humans, or those who would eventually become humans, discovered that
rhythm
can get a point across or tell a story. Perhaps it was as simple
as a
throated grunt or the clinking two stones together. Perhaps it was
in the
way one walked, much as the honeybee tells where the best pollen is by
its
movement in the hive. Eventually the rhythm of communication of
humans lead
from beating on a hallow log through vocalization to the written word.
It is at this point that the rhythm of my thoughts has come to the
reason for my essay. Writing, all writing, from a grocery list to
a letter,
a novel, poetry, and music has rhythm. It may not be a conscious
rhythm as
with poetry and music but rhythm is there. My thoughts here are on
the
rhythm that exists in, are the cause of, and caused by poetry.
It should be noted that the rhyme and rhythm of a poem are two
entirely different elements of poetry. A poem can have rhythm
without
rhyming but no rhyme without rhythm. In fact poetry is
multi-rhythmic in
its form or meter, its infliction, its thought or idea, its rhyme if it
exists, and even in its actual or implied visualization.
The forms and conventions of poetry, that is, the rules that govern
what a poem is, are many and to the novice can be very confusing and
hard to
grasp. Above these rules, and I think quite independent of them,
the
beginner knows rhythm without having to be conscience of it. He or
she
knows, perhaps without being aware of it that life is the rhythm of
poetry
and rhythm is the life of the poem.
Rhythm, in an over-simplified sense is a series of peeks and
valleys. In a deeper sense it is steady undulations that cause
harmony but
need not be harmonious. The rhythm of a poem is actually plural.
It is
visual in its structure, i.e., line breaks and stanzas if stanzas there
be.
It is sensual in its reading whether it be silent or aloud. The
rhythm of a
poem is different when read by different people. The rhythm of
poetry can
be pleasing or discordant. And most of all it is demanding of
feeling, of
emotion.
The above paragraph enters into the philosophy of poetry. Poetry
itself is philosophical. This statement is very elementary and its
truth is
based on the idea of the rhythms of life. We who write poetry are
aware of
rhythm to the point of using it to express an idea. The true poet
is not
only aware of the existence of rhythm but feels it more keenly in
everything
around him or her. The true poet listens to and expresses the
rhythms of
life more acutely than anyone.
Feeling this rhythm is what gives us the ability to write poetry.
Knowing that it exists in all things gives us the ability to understand
a
poem.
and finally ......
Using
the line break for meaning. In
poetry there are many elements at the disposal of those who write
it.
One of the strongest for me is the line break. The meaning
of a poem's
thought can be skewed by the choice of where one breaks the line.
Today as
I walked outside I saw the leaves returning to the trees.
All winter the
trees stand naked, showing what it is that makes them strong or
weak. As
the leaves start to cover the limbs and branches of what is the
trees' frame
the frame becomes hidden by the fullness of the form. I
wanted to use the
sight of this as a metaphor for life.
The example I have submitted today is but a small example of how
the line
break either intensifies or weakens the meaning of the thought.
The last
example is in the form of a haiku which is more strictly held to
form rather
than free expression of line break. Here the word usage is
more important.
That is another topic all together.
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Soon
Once again
The skeleton
Will be only
Partially exposed.
***************
Soon, once again
The skeleton will be
Only partially exposed.
***************
Soon, once again
The skeleton will be
Only partially
Exposed.
***************
Soon now, once again,
The skeleton is only
Partially exposed
More
of my poems can be found on my page in Kavitanjali
or in my Home Page.
Those wishing to write to me with comments or for clarification can do
by writing to
mbahm@griffinusa.com
~ Michael Bahm ~
Top Michael's
Home Page Kavitanjali
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