Poetry 101: The Tools of the Trade (Class 1)

[Shasta Rana Wanderlust]

Throughout this column, I will refer to a poem of mine, "A Winter's Night." There is NO NEED for you to have read this, but if you do feel so inclined, please feel free.    For reference purposes, I have included it here.A winter's night, as cold as ice It warms me to the bone But as I sit and think a bit, I find I'm not alone It seems to me that those with me are cold as ice as well So they sit and freeze, screaming "Help us, please! Come save us from our Hell!" But that is them and this is me... ...I like this chilly state Why can't they just help themselves, instead of tempting fate? I burn and rave, with flaming waves and save them from their Hell But now I'm trapped alone within... ...come save me from my shell 1. ILL; FILL; BILL; KILL; SPILL; DILL; SWILL; MILL... ((RHYME))   Rhyming is all well and good, when you can get away with it.   You might have noticed that the last statement wasn't the brightest. Well, rhyming is a big pet peeve of mine, but only for the fact that so many people use it without it coming naturally.   There are specific times when rhyming is good (no doubt about it, there's quite a few good times), but don't force it. Forcing rhymes only sounds cheesy, and takes away the force from your power phrases (See Ch. 10 to learn what a power phrase is). What I mean is, when you force a rhyme, it detracts from the overall power and focus of your poem.   For instance, from "A Winter's Night":Quote:It seems to me that those with me are cold as ice as well So they sit and freeze, screaming "Help us, please! Come save us from our Hell!"    I could have probably (and should have, for that matter) found a better rhyme in here. Rhyming "me" with "me" in the first line was a bad choice. Why? Because repetition of sounds is a good thing, but repetition of words that close to each other makes the reader think you don't have a very large vocabulary. However, "freeze" and "please" makes a better rhyme, because it repeats a sound, but not a word. In fact, it's a similar sound from a different set of letters, which is something called a "near rhyme."   Now, there are those of you going "Wait! Rhyming only occurs at the end of lines!" No, my friend, it is here that you are sorely mistaken. Rhyming occurs at the end of lines, but also within lines as well. You can rhyme to just about anything within 2 lines, and it will be perceptible when spoken aloud. (Or if you're one of those people who hears voices, then you'll perceive it when you just read it too...   )  In fact, that is something that is frequently overlooked. Rhyming within a line (or in fact, within a stanza) is a very powerful move. It links your poem back to itself, making it stronger and reinforcing an underlying sound (See Ch. 3 for more detail on the sound of words). Many poems can be made much stronger through the careful selection of words that rhyme in non-standard ways. Tying to a past word that was in the middle of the last line shows the reader that you want to emphasize that word. Providing another point of emphasis will strengthen that, so that you could end up with a word with so much focus on it that it literally changes the mood of your poem by itself (See Ch. 13 for more information on emphasis).   Above all else, remember that rhyme is a tool, not a requirement.2. THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY: BA-DUM-DA-DUM-DUM ((METER))   Now, meter is something that amateur poets (and less frequently, more experienced poets) often miss. No, I'm not talking about measuring your poem with a big ruler. I'm talking about making sure that the rhythm "speaks" correctly.   This is more important for works meant to be spoken aloud and lyrics than for other forms of poetry. However, it is still important, as most poetic works are read aloud by the readers...and if the rhythm is off, it comes out sounding like nails on a chalkboard, only in visual format. It's enough to make the most dedicated reader stop reading after just one poem.   From "A Winter's Night":Quote:A winter's night, as cold as ice It warms me to the bone But as I sit and think a bit, I find I'm not alone   I'm going to deconstruct this stanza. Try to find the beats in that stanza. I'll break it up in a minute for you, but try anyway. If you have trouble, try clapping your hands as you read aloud.   Beats are on capitalized words.Quote:a WINter's NIGHT, as COLD as ICEit WARMS me TO the BONEbut AS i SIT and THINK a BIT,i FIND i'm NOT aLONE   You'll notice that sometimes only part of a word is given the beat(ie: WINter, aLONE)...this is due to syllables. An entire word, when made up of more than one syllable, will end up with the beat on only part of the word. Long words can sometimes end up with two or three beats within them (ie: SYL-la-BLE, PUNC-tu-A-tion).   The meter displayed here is not the only kind available. There are many kinds of meter out there, and more being created every day. The main point is that you USE it. Don't put two words next to each other that are down-beats...you'll confuse the reader and make your poem not sound right when spoken. The same holds true for upbeats.3. PROGRESSIVE POETS POOL POWER PLAYS AND PLANS  ((ALLITERATION))   Alliteration is one of my favorite tools of poetry. In addition, it is, in my humble opinion, one of the most powerful methods available to the author.   Alliteration is defined as "the occurrence in a phrase or line of speech of two ro more words having the same initial sound." (The American Heritage Dictionary). I personally like to take it a step further and say that it's not just the initial sound, but the sound that is made.   That doesn't make much sense, I know, but you'll see what I mean in a minute. Think about it this way: "Releasing the rage in rack and ruin and rampage and rancor and ragnarok" comes across as a very angry, growling phrase, whereas "Progressive Poets Pool Power Plays And Plans" comes across as a headline. There are a few main types of sounds made by letters, and I'll outline some of them below.1. Plosives. As in Ex-Plosives. These are sounds that pop, like b, d, k, m, p, and t. These give tempo and punctuate your words into a headline.2. Growls. These are sounds that come from the back of the throat, like g, h, and r. These give a growl and anger to your words.3. Palates. These are sounds that come from the roof of your mouth, like c, h, l, n, s, t, and y. Some of these make your words clip, others make your words flow together. It depends on the vowel they're associated with in the word.4. Winds. These are sounds that come from wind in your mouth, or from your lips. These are less clipped than palates, but are otherwise similar. Examples are: a, c, e, f, h, i, l, m, o, q, s, u, v, w, x, y, z. Most letters fall into this category, but only when associated with light vowels. These give your words a feeling of breathlessness, rushing wind, flowing water, or speed.5. Vowels. These are vowels, like a, e, i, o, u, and y. These link other sounds together and will change the entire context of one letter from one category to another. "Ha-" is almost a plosive, while "Hi-" is very soft and more of a wind.   So now you understand what alliteration is. But how do you use it? Well, sticking it in as a closing line isn't usually a winner, as alliteration drags the reader through it by using continuous sound...but opening a poem with it works wonders. Many of my power phrases are alliteration, because the constant sound and the internal rhyming ties the phrase so wholly into itself that it's almost a poem in a line.   The best advice I have for you on alliteration is to try it and experiment. There's really no other way to learn about how it works and how it doesn't. Edited by: Shasta Rana Wanderlust  at: 2/24/04 4:01 pm

[Scott Alexander]

Wow, I am having trouble finding stuff to object to! That means you must have done a good job!Okay, here's something...I'm not sure that poem has a functional enough meter to be used as an example..."why can't they just help themselves" is particularly sketchy...same with internal rhyme...but I'm just picking at straws.I particularly liked the part about the different sorts of sounds...they didn't even have that in the real poetry class I took, and it's some pretty useful stuff. Edited by: Scott Siskind  at: 2/24/04 8:52 am

[Shasta Rana Wanderlust]

Thanks Scott. Next class will be about onomotopoaeia, imagery, and personification. That is, it will be as soon as I get around to writing it. Remember, my child, without innocence, the cross is only iron, hope is only an illusion, and you're nothing but a name.