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 Poetry: July 29, 2009 Issue [#3191] |
  Poetry This week: Beads, Links, or Both Edited by: northernwritesMore Newsletters By This Editor   1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions  Greetings from northernwrites, your editor for today's Poetry newsletter. Meter, rhyme, and form are not the only tools available for creating structure in poetry. Everyday things that you have been learning since you were a toddler and ideas cross-pollinated among the arts and sciences can enrich the creative experience and expand the possibilities for discovery. The best thing about them is that it doesn't matter whether you're writing free verse or traditional poetry. Today's newsletter will discuss a cross-pollination between necklaces and poetry.    Beads, Links, or Both Many necklaces are essentially a string of beads. Sometimes the beads are all the same size, and other times they are smaller around the back of the neck and gradually become larger as they approach the center of the necklace. They could be all the same color, or there could be a repeating pattern of a several different colors or kinds of beads. Sometimes there is a larger bead that is positioned at the center for a focal point. Sometimes tiny beads are crocheted together into a thicker rope. Another method uses heavier cording, and knots are made on either side of a bead or a group of beads to keep them in place. Usually, though, the goal is to showcase just the beads, and keep the string out of sight. This construction is simple: slide the beads onto one strong thread in the desired order and keep them close together by attaching a clasp to the ends of the string. This method works just fine if the string is strong enough to handle the load. If it's not, then the string breaks, and all the beads fall off the new-made ends and scatter all over the floor. On the other hand, if a necklace is held together by links that are chained together, and one of them breaks, the necklace will probably fall off, but it won't come any farther apart. If a necklace is held together by several chains, it's rather unlikely that all of them will break at the same time. When you write the stanzas in your poem, you can use a strong string to connect them like beads, or create beads that link into their neighbors one or more ways.  A string structure exists when the reader can see that there is an order or pattern to the stanzas.-- The string itself is an overall structure that sometimes exists more like an implied layer of the poem than as something specific you can point to on the page. -- The stronger the pattern, the stronger the string. A chain-of-links structure exists because of individual connections between each pair of adjacent stanzas. It might also connect the end back to the beginning.-- This structure is composed of individual elements that bridge the gap of the blank line. The bridge itself is not on the page, but words that serve as the footings at each end are. -- The distance between the footings affects the strength of the link. -- A structure is as strong as its weakest link, so overall balance becomes important. Using several weak links together can be as effective as using one strong link. These structures can be used together, mixing either the same or different kinds.-- A story poem has a narrative arc made up of events and observations in time-line or cause-effect order. This narrative arc can be a single strong string that holds the poem together. Sometimes a strong narrative arc is all it needs. Other times the narrative arc is not the main feature, or perhaps you're not putting the whole story on the page, or maybe the story happens in only part of the poem. -- Some poems are observations with a few weak narrative elements. Observations about how one thing changes can be a single strong string to hold a poem together. It could need reinforcement, such as when the observations don't involve active verbs, or don't involve the same kind of activity. -- Using a form can be another method to create a single, strong string to hold a poem together. Sometimes a form needs help to put the focus where you want it. What creates and strengthens connections between stanzas so the poem can be a unified whole? A bit of brainstorming produced this list, in no particular order: A sentence that enjambs A rhyme that repeats (such as the second option of the "Trilonnet" ) A word paired with itself repeated or with a synonym [a true synonym works better than just a related word.] The game of opposites: a word paired with its antonym Alliteration -- enough repeated sounds to notice, simple or complex Renaming: moving from a general classification to a specific example A list or sequence that continues A common relationship between two things A question followed by an answer A situation and its resolution or a response to it [such as occur in sonnets]Other things could bridge the streams of white space flowing through the stanza breaks. Whatever your creativity can come up with will work if you can communicate the connection so the readers can recognize it. It is possible to be too obscure. Sylvia Plath uses the myth of Medea to bridge the gap between the stanzas in Aftermath, but that kind of bridge doesn't work if the reader isn't familiar with the reference. She supplements it with another, more common link. It works best to choose a connection that works to support the content, rather than something that is unrelated. As you write a poem, you might see some links and strings to use, but you're more likely to notice half-present possibilities and figure out how to complete them, when you analyze notes, freewrites, or the rough draft before you rewrite. Examples [Blue and underline are added.]  This first example is a fairly simple string of four beads in the same shape and size. Each stanza has a separate concrete topic. Adjacent stanzas are not connected.The last line is emphasized by the inline light rhyme [I/my], and the complex alliteration [eel/ell/elf] set up in the previous line [ee/elf]. Arthur Guiterman: On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness The tusks that clashed in mighty brawls Of mastodons, are billiard balls. The sword of Charlemagne the Just Is ferric oxide, known as rust. The grizzly bear whose potent hug Was feared by all, is now a rug. Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf, And I don't feel so well myself. [How Does A Poem Mean, John Ciardi, p.1008] The poem has two secondary string patterns. One is that the beads are made of two different materials, which are alternated. The repetition of end-rhymes as inline rhyme connects each kind of stanza (animal, people) into a larger unit, like teeth in a comb or fingers on a hand. Then the alternation interlocks the open edges of those larger units, adding a layer of structure like two halves of a zipper locking together. The other pattern is weaker; the sequence contains time-line elements that mostly occur from ancient to current times. The main structure of the poem is a string, the list of elements. The classification given in the title ties the beads together, and the last line says why the list is important. If defining such a list needed more space, stanzas for an introduction and a conclusion could tie the list together. The second example has a tiny narrative that could use some help. The ending repeats the opening sentence, creating a circular poem that echoes the speaker's ongoing efforts. Robert Browning: You'll Love Me Yet You'll love me yet! -- and I can tarry Your love's protracted growing: June rear'd that bunch of flowers you carry, From seeds of April sowing. I plant a heartful now: some seed At least is sure to strike, And yield -- what you'll not pluck indeed, Not love, but, may be, like. You'll look at least on love's remains, A grave's one violet: Your look? -- that pays a thousand pains. What's death? You'll love me yet! [How Does A Poem Mean, John Ciardi, p.863] At the first stanza break, seeds/seed is repeated, and sowing pairs off with plant. This linking structure is created in mirror order, matching the narrative shift that occurs at this point. At the second stanza break, a list in decreasing order crosses the break with the last element: pluck, love, like, look. The third stanza continues the thought from the second stanza. In addition, the alliterative combination may/mai is repeated, and both lines have l sounds. The third example has a small partial narrative of a moment in a larger story that is not on the page.Although a word at the end repeats one from the beginning, this poem is not circular, but mirrored. The mirroring of the repeated words at the ends points the reader's attention to the two center lines (two because of the even line count), which contain the heart of the poem. This pointing is supported by mirrored alliteration: the third lines from top and bottom have matching k alliteration, and the two center lines have s alliteration. The center lines continue the mirroring with reflected wording left-to-right: people/scene and acted/selves. William Stafford: At the Bomb Testing Site At noon in the desert a panting lizard waited for history, its elbows tense, watching the curve of a particular road as if something might happen. It was looking for something farther off than people could see, an important scene acted in stone for little selves at the flute end of consequences. There was just a continent without much on it under a sky that never cared less. Ready for a change, the elbows waited. The hands gripped hard on the desert. [Contemporary American Poetry, ed. A. Poulin, Jr., second edition, p.387] The stanza breaks are crossed by means of repeated elements: a word for the first, and a pair of similar sounding words for the second. This simplicity is like the content -- the spareness of the desert. The second pair of similar words could reflect the possible change in reality after the test. How Could You Use This Principle?  In reading poetry, you could pause to consider how a poem that has stanzas is tied together, for example -- Does the poem have a string structure? Does it include the whole poem or only part of it? Does the string structure exist as an implied layer, or is it defined on the page? Did the poem use any links between each adjacent pair of stanzas, or between the last stanza and the first? What kind of links? Do the links support the content and focus at that point in the poem?[With good poetry, there is usually more to the poem than a first reading will reveal. Whether you're reading traditional poetry or free verse, pausing to observe structural details and to think about what they imply can reveal more of the meaning.]  In writing poetry, you could plan to use it from the beginning; for example: If you are writing a narrative, creating a list, or using some other strong overall pattern that will be obvious to the reader, then you can check how your ideas for wording fit with the string structure as you go. If you don't have a strong overall pattern to use, you can consider the list of options for links and pick one that fits the content for a stanza break and see if you can make it work. If that one doesn't work out, try another.  In rewriting poetry, once you have a first draft or freewrite version on the page, you could look for places where this idea could help make your poem stronger; for example: Does the first draft of your poem already have any half-present connections? Do these connections support the content? Would completing the structure make the poem stronger, or should it be taken out for clarity? What does the connection need to complete the structure? Does the first draft of your poem have a narrative, a list, or another overall pattern that can serve as a string structure? Is it strong or weak? Is the narrative, list definition, or other pattern as strong and clear as you can make it? Like with prose, any clutter or noise needs to be pruned out so the pattern can be readily seen. Does the first draft of your poem have some areas where a string isn't strong enough to hold the poem together? Are there half-present connections or other strings that can be used to strengthen the poem? If you rearrange the material, can you discover a string that can be used, or put stanzas that have connections next to each other? In reviewing poetry, you could use the same considerations in analyzing someone else's poetry that you would use for analyzing your own first drafts (see the sections on reading and rewriting, above). When you write the review, point out what you notice and make suggestions of any possibilities that you see.
Today's poems are about bridges.
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form  Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form Don't forget to support our sponsor! InstantPublisher.Com: Self publishing made easy and affordable. All file types accepted with many options. Starting at $100 for 25 copies in 7-10 days! Visit us today!  These comments were submitted in response to my previous editorial in "Poetry Newsletter (July 1, 2009)" on Stretching Limited Resources, on the principle of using structure when repeating rhymes. I appreciate all those who took the time to write in:Submitted By: fx777222999 Submitted Comment: Northernwrites, my first attempt in writing is poetry. I always used the Free Verse Form which I structured to my feelings and rhymes. Find it hard in some other forms of poetry writing. Today, your newsletter helps a lot with my poetry style. NW: I'm pleased the NL was useful for you. Submitted By: dougrainbow Submitted Comment: In my other life I enjoyed use of anagrams as a rhyme substitute. In "Lions' Lament" I wrote about two aging lions in a zoo. They were sorry that: We never had the COURAGE To attempt escape from OUR CAGE. Is this respectable or just a silly affectation? Doug NW: It depends on how the poet presents it. Putting the anagrams in all caps is like dressing them up in clown suits and blowing the aooga horn every time they appear. Drawing attention to them indicates that they are intended as a silly affectation. If they were kept unobtrusive like any other poetic or literary device and used only when they enrich the content, then they would be taken seriously. However, they have limited usefulness since having an anagram is not a universal attribute, and the anagram may not relate to what you want to say. Submitted By: storytime Submitted Comment: NW, another good lesson to be reread and studied by poets and reviewers of poetry. As a reviewer, I appreciate the simple, detailed examples. This is a great 'beginners guide to reviewing poetry' and the link will be saved. Thanks! NW: Thank you, and you're welcome. Submitted By: liseli Submitted Comment: Wow - detailed, helpful newsletter. I always save your newsletters for future reference - thank you so much for taking the time to make them so helpful. Cheers, Em NW: Thanks, and you're welcome. Submitted By: merryteri Submitted Comment: Very interesting and informative. You have such an extensive knowledge of poetry forms. I always dismayed at how many poems I see published in local newspapers and such that have exactly the same rhyming pattern. Its always abab. Oh well. NW: Thanks. That's probably because the abab rhyme scheme is the easiest quatrain pattern to work with. And also because no one submits anything different,  .Submitted By: shaara Submitted Comment: What a great job you did in writing this poetry newsletter! I really enjoyed your take on poetry. Great intro -- reduce, reuse, recycle. LOL But my favorite part was the concept of cross polination! Marvelous analogy. Brilliant! Thanks, Shaara NW: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Until our paths cross again, keep writing! northernwrites  To stop receiving this newsletter, go into your account and remove the check from the box beside the specific topic. Be sure to click "Complete Edit" or it will not save your changes. |
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