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Poetry: January 22, 2014 Issue [#6120]

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Poetry


 This week: The Blason & Contre-blason poetry forms
  Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3 Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

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

About This Newsletter



“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”

Robert Frost




“Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite expressions.”

Joseph Roux (1725-1793)





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Letter from the editor



The Blason & Contre-blason Poetry Forms: A Brief History and How-to



The winter holidays and New Year are behind us and around the corner will soon be the holiday for love: Valentine’s Day. There are those emphatically for and against this holiday of love. The blason and contre-blason are poetry forms for whichever side you fall. If you stand in the middle, then you’ll have to create your own form for the occasion. :P


Blason or Blazon

The blason and contre-blason are the yin and yang poetry forms for strong emotions. They are similar to the list poetry form in that they describe a list of the wonderful things about the one that is loved (blason) or a list of the awful things about the one that is despised (contre-blason). the po.e.try dic.tion.ar.y goes on to say, “concluding with an epigram, on a theme of praise or blame” (Drury, 42). While mentioning epigram suggests utilizing comedy or satire, feel free to be sincere with your love list and praise.


BRIEF HISTORY

This French form is around five centuries old.


MUST HAVES

--Topic: Love. Must list the things loved about the subject of the poem.


COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?

--Line count is up to you, but is usually not lengthy.

--Meter: Your choice, but 8-10 syllable lines are often selected.

--Number of stanzas.

--Rhyme or not, it’s up to you.


Contre-Blason or contre-blazon

As mentioned above, the contre-blason is the polar opposite of the blason. Instead of a list of things loved about the subject of the poem, it is a list of the horrible things hated, and then ends with a comical/satirical or serious theme of blame for the hated.


MUST HAVES

--Topic: Hate. Must list the things hated about the subject of the poem.


COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?

--Line count is up to you, but is usually not lengthy.

--Meter: Your choice, but 8-10 syllable lines are often selected.

--Number of stanzas.

--Rhyme or not, it’s up to you.


OF NOTE:

The obvious subjects of these types of poems would be people; however there are many things other than people that are loved or hated. These would be great forms to practice exploring this. The beginnings of this poetry form “may be seen as a male inventory of the female body” (New Princeton, 142). We can utilize this poetry form to go beyond this simple, and to some, sexist listing, and give it depth regardless if you go for serious or satire.


SOURCE NOTES:

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Edited by Ales Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan. 1993.
Drury, John. the po.e.try dic.tion.ar.y. 2nd edition. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2006. Print.



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Editor's Picks



Theme: Love/hate poems.

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my love/hate relationship with Summer
by J. Andrew Lockhart Author Icon

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by A Guest Visitor

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by A Guest Visitor


 
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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 Author IconMail Icon and send it through email.


Comments on last month's newsletter:


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Comment: Thank you for your newsletter and the education 'tho I will forget it before I get it written down, Happy New Year.


That's why I utilize the printer or cut and paste into a word document :D Thank you for your feedback. Keep it coming!



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