Unwashed Village
General Discussion => Unwashed Village => Topic started by: The Hanged Man on July 07, 2016, 12:29:43 AM
-
This probably sounds insanely daft but despite studying such poems for a year of my life, I'm not exactly sure what separates a poem from any other piece of writing. Is there a certain structure that you have to follow, like a sonnet?
Didn't realise that I didn't know until today, when I was copying one down.
-
The rhythmic structure, or metre, is important in poetry. It affects the pacing and flow of motifs through a piece of poetry, specific structural forms help you decide what type of poem it is but modern poetry doesn't always stick to rigorous forms. End rhymes and assonance, where vowel sounds are repeated in a line, are useful for reinforcing motifs but a poem is meant to be spoken aloud so the structure plays a large part in the meaning and impact of a piece of poetry.
It's been a while since I studied poetry so I'd need to brush up on terms to dissect a poem throughly but if you search for those terms you should find good resources.
-
Adding to what TK said.
Look at song lyrics. Lyrics have a specific meter and are meant to flow off the tongue just like poetry. For a more specific example look at rap music. Rap original stood for rhythm and poetry. 80's/early 90's rap has good examples of flow that follow poetic expectations (I don't listen to much rap and can't give you specific examples off the top of my head. for some reason Ice Cube, Ice Tea, and east coast rappers come to mind)
If you need a concrete form I think sestina poems don't need to rhyme (it's been 5 years since my last poetry class). If I'm remembering right sestinas rely on 6 different end words that are rearranged per stanza (with 6 stanzas or so). As for poet, I think Emily Dickinson relied more on meter than overt rhyme.
Adding: pentameter! That has something to do with it too. It's focused on more in Shakespeare, I think. I've always hated pentameter but I probably subconsciously use it