Flow: As a general portion of your review, this could include the meter and much more, but I think that it's very important just to give your thoughts about the flow. Did you feel yourself re-reading things? If punctuation is present, was it consistent; If it isn't, do you feel that the addition of punctuation would make it easier for you interpret when to take a short (comma) pause versus a complete (period) pause? Did you think that the line-breaks made the flow a bit bumpy? Flow is very important in a poem because, well, let's face it: If the flow is bumpy and you can't find a rhythm while reading, you're probably going to click out of that poem before you even think about reviewing it.

Form: If the poem is written in a specific form or includes rhymes, how well did they stick to that form? Did the rhymes feel “forced” or just not quite seem to rhyme with each other as you read the poem? Did you feel a line was too long or short? Was there a consistent syllable count throughout but one line had an extra missing beat? The amount of existing poetry forms is overwhelming and no one can be expected to memorize them all, but, if they mention which form them used within the item, it couldn't hurt just to look it up to see how well they handled it. If it's not listed but you notice a pattern within the writing, it might just be a form that you've never heard of... Why not ask and just comment about the pattern that you noticed??? (I realize that this is very much akin to flow and I usually pair them together, but I really wanted to make sure that I mentioned them separately to show the difference since, if you're reading a free verse poem, the flow means a lot more than the form.). As an added note: When writing poetry in a specific form, it's always appreciated by the reader if you include a link or simple explanation within your item of the form so that reviewers will have more understanding of the restrictions confining your words (or meter inspiring your words) before they offer critique.

Emotion and/or Imagery: I usually couple these together as some poems are extremely emotional and others focus primarily on creating a vision or scene. Of course, both can be found in all poems: An emotional poem may have reader-driven imagery in which memories/scenes from the reader's own life become the imagery or a visual poem may create such a scene that seeing it with your mind's eye completely changes your mood due to the emotions brought on by what you see. If it falls short on one of these or one doesn't make the other seem present, then it's definitely something to note since poetry should always make you feel, see, or think.

Question: Can I still review a poem even if I don't feel qualified or don't write poetry? from ~Vikki~

Question: Do you know how many different ways of writing poetry there are? from Angelica Weatherby-Star on top