The Art and Craft of Poetry. Michael R. Collings
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Borgo Literary Guides
ISSN 0891-9623
Number Nine
Copyright © 1996, 2009 by Michael R. Collings
All poetry remains the property of the individual poets
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without the expressed written consent
of the author and publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
*
I am particularly grateful to W. Gregory Stewart, a fine poet—both artist and craftsman—for his permission to reprint “Robo Ben” and “Dædalus” and for his support of the Pepperdine University Creative Writing program and its arts magazine, Expressionists.
FOREWORD
While many of the poems referred to as models have been posted on internet sites, some exercises in this sequence are keyed to materials in the following books, although it is not necessary to purchase them in order to explore the possibilities of poetry presented here:
Drury, John. The Poetry Dictionary. Cincinnati OH: Story Press, 1995. [Drury]. Drury is particularly valuable for its detailed discussions of literary forms and movements. The sections need not be read in sequence.
Rosengarten, Herbert, and Amanda Goldrick-Jones, eds. The Broadview Anthology of Poetry. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada; Orchard Park NY, 1993. [TBAP]. The Broadview Anthology provides access to poetry from Chaucer to the present, many of which will form the kernel of discussion; at the same time, the anthology allows students to explore professional-level writing.
Several additional texts are highly recommended for any writers, primarily as adjuncts to the writing process:
Hodges, John C. and Mary E. Whitten. Harbrace College Handbook. Current edition. Poets frequently defy the conventions of language, re-defining the functions of punctuation marks, grammatical structures, etc., for poetic purposes. However, in almost every case, the poets in question fully understand the conventions before altering them. Effective poetry must convince their readers that, in spite of experimental surfaces, the poets understand the underpinnings of English grammar and usage.
Collegiate Dictionary, such as The American Heritage Dictionary. Current edition. The same caveat holds for spelling: contemporary poetry often re-works and reforms words, but before poets do that they must be familiar with the standards they are rejecting. Effective poems must convince their readers that any aberrant forms are purposeful rather than accidental or stemming from ignorance.
The accompanying exercises are designed primarily for writers already acquainted with the rudiments of poetry: meter, rhythm, rhyme, figures, images, etc. While several pages are devoted to definitions and discussions, most of The Art and Craft of Poetry concentrates on exercises and, most frequently, college students’ responses to those exercises.
Most of the poems included as examples come from students in intermediate Creative Writing classes over the past twenty years. These poems and others like them formed the basis of discussion in classes spanning over fifteen years.
Note: Many of the student poems—here reproduced as originally submitted, without the benefit of subsequent revising—are unusually well done; others demonstrate common weaknesses, and close readings may suggest serious problems as well as ways other writers might avoid those dangers. All, however, show a commitment to writing, to poetry, and to art. They are included to demonstrate individual responses to poetry; as student works or works-in-progress, they are intended to provide models for discussion. You are encouraged to read them, assess their effectiveness as poetry for you, and emulate the strengths you find in them.
I am particularly grateful to the following former students for allowing me to incorporate their voices into this handbook: Janna Anderson, Lisa Bates, Carter Boisvert, Joanie Chan, Ethan Collings, Ty de Long, Alex Duncan, Robert Efford, Allison Elms, Christian Hawkey, Erin Kayler, Kim Kooyers, Marnee Lewis, Mercedes Martinez, Adrienne Maxwell, Tamar Moore, Rachel Moreno, Matt Oden, Nichole Paré, Alan Regan, Keith Skilling, Michael Strickland, Amy Vicker, Jason Wall, Chad Weiss, and John Weseley. Without their dedication as students and writers, this handbook would not have been possible.
—Michael R. Collings
Meridian, Idaho
March 2009
SOME PRELIMINARY MATTERS—WHAT IS POETRY?
C. S. Lewis argues that before we can judge the merits of anything—from a cathedral to a poem—we must first understand what it is. Similarly, before tackling the issue of writing poetry, we must first understand what a poem is ... and what it is not.
Characteristics of a Poem
Most theorists of poetry generally identify four basic characteristics of poetry:
Lineation—often considered the only absolute differentia between prose and poetry, although some theorists argue even this point. In most poetry, however, the poet retains absolute control over line length and division.
Sound/Music—the effects of rhyme, repetitions of various sorts, and the effects produced by specific word combinations.
Rhythm—recurrent patterns of sound, pitch, stress, accent, etc., including both formal metrics and less formal repetitive syntactical, grammatical, and thematic patterns.
Compression—the art of folding into the poem more meaning than a literal reading produces; this might include not only removing linguistic deadwood but also strengthening image and symbol.
Simple vs. Sophisticated Poetry
“To a biologist, simple forms of life are simple and complex forms are sophisticated. Thus, the bird is not better in any objective sense than the jellyfish, but it is far more sophisticated in that the potential of living matter has been developed much further.
“As an individual, the biologist may prefer a canary to a jellyfish as a pet or may feel that the jellyfish is better as an example of living tissue; but acting as a biologist, his or her use of the terms simple and sophisticated is objective.
“Does all poetry have to be sophisticated? Of course not. Judging by the verse of greeting cards, far more people prefer their poetry simple—regular meter, conventional sentiments, and the cozy familiarity of time-tested clichés. Writing simple verse is a craft and there are books that teach it. But this is not one.
“Sophisticated literature is the subject of this text. It is by definition complex, but it is not necessarily cluttered or obscure. A fly’s eye, for example, is in some ways more complex in structure than a human eye, but as an instrument of sight it is far from sophisticated. It cannot see as well. In the same way, a villanelle with its complex systems of rhymes and repeated lines is structurally more complicated than, say, a three-line haiku; but in some cases the haiku is more sophisticated because it does more—it has a wider, more subtle range of suggestion.” (Stephen Minot, Three Genres)
Discussion: To what extent are the following poems “simple”? Is one more “sophisticated” than the other? If so, what elements contribute to its increased depth and complexity? Is there a specific moment in each when the poem begins to falter as poem? Remember, “simple” and “sophisticated” in this context merely describe; they do not judge.
Joyce Kilmer, TREES
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A