 Poetry: April 30, 2008 Issue [#2370] |
  Poetry
This week: Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3  
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I intended to do this newsletter on sad poems, but that all changed when I won a local art gallery poetry writing contest with a silly, fun poem. I simply was not in the mood for sad! *still dancing and squealing*
This is also a reminder not to forget the local contests. It was a great ego boost and the payoff, while not immense, was good for a poetry submission.
Red Writing Hood <3
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Laugh Lines - Comedy Genre Poetry Forms ~ PART 1 - Nutty Nonsense
Whether you've got them, in denial about them, or way too young to care about them, I'm not talking about those crinkly crow's feet that grow around your eyes, or the grooves around your mouth. While laughter may be the cause of those lines, we really will be talking about various poetry forms that start snickers: those that fall into the comedy genre.
The forms I will talk about first are sometimes equated with nonsense poetry. In fact, many are used when creating poetry for children. While creating depth is essential in all poetry, it must go to the back of the line and allow meter, music, and rhythm be at the head of the class for these poetry forms.
Macaronic Verse
The Italian born Macaronic Verse is a poem "consisting of a mixture of languages" (Quinion). This poetry form is firmly in the comedy genre, but poetic license means you can try to deviate from traditional witty jesting.
BRIEF HISTORY
This type of poetry has been around for over five hundred years, and the name was the invention of Teofilo Folengo. "The form was first written by Tisi degli Odassi" one hundred years before Folengo created the name for it (Macaronic Poetic Form).
MUST HAVES
*Two languages - or one of the variations listed below.
*Comedy Genre - while I've seen nothing that says it must, this form seems to fit into comedy best.
COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?
*Rhyme or not.
*Use of meter, and what type of meter, if used - with this type of poetry the rhythm and rhyme tend to be important elements.
*Length, although to carry on to considerable length, might strain your reader, depending on the amount of the second language used.
OF NOTE
Variations:
What if you don't know two languages, and don't have time to do the research necessary to create something with another language? You could try some of the suggestions in The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms by Ron Padgett. He proposes using "different kinds of one language, such as the language of a textbook mixed with the language of people talking, or what your friends say mixed with what your parents say, or phrases from the newspaper intermingled with your own thoughts about love" (Padgett 109).
~*~
Nonsense Verse
Defined in Merriam Webster, Nonsense Verse is "humorous or whimsical verse that features absurd characters and actions and often contains evocative but meaningless [made up] words" (Entry: Nonsense Verse). Most of you will have read The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll (I think I read it in Middle School). If you haven't I suggest you look into reading it soon. My son hates reading *gasp*, but loves quoting that poem.
MUST HAVES
*Made up words (often silly) included in the poem, how many (it can be a few to the entire poem), and where are up to you, or the variation described below.
*Comedy Genre - while I've seen nothing that says it must, because of the silly words, this form seems to fit into comedy best.
COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?
*How many and where you put your made up words.
*Rhyme or not.
*Use of meter, and what type of meter, if used - just like with the Macaronic Verse, with this type of poetry the rhythm and rhyme tend to be important elements.
*Length, although to carry on to considerable length, might strain your reader, depending on the amount of the second language used.
~*~
Limericks
If I said, "There was a young lady from" - how many of you would yell out "Nantucket" (or groan) before I said it? Limericks are a well known nonsense poetry form. They can range from innocent fun to raunchy and racy, and it would be a challenge to create anything but comedy with this form.
BRIEF HISTORY
While they weren't called limericks at the time, "variants of this form dating as far back as the fourteenth century are found in English nursery rhymes and animal-warning poems" (Rusche). Eventually, they morphed into a bawdy bar game.
About two hundred years ago, an artist named Edward Lear "produced A Book of Nonsense, which is full of limericks and illustrations, for the Earl [of Derby's] grandchildren in 1846" (Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense).
Here is an example of one of Edward Lear's limericks:
There was an Old Man who supposed,
That the street door was partially closed;
But some very large rats,
Ate his coats and his hats,
While that futile old gentleman dozed.
Source: http://www.poetry-online.org/limericks.htm
MUST HAVES
*Anapest meter (if you have trouble with meter, try: 8, 8, 5, 5, 8 syllables)
*AABBA rhyme scheme
COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?
*While many limericks begin with: "There was or there once was," it is not required to do so.
*Again, it doesn't need to be in the comedy genre, but I can't imagine one that was not. Stick with the funny stuff, or consider it a challenge to create one that isn't.
~*~
ARTICLE SOURCE NOTES:
"Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: There Once Was...." EDSITEment. 29 Apr 2008 <http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=403>.
"Entry: Nonsense Verse." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 28 Apr 2008 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonsense+verse>.
Padgett, Ron. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. 2nd. NY: T & W Books, 2000.
"Macaronic Poetic Form" Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 28 Apr 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/353660/macaronic>.
Quinion, Michael. "Macaronic." World Wide Words. 28 Apr 2008 <http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-wei1.htm>.
Rusche, Harry. "‘There Once Was a Man From Nantucket': The Limerick." Modern & Contemporary American Poetry. 18 July 2007. University of Pennsylvania. 29 Apr 2008 <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/limerick.html>.
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Theme: Comedy Poetry
Nonsense Verse:
Limericks:
Comical Poems:
Not within the theme but recommended by others: (this is a new section I am trying out, I want to feature some work that was: not only noticed, but recommended by other people through the feedback section - not by the author themselves. This doesn't mean that you can't still send your own work in the feedback section, please do because we want to see it. However, I want to highlight some work that people who don't know the author, but thought enough of the work to recommend it to me.)
Submitted By: Starr* Rathburn 
Submitted Comment:
A gorgeous poem that simply cries out to be shared. I hadn't seen this writer before, but if all his work is like this one, you'll want to visit his port.
Cordially,
Starr*R
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Have a question, answer, problem, solution, tip, trick, cheer, jeer, or extra million lying around?
If so, send it through the feedback section at the bottom of this newsletter OR click the little envelope next to my name Red Writing Hood <3 and send it through email.
Comments on last month's newsletter:
Submitted By: flex
Submitted Item: "Invalid Item"
Submitted Comment:
Thank you for the newsletter highlighting Didactic poetry. I think it is a good tool as a narrative device for historical/cultural informative poetry. As a child I relied heavily on some pretty educational rhymes, and as an adult I still follow some of the 13+ rated poems of my youth!
Submitted By: sjluke
Submitted Comment:
Dear Red Writing Hood:
I know this reply is late,
But with my lack of time,
I could set no date.
Thank you for your words.
Submitted By: Judy_is_an_Aspiring_Poet
Submitted Comment:
This newsletter is very good - it is informative and teaches a lot.
Submitted By: black_wolf
Submitted Comment:
There is a group of didactic poems that you missed in your otherwise excellent newsletter. (And it is an excellent newsletter) These poems are the Psalms. By their very nature they are instructive and also poetic. Probably the best example would be Psalm 119. It is broken up into 22 sections of 8 verses each. In each section the first word of each verse starts with the same Hebrew letter. The groups are arranged in such a way so that the first group starts with the first Hebrew letter, the second group, the second letter, etc. The instruction is concerning various attributes associated with God's Word. Thomas Manton's three volume commentary is devoted entirely to this one Psalm.
Thank you for pointing that out. The Psalms are an excellent example of didactic poetry. 
Thank you all for your comments, I enjoy seeing each and every one of them, and they are what keep me devoted to writing quality articles. Keep 'em coming!
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