Poetry: February 14, 2018 Issue [#8753]
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Poetry


 This week: Visual or Spatial Verse Part Two
  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



"Every poem can be considered in two ways--as what the poet has to say, and as a thing which he makes..."

C. S. Lewis



" Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. "
T. S. Eliot




Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor




Visual or Spatial Verse: Formatting Poetry to Create Added Depth, Part Two: Butterfly Forms



No matter how you format your poetry it creates a visual by the way you choose your line lengths, syntax, punctuation, fonts, poem lenth, stanzas, etc. All these things and more create a visual; however what I will explore this year is the genre of shaped verse that creates a particular visual for the reader—meshing art and the written word. For the next few months I’ll share some specific shape forms. I’ll also discuss some things to keep in mind as you create this type of formatting. Today I will share some butterfly forms.

NOTE TO REMEMBER: One of the biggest pitfalls I see with this type of formatting is a great urge to create a visual that somehow this becomes the driving force and the poem suffers for it. Either the careful word choice is scrapped to make sure the specific shape is adhered to, or the use of metaphor and simile and other tools to create a depth of meaning are lacking because the focus was all about the shape. As in anything in life, the key is balance. Remember, you are creating a poem. Don’t let the formatting take over. Instead let it enhance and entrance the reader.



Calligram/Calligramme Butterfly


MUST HAVES

--Must use words to create a shape: Most calligrams connect the words with the shape in some way. In this case, the shape or outline of a butterfly.


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

--Topic/theme.

--Line count.

--Meter.

--Number of stanzas: any, although stanzas can be a tricky thing as you create your word picture.

--Rhyme or not, it’s up to you.




Butterfly Cinquain

When centered (and you tilt your head to the side) it resembles a butterfly. If it is left-aligned it resembles a profile of a butterfly.



MUST HAVES

--Line count: 9

--Meter: Syllabic, and in the following order: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 8, 6, 4, 2

--Number of stanzas 1, unless it’s a chain.

--Rhyme: they don’t usually rhyme



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

--Topic.




Oddquain Butterfly

Just like the butterfly cinquain, when centered (and you tilt your head to the side) it resembles a butterfly, and if it is left-aligned it resembles a profile of a butterfly.


MUST HAVES

--Line count: 9

--Number of stanzas: 1, unless creating an oddquain butterfly chain

--Meter: syllabic. The syllable count is 1/3/5/7/1/7/5/3/1.



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

--Topic/theme: shape will usually match this area.

--Rhyme or not, it’s up to you.



SOURCE NOTES:

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Edited by Ales Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan. 1993.

http://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/butterfly-cinquain/

https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/apollinaires-calligrammes-1918/

http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/oddquain.html

Turco, Lewis. The Book of Forms. 3rd. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2000.

Williams, Miller (1986). Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press.



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Editor's Picks



Theme: various butterfly forms

 Butterfly Kiss Open in new Window. [ASR]
A butterfly cinquain
by emerin-liseli Author Icon

 Caged Open in new Window. [ASR]
Butterfly Cinquain entry for Two Tales - A Contest, with short of the same name.
by M Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

 Morning Meditation Open in new Window. [E]
Butterfly Cinquain
by Prosperous Snow celebrating Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

Married in New York Open in new Window. [E]
A poem written in the Butterfly Form, written about a fond memory.
by Choconut Author Icon

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor



 
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Ask & Answer



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.

From: Lilli voted early.🧿 ☕ Author Icon
Comment: Excellent and very interesting!!! Will be fun to try some of these out!


Thanks! I'm glad you think so, and I'm glad you took the time to share your thoughts with me! Reading comments from newsletter readers makes me smile. *Delight*




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