Poetry Rules - Yay or Nay

This is the place for readers of poetry. Discuss poetry and literary art. You can also discuss music here, including lyrics. Also, you can discuss poets themselves, in addition to poetry.
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Poetry Rules - Yay or Nay

Post by MarisaRose »

Hi all! I am fairly new to poetry and had a question for those of you who are more familiar with the genre. What are your thoughts on the rules of poetry?

Are some forms of poetry too strict? Do poetry rules add or detract to anyone's writing? Do you prefer free verse?
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Post by Blythe »

I don't know if there are any rules to poetry. If you are writing a sonnet, there is a guide and structure to make it a sonnet, the same with a haiku etc.

Poetry can be fun and it can be serious. It is the most maddeningly magnificent form of writing there is, but it cannot be limited to rules.
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Post by AA1495 »

I prefer free verse. Why hold back something that someone really wants to say?
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Post by MarisaRose »

AA1495 wrote:I prefer free verse. Why hold back something that someone really wants to say?
I agree! I feel the words flow more freely when you are not trying to fit a certain mold. Free verse poems have typically resonated most with me.
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Post by AA1495 »

MarisaRose wrote:
AA1495 wrote:I prefer free verse. Why hold back something that someone really wants to say?
I agree! I feel the words flow more freely when you are not trying to fit a certain mold. Free verse poems have typically resonated most with me.
You write poetry? I would love to read some of them, if you don't mind :D
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Post by R-Myra »

AA1495 wrote: 12 Sep 2016, 11:42 I prefer free verse. Why hold back something that someone really wants to say?
I'll agree with you. If someone wants to say something then why search for rules and rhymes. It would just restrict the thoughts of the person and it can be possible that they won't be able to express their feelings.
-R
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Post by ElizabethR »

As a poet, I can say that the rules often have purposes, be they acoustic when read aloud, or to form a rhythm on the page. However, rules are made to be broken. I have experimented with both strictly-formatted poetry and with free verse, and I can tell you that both ends of the spectrum have their merits. It also depends on what the subject of the poem is. Some topics, themes, and people lend themselves to different forms, or lack thereof. So I say just follow your gut and wing it. :)
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Post by EllieA »

The rules in poetry provide both a foundation and a toolbox. Even free-verse has a deliberate and considered flow to it. I strongly suggest practicing different structured forms of poetry strictly, and then deviating from them, instead of jumping strait into free verse. A lot of people find it frustrating to write in form because it is hard to write in a way that is different than modern speech patterns without sounding stilted or forced. I think it is a good idea to start that way because it stretches your mind to force yourself within the lines.

Poetry is a more condensed medium than a novel or short story, and as such the weight of each word, each line break, each punctuation mark, is more profound and should be very carefully considered. Once you develop a sense of what meter, rhyme, and structure accomplish, and the skill to express yourself within them, then when you break out into a freer form you will have a more thorough understanding of what your decisions about word choice, rhythm, and punctuation transfer to the reader.

This is not meant to disparage free verse. It is just a suggestion that, as with other art forms, having a solid and practiced grounding in the basics will help your skill blossom.
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Post by Tbunde5 »

Poetry is the language of the heart. It is the only written form that can capture pure emotion, other than music. Being a music person myself, I prefer rhythm and rhyme. But it’s the feeling within the verse that matters!
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Post by Moliver222 »

Poetry rules are what separates different forms of poetry, all of which have different meanings to people. Without the rules poetry, in my opinion, would not be a great as it is. For some forms the rules require the author to be creative, which means that not everyone could write in that form. Without rules poetry would be meaningless because anyone could do it really well and there’d be no talent in it.
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Post by Lincolnshirelass »

There are verse forms I particularly like using, but I would certainly never say that something has to be strictly rhymed or 'patterned' to count as poetry.
An Eye for an Eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Mahatma Gandhi
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Post by Jeyasivananth »

Many famous poets have flouted the rules of their times to create masterpieces like Shakespeare.So it is not the meter or rhyme rather the message of the poem and the imagery used to describe it that contributes to making it stand the test of time.
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Post by revna01 »

It seems like poetry nowadays is mostly free verse. I enjoy that method as long as it doesn't look like huge sentences that don't resemble poetry at all. I also like rhyming poetry and haiku format.
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Post by TME888 »

I love all forms of poetry... It simply flows when I am writing a poem and sometimes people just don't get it. I wish everyone could speak in verse :)
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Post by TME888 »

I love reading and writing poetry...it is truth in its purest form.
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