Someone teach me poetry! Adrian, Louis, Banqou!

[HoreTore]

Or anyone else who might know of such things...

Now, i don't need help with words or anything like that, my question is rather simple:

How do you make the "rhythm" of the poem? How long should the lines be, how should the rhymes be constructed for a poem?

Think a small one, say 5 lines if that helps...

For those who may be wondering, yes, this is related to my previous thread...

[KukriKhan]

I'm no poet. Simple poem forms often not only rhyme, but repeat the number of syllables:

Willie, with a taste for gore (7 syllables)
Nailed his sister to the door (7 syllables)
His mother said, with humour quaint (8 syllables)
"Now Willie, dear, don't scratch the paint." (8 syllables)

The other guys you called on can get more into the 'art' of poetry.

[Adrian II]

Or anyone else who might know of such things...

Now, i don't need help with words or anything like that, my question is rather simple:

How do you make the "rhythm" of the poem? How long should the lines be, how should the rhymes be constructed for a poem?

Think a small one, say 5 lines if that helps...

For those who may be wondering, yes, this is related to my previous thread...

Sample one hundred classic haiku's (from the Web or from a book or whatever) and read them time and again. They don't rhyme, they are made of pure rhythm and imagery.

[Fragony]

Bad start;

"Someone teach me poetry! Adrian, Banquo, Louis!"

[KukriKhan]

Bad start;

"Someone teach me poetry! Adrian, Banquo, Louis!"

But not horrible; they're both 7 syllable phrases. To make them rythmic, maybe change the order a bit:

Someone teach me poetry
Banquo, A-dri-an, Louie!
for I fear
I have no Peer
in lack of rhyming acu'ty

See? You can cheat, too: cutting words up (like 'acu'ty' for acuity) to complete the rhythm. The "rules" are very loose.

[naut]

See? You can cheat, too: cutting words up (like 'acu'ty' for acuity) to complete the rhythm. The "rules" are very loose.

Don't go overboard though, it has to be readable too.

[KukriKhan]

Don't go overboard though, it has to be readable too. Reminds me of anything I wrote 3-4 years ago.

Yup. If language (and specifically: English) were an automobile, I'd be just a word-mechanic, compared to you other guys: word-engineers, word-craftsmen, and word-designers.

[HoreTore]

Remember that you're talking to a commie here, Adrian...

Poetry isn't a commie thing. It seems like that also includes trying to search for forms of poetry on the internet...

[PershsNhpios]

I started a thread in hindsight,
Of poetry for those with minds bright,
It's long since dead,
But it can be said,
That a man from it can learn, quite!

[Adrian II]

Someone teach me poetry
Banquo, A-dri-an, Louie!
for I fear
I have no Peer
in lack of rhyming acu'ty

There once was a fine moderator
Whose rhyme was of an uncertain nature.
He said ‘What the heck,
Adrian covers my back,
He’ll slap it into a limerick later’

Remember that you're talking to a commie here, Adrian...

Watch me.

Proletarians
Wrestling in the virgin snow
Class conscious snowballs

Arrianu-san, 2008

[Rhyfelwyr]

Proletarians
Wrestling in the virgin snow
Class conscious snowballs

Arrianu-san, 2008

That brought a tear to my eye.

My poetry always rhymed, but the teacher never liked it.

[LeftEyeNine]

You can waste your being an artist if you don't practice your skills. But you can not make yourself one by trying hard.

[HoreTore]

You can waste your being an artist if you don't practice you skills. But you can not make yourself one by trying hard.

Hey, I'm not talking about becoming a master here!

Just being able to a little...

[naut]

Poetry isn't easy, and if it was, well no one would write it anyway.

But, seriously, you can't as such "learn" poetry like you can bio-mechanics or something. It dwells in the realm of feeling and intuition. I couldn't give you a method or anything, but I'll try to point you in a helpful direction.

- Have a theme in mind (you've got that already)
- Find a quiet place to observe some happens, go for a walk in the woods, eavesdrop some conversations, etc; anything to get those creative juices flowing
- Read poems, decide what type of poem is suitable
- Then it comes down to simply writing, don't worry if it's not great at first, everybody's gotta start somewhere, just write and write and write, write down stuff that comes to your head, write down cute/witty phrases, write down words you've never heard before (that's what Roget is for)

For example:
And as I watch the angel flutter free,
To grasp ever, at what shall never be.

You get the idea.