Shape

Shape is one of the main things that separates prose and poetry. Poetry can take on many formats, but one of them most inventive forms is for the poem to take on the shape of its subject. So if the subject of your poem is an apple, then the poem's lines would be written so that the poem appears to take on the shape of an apple.

http://www.rhetoricainc.com/eofa/e_of_a/media/oldmazda.html

Is a poem called "Idea: Old Mazda Lamp" by John Hollander. that looks like a lightbulb, and thus the reader can infer that the subject is light or thoughts.
I like the diction of hte poem, becasue the poet uses analagies and similies that pertain to light bulbs, such as "Either darkness" or "fifty watts apart" and "Flick and Click and there it is suddenly Oh yes I see". Hollander does not use any punctuation at all, and since the poem does not have stanza's it is a little tricky to read. He uses capitalization however, that might indicate a new thought. His vivid imagery emulates the idea of a shape poem, as he says "a snapped-off dream disparses into darkness like gold becoming mere motes." The shape helps becasue as his poem comes ot the tip of hte lightbulb, it gains momentum in pace, jsut as the poem reaches the tip it concludes.

Question: What is John Hollander trying to convey to the readers? is there more to it than Light and darkness?What do you make of his lack of punctuation other than capitalization?

Sestina

At first, looking into this, a Sestina seems to be a complicated poem. I'm still researching, and it is complicated. these types of poems are also know as sextina, sestine, or a sextain, and is a highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet (called its envoy or tornada), for a total of thirty-nine lines.

The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the six-line stanzas, but in a different order each time; if we number the first stanza's lines 123456, then the words ending the second stanza's lines appear in the order 615243, then 364125, then 532614, then 451362, and finally 246531. This organization is referred to as retrogradatio cruciata ("retrograde cross"). These six words then appear in the tercet as well, with the tercet's first line usually containing 1 and 2, its second 3 and 4, and its third 5 and 6 (but other versions exist, described below). English sestinas are usually written in iambic pentameter or another decasyllabic meter


SESTINA:ALAFORTE by Ezra Pound

Damn it all! all this our South stinks peace.
You whoreson dog, Papiols, come! Let's to music!
I have no life save when the swords clash.
But ah! When I see the standards gold, vair, purple, opposing
And the broad fields beneath them turn crimson,
Then howl I my heart nigh mad with rejoicing.

In hot summer have I great rejoicing
When the tempests kill the earth's foul peace,
And the lightnings from black heav'n flash crimson,
And the fierce thunders roar me their music
And the wind shriek through the clouds mad, opposing,
And through all the raven skies God's swords clash.

Hell grant soon we hear again the swords clash!
And the shrill neighs of destriers in battle rejoicing,
Spiked breast to spiked breast opposing!
Better one hour's stour than a years peace
With flat boards, bawds, wine and frail music!
Bah! there's no wine like the blood's crimson!

And I love to see the sun rise blood-crimson.
And I watch his spears through the dark clash
And it fills all my heart with rejoicing
And pries wide my mouth with fast music
When I see him so scorn and defy peace,
His lone might 'gainst all darkness opposing.

The man who fears war and squats opposing
My words for stour, hath no blood of crimson
But is fit only to rot in womanish peace
Far from where worth's won and the swords clash
For the death of such sluts I go rejoicing;
Yea, I fill all the air with my music.

Papiols, Papiols, to the music!
There's no sound like the swords swords opposing,
No cry like the battle's rejoicing
When our elbows and swords drip the crimson
And our charges 'gainst "The Leopard's" rush clash.
May God damn for ever all who cry "Peace!"

And let the music of the swords make them crimson!
Hell grant soon we hear again the swords the swords clash!
Hell blot black for alway the thought "Peace!"

Ezra Pound follows the restrictions of the Sestina. I believe the three lines at the end resemble a couplet. It does what a couplet would do to conclude a poem (typically a sonnet, with four lines then three) the sestina concludes wiht three lines, because hte stanza has six lines, instead of four.

Ezra chose her repeating 6 words to be "peace", "music", "clash", "opposing", :crimson", "rejoicing". She chooses her diction carefully, as they are opposites- (peace/clash) (music/crimson) (opposing/rejoicing) for the purpose of creating a poem wiht substance and broad topics, so she can relate all of the words to each other for more sentance structure possibilites. The poem talks of war and celebration.

Question: What do you think Ezra's motivation for writing her sestina is, and why does this type of poem satify her message?

Haiku

HAIKU is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 morae (or on), in three metrical phrases of 5, 7 and 5 morae respectively. Haiku typically contain a kigo, or seasonal reference, and a kireji or verbal caesura. In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line, while haiku in English usually appear in three lines, to parallel the three metrical phrases of Japanese haiku. Previously called hokku, haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century.

Most Japanese poems are beautiful and follow all of the restrictions of syllabls, yet when translated into English, the poem loses its flow. America has adapted Haiku's as a mainstream form of poetry.


This haiku doesn't follow structure, becasue in the 16th centure master Matsuo Basho wrote it in Japanese, and its translation into english is not perfect:

An old pond!
A frog jumps in--
the sound of water.

The poem emulates what a haiku typically trys to convey. Most poems are in present tense and use imagery, as well as try to establish a sense of order and peace. The simplistic Japanese style is easygoing, and often a good way to introduce poetry. Its strict structure and short ideas allow readers t ostay interested and leave the poem wiht meaning attached to it.

Slam Poetry

Slam Poetry-is a competition at which poets read or recite original work (or, more rarely, that of others). These performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience.

I worked with this type of poetry in creative writing clas, and it was alot of fun. We were told that slam poetry is more like a movement in expression, and often deals with topics that irritate us, so more expression and passion can go into hteir poetry. Slam poetry is more of a performance than merely a written down poem, so I searched on youtube to find some slam poets. Alot of them are kind of creepy and deal wiht good topics, and I found a poet reciting her poem that I thought was worth commenting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brlei3v7uBI&feature=related

At first, I thought the poem was going to be like a love poem, so I kind of thought it would be bad. Yet around 1:05, the poem take a turn for an interesting topic. The poet, who goes by "Vocab", and her poem is about how pick up lines are disrespectful, and her thoughts on the lines men use, and how they are hurtful to women. She uses allusions such as moses and comparisons to Moses. her sarcastic tone and anger make me believe her argument. Her stong opionions come out, as she doesnt blame the guys mother for his lack of respect, rather she lyrically states "the television is erasing and rewinding all the lectures of respect that she gave him." while the crowd cheers. Her comparisons hit home, as I feel like I really understand her thoughts and feel she is very relateable. Around 2:43 mark, she takes her slam poem to an even more serious tone, and talks about rape victims. It is extremely sad on how her words are so close to reality, though I cannot relate to a rape victim, I feel sorrow for them. Her poem and the tone she literally uses keeps me interested and wants ot listen to her so much more, its like a captivation. To keep an edge on things, and in control of the situation and relate to her orriginal topic for closure. She says, "In nine months from now when he finds himself in the maternity ward of a hospital, he can give birth to a real man. Or, at least, a better pickup line."