June 17 Poetry Newsletter

         Poetry may be formal and structured until it becomes unwelding and stiff. That doesn't mean that formal, structured poetry doesn't have its place, because it does.

         On the other hand some poetry becomes so loose and unformed, that it is nearly gibberish.
We need to find a way to use blank and free verse in a way that it is still poetry.

         Using blank verse and free verse correctly and effectively is one way to create beautiful poetry.

Vivian

Blank Verse and Free Verse

         Blank Verse and Free Verse are probably the most misunderstood and misused forms of poetry. Before we can use either correctly, we must first understand what they are and what they are not.

         Blank verse consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter (ten syllables with the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables accented). The form has generally been accepted as the best for dramatic verse in English and is commonly used for long poems whether dramatic, philosophical, or narrative.

         While blank verse appears easy to write, good blank verse demands more artistry and genius than most any other verse form. The freedom gained through the lack of rhyme is offset by the demands for required variety. Some ways of gaining that variety are as follows:

1. Shifting caesura, or pause, from place to place within the lines.

2. Shifting of the stress among syllables.

3. The use of stanzas to group thoughts together (like paragraphs in prose).

4. Variation in tonal qualities by changing diction from passage to passage.

5. Adaptation of the form to reproduction of differences in the speech of characters in dramatic and narrative verse and in differences of emotional expression.

6. The effective use of poetic devices.

         Blank verse is not any metrical unrhymed form of verse.


         Free Verse is poetry that is based on the irregular rhythmic cadence recurring, with variations of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter. In other words, free verse has no rhythm scheme or pattern. However, much poetic language and poetic devices are found in free verse.

         Rhyme may or may not be used in free verse, but, when rhyme is used, it is used with great freedom. In other words, free verse has no rhyme scheme or pattern.

         Free verse does not mean rhyme cannot be used, only that it must be used without any pattern.

Now We'll See

1. Read the example of blank verse below. Consider the meter and lack of rhyme.

2. Read the examples of free verse below. Consider the lack of rhythm scheme. Is there any rhythm? What? How? Consider any rhyme. Where rhyme is found, is there any pattern?

Now, Let's Try

1. Write a four to eight line poem in blank verse. Use the ways of varying the lines as found in the lecture, using at least three poetry devices besides caesura.

2. Write a four to eight line poem in free verse. Be sure to use at least four poetry devices.

Examples of Blank Verse and Free Verse

Blank verse:

from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

...bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements of yonder tower;
Or walk in thievish ways; or bid me lurk
Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears;
Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house,
O’er covered quite with dead men’s rattling bones,
With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave,
And hide me with a dead man and his shroud;

(Note: This section is also an excellent example of hyperbole.)


Free verse:

From Milton’s "Samson Agonistes"

But patience is more oft the exercise
Of Saints, the trial of their fortitude,
Making them each his own Deliver,
And Victor over all
That tyranny or fortune can inflict.


From Walt Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass"

All truths wait in all things,
They neither hasten their own delivery nor resist it,
They do not need the obstetric forceps of the surgeon.


Free verse with rhyme

           The Storm
         by Vivian Gilbert Zabel

Lightning strikes as thunder roars
Sending war across the skies.
Blackness blankets light of night
Except when fire flashes bright,
Blinding eyes to truth, to right.
Tears of agony rain from irate clouds,
Which smother joy, bringing moans
Of pain, despair, distress,
Leaving open bleeding sores
That never can be healed
Until the battle ends
With God’s peace revealed.

Samples of Some of the Best on Writing.Com

I never thought finding examples of blank verse and free verse would be so hard. Much of what is labeled "blank verse" isn't, but I found two rather good poems to highlight.

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One needs to read the whole poem to get the impact of this poem. It's a tale, an epic, that only needs some help with pronoun reference.

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"Dad misses stories that you read to him."


I'm sure there are more poems written in free verse than what's listed. However, I chose three that give a variety of styles.

A Thunderstorm On A Muggy June Night  (E) A free verse poem about a thunderstorm. #854488 by Harry

"Like flashes of enemy artillery
silently lightning up the far horizon
for brief instances during war"

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #850797 by Not Available.

Since this is a poem that should be read completely for the impact, I'll let you read it for yourself.

Innocence  (E) Innocence and life realized #579844 by Octobers Lie

"Innocence so sweet
In a world
With no peace.

Feedback and Replies

         I appreciate any and all feedback, whether the comments are complimentary or not. We can learn from questions and critical comments.

Submitted by:reokie13

Can you please tell me how to overcome writer's block?
I am 16. I used to write a lot of stories. now I can write hardly a poem. please help.

I break my momentary block by reading. Also if you carry a small notebook with you, when you hear a word or phrase or sentence that catches your ear, you can write it down. Then when you can't think of what to write, look at the items in your notebook for inspiration and write.



Submitted by:Dr Taher writes again!

Dear Viv,

The poem you have written in the newsletter is a 3.5 in my opinion, as the rhyme needs working, and a 5-line para does not gel too well in a poem for kids.

Please do not mind the honest opinion.

I loved the newsletter though. You have given lovely tips on writing poems on children.

-Taher

Honest opinions are fine. I'm sorry you didn't care for the poem, but I tested "The Pretty Pebble" on at least ten children ages four through ten, and they loved it. Also the rhyme scheme is ababc, cdcde, and so on - the first and third lines and second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme. Then the last two lines, the couplet, rhyme. Since you don't say what kind of work the rhyme needs, I had to guess that you didn't catch the scheme used. If I'm mistaken, please let me know.

I'm glad you like the newsletter. I hope it helps.



Submitted by: Write-fully Loti

I really enjoyed The pretty Pebble. Cute poem and does illustrate what you wrote about. Also your advice on writing for children is very encompassing. Thanks for the tips.

Thank you. I try to make everything go together well enough to give some assistance.


Submitted by: roobear1

Hi Viv, excellent editorial! You wrote some great guidelines for a children's poem. I'll remember them the next time I wrote one. Roobear

AND

Submitted by:Octobers Lie

An absolutely wonderful newsletter, Viv. Such a fantastic idea, and so many helpful tips.

I'm glad my guidelines will come in handy. Children do deserve the best we can give, not just whatever we "slop" together.


Submitted by: carole610

Rhyming vs prose - I tend to sway one way, then the other. For some reason I feel light-hearted and free as I write without rhyming. Then, on the other hand, I find it a great challenge to rhyme and be playful with it. There are those times when a prompt (that usually does it)draws on my deep inner thoughts begging to be expressed. It actually relieves my mind to "get it all out". Thank you for adding my children's poetry to your very, very imformative/helpful newsletter.

Dream

Hmmm . . . Prose is any writing that is not poetry. It is the writing in paragraphs, and the author is not trying to use poetic language and devices. Rhyming is just one device that can be (can be, doesn't have to be) found in poetry. Free verse is a type of poetry without a rhyme scheme (but can have "some" rhyming but without a pattern, doesn't have to have any) and without a rhythm scheme or pattern. Blank verse is another type of poetry without rhyme - can't have any rhyme - but with a particular rhythm scheme of iambic pentameter. {c}



Submitted by: Lexi

Viv,
I think you chose a great topic and showed us how to create a children's poem successfully in this. I loved your poem, The Pretty Pebble. I also do not have any children's poetry, but after reading this newsletter I have to give it a shot! Thank you,
Lexi

Please do try your hand at children's poetry. We need more good material for children.

Until next time, read and write beautiful poetry.

Viv