deepundergroundpoetry.com
Is Rhyming Dead?
Is rhyming dead? And is it thus that all
Who write in ancient forms should be accursed?
And are they right who tell us they're appalled
By poets whose sad verses, long or terse
Insist upon the dragging out of feet,
Trochaic or iambic, by the score?
And should we cease to listen to the beat
Of archaic bards who dwell beyond Time's door?
But nay, I'll none of that; 'twould be a curse.
By He who dwelleth in Heav'n's golden halls
We'll swipe the mad proponents of free-verse
And grab those silly jesters by their balls.
If this shall not be done upon them soon
I'll dance full naked underneath the moon.
Who write in ancient forms should be accursed?
And are they right who tell us they're appalled
By poets whose sad verses, long or terse
Insist upon the dragging out of feet,
Trochaic or iambic, by the score?
And should we cease to listen to the beat
Of archaic bards who dwell beyond Time's door?
But nay, I'll none of that; 'twould be a curse.
By He who dwelleth in Heav'n's golden halls
We'll swipe the mad proponents of free-verse
And grab those silly jesters by their balls.
If this shall not be done upon them soon
I'll dance full naked underneath the moon.
Published 2nd Jun 2011
| Edited 3rd Jun 2011
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Commenting Preference:
2nd Jun 2011 9:00pm
You do realise that there are those who'd deliberately support the freeversers just to see naked moon dancing? This is a terrific commentary. I do lose the iambs in L8 and I was going to suggest just substituting "ancient" for "archaic", but of course you have "ancient" in L2 -- you could possibly change L2 to "Who write archaic forms should be accursed" if you felt like a bit of editing. Also, L10 is a bit of a mouthful and it wouldn't hurt to use "dwells" instead, with no elision in "Heaven".
This is terrific fun to read, thank you.
This is terrific fun to read, thank you.
3rd Jun 2011 11:45am
Thank you for your kind words about my poem. Nonetheless, I have to say that I feel that you are being a little pedantic here...and I rather feel Halle and Keyser would too, lol. I only mention it because my purpose was not to call others to a rigid slavery to old verse forms. Indeed , it could be argued that the skill in using such forms consists partly in the use of variation, rather than in a slavish obedience to the rules (provided one doesn't go too far). Shakespeare himself used lots of variation, as did (and do) many other poets. Consider Donne's line:
“That I may rise and stand o'er throw me and bend”
There are, of course, endless debates regarding which variations are acceptable and which are not. At any rate, my purpose was not to condemn the use of so-called “free verse” but simply to suggest that perhaps we should not abandon the traditional forms, as some wish to do, thereby losing a centuries-old and very rich heritage. What does trouble me is the tendency in some quarters today simply to write bad prose, and to glorify it with the name of “poetry”, just as many people today glorify an unmade bed or a cow chopped in half with the name of Art.
Of course, to make any sort of criticism of poetry (or Art) is to open oneself up to attack, and it all becomes very subjective.
Once again, thank you for your comments.
“That I may rise and stand o'er throw me and bend”
There are, of course, endless debates regarding which variations are acceptable and which are not. At any rate, my purpose was not to condemn the use of so-called “free verse” but simply to suggest that perhaps we should not abandon the traditional forms, as some wish to do, thereby losing a centuries-old and very rich heritage. What does trouble me is the tendency in some quarters today simply to write bad prose, and to glorify it with the name of “poetry”, just as many people today glorify an unmade bed or a cow chopped in half with the name of Art.
Of course, to make any sort of criticism of poetry (or Art) is to open oneself up to attack, and it all becomes very subjective.
Once again, thank you for your comments.
3rd Jun 2011 8:07pm
It is interesting that you mention Halle & Keyser. Neither they nor traditional meterists advocate a complete shift of stress to a weak syllable or false elision of a word that is three distinct syllables. Variations are well and good, but the feet ought to remain intact and not sound artificial or forced.
3rd Jun 2011 11:49pm
I did not claim that Halle and Keyser “advocated” what I had done; I merely stated that, in my opinion, they would see you as pedantic. My poem had a particular purpose: to suggest that we shouldn't abandon traditional verse forms and, as the title makes plain, was aimed particularly at rhyme. It was meant to be humorous, and indeed to poke fun at itself, as can be seen in the line, “By He who dwelleth in Heav'n's golden halls” which is deliberately pompous and archaic.
Your pedantry is well illustrated by DG Rossetti's Sonnet , particularly the two lines:
Memorial from the soul's eternity
and:
Of its own intricate fulness reverent (which equates to my line 8)
You make ill-informed black-and -white absolute statements to justify your unimaginative , pompous and over -serious approach. I realize I asked for critique, but critique doesn't mean you should rewrite someone else's poem. I wouldn't have minded at all if you had said that in your opinion it was rubbish (I certainly don't take myself at all seriously as a poet); it's your patronizing school-teacher attitude that gets on my tits.
Your pedantry is well illustrated by DG Rossetti's Sonnet , particularly the two lines:
Memorial from the soul's eternity
and:
Of its own intricate fulness reverent (which equates to my line 8)
You make ill-informed black-and -white absolute statements to justify your unimaginative , pompous and over -serious approach. I realize I asked for critique, but critique doesn't mean you should rewrite someone else's poem. I wouldn't have minded at all if you had said that in your opinion it was rubbish (I certainly don't take myself at all seriously as a poet); it's your patronizing school-teacher attitude that gets on my tits.
