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On Poetic Forms, Nr.03 (Free Verse: Theory and Practice)
FREE VERSE - THE THEORY
This is a poem!
Having put this thought
into your mind
you will read it as such.
If it were just a paragraph
in a newspaper
you would not think
as much
of it.
But
hallucinating
with the thought: ‘poem’ -
you will read it
more favourably.
None of this implies
it is of necessity
a good poem.
The comments below
will show
if this a true poem …
or not.
FREE VERSE - THE PRACTICE
Not Flattened
When the world was flat,
a disc where ships tipped over the edge
and “trespassers will be prosecuted”
had not yet been invented
for no-one thought of owning the earth
though strangely owning slaves was considered god-ordained,
We Walked With Nature,
the future a fervent invocation
and our pasts five paces behind
like an obedient sheep-dog
nudging the shuffling travellers
to keep moving on,
keep moving on,
keep moving on …
Published 8th Dec 2018
| Edited 21st Oct 2023
Author's Note
Number 3 in a series on Poetic Forms, including both Theory and Practice. The first poem uses the form itself to explain the 'Theory' of the form. The second poem uses the form as a random 'Practice' example. (On Poetic Forms 1 & 2, covered Quaterns and Limericks).
On Poetic Forms, Nr.02 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/328677-on-limericks-a-limerick/
On Poetic Forms, Nr.04 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/329771-on-triolets-2-triolets---theory/
On Poetic Forms, Nr.02 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/328677-on-limericks-a-limerick/
On Poetic Forms, Nr.04 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/329771-on-triolets-2-triolets---theory/
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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The author encourages honest critique.
8th Dec 2018 6:32pm
8th Dec 2018 10:48pm
I hadn't thought of it the way you pen it. I love the way things get either 'lost in translation', or triggering such differing responses. Thank you. :))
Anonymous
8th Dec 2018 7:50pm
Collective hypnosis! It is a fact that suggestion can overtake reason. Very good job dear Josh! J
8th Dec 2018 10:54pm
Thank you J for reading and commenting again.
Yes, religion has long since played a big part in collective hypnosis - and in modern-times it's via the media, where it was first used to great effect in the lead-up to WW1, turning a nation of generally peace-loving Brits into German-hating folk who couldn't wait to rush off to the trenches and "have a crack at Gerry". Ironic that the queen, both her parents, and all four grand-parents were all German.
Yes, religion has long since played a big part in collective hypnosis - and in modern-times it's via the media, where it was first used to great effect in the lead-up to WW1, turning a nation of generally peace-loving Brits into German-hating folk who couldn't wait to rush off to the trenches and "have a crack at Gerry". Ironic that the queen, both her parents, and all four grand-parents were all German.
Anonymous
8th Dec 2018 11:17pm
Indeed. But she is much more open minded towards us Europeans than many. You are truly deep in all your writes my friend. J
8th Dec 2018 8:53pm
8th Dec 2018 10:56pm
Thank you again, Ahavati. I'm currently struggling with the next one on my list 'On villanelles' which I thought would be relatively easy - no such luck. :))
When it's a poem...
you can feel it...
and it doesn't have to rhyme...
though it might...
at times...
but it will have a rhythm...
even though it doesn't rhyme...
and that rhythm keeps it going
That can make a poem, no?
But that's what I think and that's what I feel...
and I'm not you...
and I think if you think that it's a poem...
then it's a poem...at least for you. Ely
you can feel it...
and it doesn't have to rhyme...
though it might...
at times...
but it will have a rhythm...
even though it doesn't rhyme...
and that rhythm keeps it going
That can make a poem, no?
But that's what I think and that's what I feel...
and I'm not you...
and I think if you think that it's a poem...
then it's a poem...at least for you. Ely
8th Dec 2018 11:01pm
If the writer has written it with 'poem' in mind, and the writer is also being true to themselves in their writing, then I guess the onus is on those who would prove it is not a poem. Of course, like I noted, this has nothing to do with whether it's a good or bad poem. Thank you for reading again. Have a nice evening out West in Mexico - it's near bedtime for us here.
poetry versus prose, eh ?
I doubt it's a matter of form at all,
but just another of those unanswerable
questions that will plague us
until we die.
auden once described poetry as
memorable words, although I'd be just as content
were he describing a piece of prose ..
I doubt it's a matter of form at all,
but just another of those unanswerable
questions that will plague us
until we die.
auden once described poetry as
memorable words, although I'd be just as content
were he describing a piece of prose ..
8th Dec 2018 11:30pm
It's true - the plague gets to us in the end;
but if we knew all the answers, we wouldn't be here in the first place.
Other than that (re your latest posting "why I write") it keeps us off the booze. :))
but if we knew all the answers, we wouldn't be here in the first place.
Other than that (re your latest posting "why I write") it keeps us off the booze. :))
8th Dec 2018 11:52pm
A very clever write, Josh. I admire your sampling of various styles. Free verse, to me, is the most difficult. I keep lapsing into rhythm and rhyme. There's actually a psychological term for this: "compulsive rhyme syndrome," if I'm not mistaken. I've got it and it's hard to shake. On the other hand you experiment, and that takes some courage. This, my friend, is a true poem.
Thank you again Crowfly. I find free verse is the hardest to do well (by 'well' meaning I feel it is o.k by me for me to put it out - hugely subjective of course. At least poems restricted to a form give one some yardstick of measure).
I think I'm like you in that I tend to "hear" rhythm and rhyme easily and therefore am blessed/cursed with 'compulsive rhyme syndrome' as my default approach.
Hope to post "On Triolets" later this evening. :))
I think I'm like you in that I tend to "hear" rhythm and rhyme easily and therefore am blessed/cursed with 'compulsive rhyme syndrome' as my default approach.
Hope to post "On Triolets" later this evening. :))
9th Dec 2018 1:35am
I read it as a poem despite the telepathic voodoo that you do.
Is it poetic? That will decide if it is a good or bad poem. And I personally think it is, because it has an internal logic that ties it altogether.
A bad poem is random and pointless verse, free or formed.
Is it poetic? That will decide if it is a good or bad poem. And I personally think it is, because it has an internal logic that ties it altogether.
A bad poem is random and pointless verse, free or formed.
9th Dec 2018 5:52pm
That's a couple of very good points you've made; thank you.
(I shall add 'telepathic voodoo' to my internal vocab of interesting phrases). :))
(I shall add 'telepathic voodoo' to my internal vocab of interesting phrases). :))
thought-provoking verses, & certainly i do not want to get into the definitions or standards of what a poem is or a free verse or any other is..neither do i need to hear it from any..its the words , its even in their dots or gaps or silence...even if its a voluminous write off in pages or just a single short verse...poem is a poem is a poem ..n a bleeding heartmindsoul in all its artistic elegance would feel the sync with any such art written or read or listened or imbibed in any form...its #juzme this lunatic repititive soul:) & yes, could feel your brimming poetics in this piece sure, however freeform & watever words you use..the essence is wat needs to be felt, in sync.
wen you mention newspaper paras, I am reminded to add this too...had been struck how poetic it feels from even many newspaper columns & random articles gone through..it reflects on our sync, our disposition, the inexplicabilities as such...that makes this miraculous micromacrocosmos perhaps. #juzme again:)
write on shine on poet, thanks for the read!
wen you mention newspaper paras, I am reminded to add this too...had been struck how poetic it feels from even many newspaper columns & random articles gone through..it reflects on our sync, our disposition, the inexplicabilities as such...that makes this miraculous micromacrocosmos perhaps. #juzme again:)
write on shine on poet, thanks for the read!
9th Dec 2018 6:10pm
Thank you Uma for the extensive comment.
A lot of research has been done on 'sound and cognition', used in the music industry to make a pop-song which people easily 'tune into' brain-wise (and then buy). Ditto with the use of words/symbols and swaying public opinion as done by media/politicians.
Thinking of the responsibility of poets in their handling of words, I've been reading recently about 'poets on poetry'. An interesting point is made by Coleridge that good poems can create a "medicated atmosphere" for the reader, which can "act powerfully" like a hidden catalyst - for the benefit of the reader. It is this possibility of poetry as a healing force that, I think, ultimately fascinates me. I think this might tie in with the gist of some of your comments.
Thank you again.
A lot of research has been done on 'sound and cognition', used in the music industry to make a pop-song which people easily 'tune into' brain-wise (and then buy). Ditto with the use of words/symbols and swaying public opinion as done by media/politicians.
Thinking of the responsibility of poets in their handling of words, I've been reading recently about 'poets on poetry'. An interesting point is made by Coleridge that good poems can create a "medicated atmosphere" for the reader, which can "act powerfully" like a hidden catalyst - for the benefit of the reader. It is this possibility of poetry as a healing force that, I think, ultimately fascinates me. I think this might tie in with the gist of some of your comments.
Thank you again.
9th Dec 2018 10:21am
I've quoted this in DUP before; it seems apt now,
"Poetry is an idea which exceeds the sum total of all poems ever written, but which cannot be adequately defined and ‘Poem’ is the name given to a text as the result of a learnt reading practice which recognise a text as a poem and associates it with ‘Poetry’," from here ... https://ladygodivaandme.blogspot.com/2017/12/christopher-cannons-grounds-of-english.html
"Poetry is an idea which exceeds the sum total of all poems ever written, but which cannot be adequately defined and ‘Poem’ is the name given to a text as the result of a learnt reading practice which recognise a text as a poem and associates it with ‘Poetry’," from here ... https://ladygodivaandme.blogspot.com/2017/12/christopher-cannons-grounds-of-english.html
9th Dec 2018 6:17pm
Hi AB, thank you for the quote - I shall add it to my slowly-growing list of quotes on poetry.
I just finished reading (for the second time) Peter Sansom's "Writing Poems" (Bloodaxe Books, 1996, revised 2007). I can highly recommend it if you're in the market to buy a Christmas presi for yourself. :))
I just finished reading (for the second time) Peter Sansom's "Writing Poems" (Bloodaxe Books, 1996, revised 2007). I can highly recommend it if you're in the market to buy a Christmas presi for yourself. :))
9th Dec 2018 8:15pm
9th Dec 2018 9:23pm
Oh, and another thing. Although I'm quite a fan of Pound, I appreciate others are not. Since he was a modernist, here's what John Dolan has to say about him in the Exile - quite amusing if you've read the Cantos -
"And if the sentimentality and the rip-offs were wearing thin, he’d squirt a cloud of squid ink by coughing a bunch of phlegm in the original Greek or Chinese right onto the page, and if you didn’t like it you were a bumpkin. I always wanted to hand in an essay on Pound translated into Old Kingdom hieroglyphics, and if the prof. didn’t like it I’d look astonished and a little scandalized and mumble, “You don’t read ancient Egyptian?”"
http://exiledonline.com/mono-highbrow-a-lowbrow-critique/all/1/
"And if the sentimentality and the rip-offs were wearing thin, he’d squirt a cloud of squid ink by coughing a bunch of phlegm in the original Greek or Chinese right onto the page, and if you didn’t like it you were a bumpkin. I always wanted to hand in an essay on Pound translated into Old Kingdom hieroglyphics, and if the prof. didn’t like it I’d look astonished and a little scandalized and mumble, “You don’t read ancient Egyptian?”"
http://exiledonline.com/mono-highbrow-a-lowbrow-critique/all/1/
9th Dec 2018 10:08pm
Another lead to follow up in the never-ending quest of a doubting self-improver - thank you again.
