What is Poetry?
What is Poetry? Poetry is the voice of an idea, a thought, a rhythm, a word, growing form something inconceivable yet conceived, unthwarted, pure, unchastened, unabated, the flood of fire in the darkness, the piercing dark into gleaming light, the voice within, the voice without song, without verse, without content, impregnable, alight, aglow, alive– living on the breath and, only in silence finding death copyright 1998, Neena Bickram; used with permission
Poetry has been described by many people in many, many different ways. That is because there are about as many different kinds of poetry as there are people who write poems. Poetry is perhaps our oldest literary application; our ancient ancestors used poetry in the form of songs, chants and prayers. Poetry flourishes in every culture, in every age of history.
What is a poem?
A poem is many things. A child's skipping ditty is a poem. A song is a poem. A prayer is a poem. Even those damn annoying jingles that advertisers pour into your brain utilize the power of the poem, too! We are most familiar with poetry when it is rhyming, yet this is only one -- and not even a necessary aspect -- of the humble poem. We read poems in school, mostly those written by dead people, and most of us seem to hate it. This really has more to do with the education system then poetry itself. So what is it that makes a poem special?
Poetry differs from prose-writing in many ways. For one, it tends to be shorter (this is also not necessarily an absolute). The idea may often be more abstract, and more room is left for the reader to offer their own interpretation. Poems tend to fall into two basic categories, the familiar "rhyming couplet", and the abstract, "free-style" verse.
Rhyme vrs Free-Verse
There is no correct way to write a poem. The rhyming verse is more familiar to us, because of song lyrics and nursery rhymes; rhyming poems tend to be quite catching:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,-- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As if someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door; "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door; Only this and nothing more."A few very narrow-minded individuals would argue that the only poem is the rhyming poem. This is a horrible untruth. Imagine the following exsert; if it rhymed, would it have the same impact?-- from "The Raven", Edgar Allen Poe
We are cruel to each other, and call it honesty choosing our brutal truths with care and aiming them across the neutral table -- from Margaret Attwood
Poetry is very much about setting a mood, and a mood can be set by the way the words are spoken on a page. There is always room for overlap, but the two verse styles tend to display certain moods best. For instance, the energetic marching of a band conjures up a chant that has a strong and steady rhythm, whilst the fleeting memory of a treasured summer tends to flit in and out at random. Then again, there some writers who like to juxtapose verse - that is, relate an event or mood opposite the way you would have expected. Poetry is great for experimenting!
Any and all types of poetry are welcomed; there is no such thing as a poem that is "wrong". You may choose to rhyme, or use free-verse, or you might include a bit of both (Shakespeare was particularly good at this). However you choose to write your poem is the way to do it!
After all, there is no correct way to write a poem, as long as it is from the heart. The heart is where the mind's inspiration takes nourishment from to grow and bloom; as long as you write from the heart, you can't go wrong!
Happy writing!
Poetry Contest Guidelines
Each person may submit one (1) piece of work.
Content - what is this poem saying?
There will be a First Place, Runner Up, and Honourable Mention prize for the best poems in the contest; the number of place holdings may be adjusted depending on the number of applicants.
Questions? Ask me!
Need some inspiration? Read last year's winner:
Poetry will be assessed with these functions in mind:
Flow - does the poem work together as a whole?
Mood - does it evoke a response from its reader?
Creativity - has the writer expressed a unique idea or way of doing things?
There is no length limit on poetry, but should you happen to write an epic, please let us know if you piece is over 20 pages long! As poetry is also a much looser form of literature, we're not looking at spelling or grammar - we'll just assume you meant it "artistically".
