Poetry
This week: Visual or Spatial Verse: Part Three Edited by: Red Writing Hood <3 More Newsletters By This Editor
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One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Every English poet should master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them.
Robert Graves (1895 - 1985)
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Visual or Spatial Verse: Formatting Poetry to Create Added Depth, Part Three: Geometric Forms
No matter how you format your poetry it creates a visual by the way you choose line lengths, syntax, punctuation, fonts, poem length, stanzas, etc. All these choices and more create a visual; however what I will explore in the next few months is the genre of shaped verse that creates a particular visual for the reader—meshing art and the written word. Today I will share some geometric forms.
Circlet
The circlet is a poetry form that when centered creates a poem in a shape reminiscent of a circle.
MUST HAVES
--Line count: 10
--Number of stanzas: 2, unless it’s a chain of circlets.
--Meter: Syllabic - in the following counts: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10; 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
--Rhyme: a, b, c, d, e; e, d, c, b, a. NOTE: The last line is simply the first line repeated.
COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?
--Topic/theme.
Cyclus
This poetry form, when centered, creates a poem that looks like two circles stacked on one another. I also thought it kind of looked like an hourglass or, if you tilt your head, like a bar bell.
MUST HAVES
--Line count: 12
--Meter: Syllabic, and in the following order: 2, 4, 6, 6, 4, 2, 2, 4, 6, 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.
Trianglet
This form will create a triangle-like shape when either left or right aligned.
MUST HAVES
--Line count: 10
--Number of stanzas: 1, unless creating a trianglet chain
--Meter: syllabic. The syllable count is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
--Rhyme: a, b, c, d, e, e, f, c, b, a. NOTE: This form also has a repetition of the first line as the last line.
COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET’S CHOICE IN ALL THIS?
--Topic/theme.
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.
SOURCE NOTES:
Berg, V. J. (1977). Pathways for the poet: poetry patterns explained and illustrated. Milford, MI: Mott Media.
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Theme: Circlets, trianglet, and other geometric forms.
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