06 June 2005, 12:05 PM
ArgeauxFood for Thought
While doing research I came across a piece of text that got me thinking about the practice of writing poetry.
I thought I'd throw it in here to see what anyone has to say about it.
Have at it!
quote:
Some people say they believe that modern poets use Free Verse because they are not sufficiently gifted to use any of the recognised metres. Yet is it so very difficult or impossible to sit down and write a poem in any of the quatrains, or the more exacting septet - ABABBCC? What poet, if he chose, could not master a formula, with a little patience! What has really to be borne in mind is that every verse-form has already collected its corresponding reward in masterpieces. To continue saying things in the same phraseology would create a habit, and every formed habit lessens the demand made upon thought. A somnambulistic state probably enriches romantic poetry, but for metaphysical poetry it is fatal to feel sleepy.
07 June 2005, 11:04 AM
The TrollAll art has to fall into some sort of form. It doesn't matter whether it is the frame around a picture or the way words are written down. To be understood, and to make a world where something is said, is all that is required. The argument over classical VS modern forms has gone on as long as the argument over nature vs. nurture. It's never going to be resolved because you can't have one without the other.
So IMO you can write and appreciate many forms of poetry. I think it is worth my time as an artist to try many forms to expand my knowledge base, but in the end what I succeed at is not determined by any choice of form.
07 June 2005, 01:04 PM
Chianaquote:
To continue saying things in the same phraseology would create a habit, and every formed habit lessens the demand made upon thought. A somnambulistic state probably enriches romantic poetry, but for metaphysical poetry it is fatal to feel sleepy.
That's really interesting. The further you go into metaphysics, the less a creature of habit you become. So it makes sense that habit would be a less effective way to express the metaphysical. Maybe it's more about what is being expressed than the style in which it is being expressed. But certainly an automatic nature is the antithesis of metaphysical progress. It isn't the style itself that is the problem, it's your ability to maintain present moment awareness and openness in the face of a pattern.
