₦airaland Forum

Chuksemi:
Can I get an autograph please?
So I would capably release
My enthusiasm and seize
This moment that I wish would freeze.

Funny you!

firestar:
Reminiscent of Sade's Soldier of Love...
"I'm a Soldier of Love....
Ev'ryday and night.
I'm a Soldier..."

Yeah, I had to google the lyrics... Sade is synonymous to nice songs (I wonder where she is now)
but was inspired from a video of a beheaded soldier

Awesome bro.

AmiableJay:
Wow I'm so excited. I just wrote my first tanka ever although this one has a rhyming scheme almost similar to a limerick. And it really has no strong message but all the way all is experimentation. Dunno the title yet but amma name it sha like duh oh.Lols
My First Tanka Ever
In the realm of Scots
The uncomely Thane of Fife
Once envied his wife
But indeed to spare her life
Slew her handmaid in her cot.

Claire's Love in Hell (Tanka)

Claire's hellish romance
Blissful with glittering scars,
Her quaint lover mugged
Her docility, bridling
Her marriage with sweet sorrows


Special dedication to the one who must not be named.
Hope the bas.tard gets jailed and you'd come be my second wifey

Very good for a starter.
However, I don't understand your rhyming scheme.
Is it an end rhyme or an enclosed rhyme cuz I see you used both up there?

Forms of Poetry : Okay, I'm writing this because of Oma4u and Princesa.

According to Wikipedia, poetry forms refers to various sets of”rules” followed by poems of certain types. The rules may describe such aspects as the rhythm or meter of the poem, its rhyme scheme, or its use of alliteration. It helps give a physical structure of a poem through word and syllable count, length of the lines, repetitive rhymes that shapes into pattern, especially a familiar one. It also disciplines the poet by making him/her write in line with the stated rules.

Uses of poetry forms:
1. It helps simplify the poem
2. It help guides the writer through word/rhyme discipline eg. the sonnet, haiku et al
3. It helps explores the poets skills
4. It helps interpret a poem (to the a reader)
5. It helps describe the intent of the poet etc.

Accordingly, poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form; some regard for basic formal structures of poetry will be found in even the best free verse, however much such structures may appear to have been ignored. Among major structural elements used in poetry are the line, the stanza or verse paragraph, and larger combinations of stanzas or lines such as cantos. Also sometimes used are broader visual presentations of words and calligraphy. These basic units of poetic form are often combined into larger structures, called poetic forms or poetic modes, as in the sonnet or haiku.


eg. Haiku, a Japanese three-line poem, consisting of seventeen syllables split 5 - 7 - 5 is a serious poem written on serious topic or issue (but today haiku has been defiled by most poets ). For correctional purpose, there is a poetry form known as Senryu. It is similar to haiku in structure, however, senryû tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryû are often cynical or darkly humorous and satiric while haiku are serious.

Free Verse: This is the most common form of poetry used by contemporary poets. What free verse claims to be free from is the constraints of regular metre and fixed forms. This makes the poem free to find its own shape according to what the poet - or the poem - wants to say, but still allows him or her to use rhyme, alliteration, rhythms or cadences (etc) to achieve the effects that s/he feels are appropriate. There is an implicit constraint, however, to resist a regular metre in free verse - a run of a regular metre will stand out awkwardly in an otherwise free poem. Princesa and others love this particular poetry form. So when next someone inquires from you about free verse just say " I like to eat my rice without cutleries"

Meter: The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line. The definitive pattern established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter).

Iambic pentameter: is a commonly used type of metrical line in traditional poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm that the words establish in that line, which is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". The word "iambic" refers to the type of foot that is used, known as the iamb, which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".

Iamb: A foot consisting of two syllables where the first is short or unstressed and the second is long or stressed e.g. as in 'beSIDE'




For other terms and forms of poetry please visit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_poetry_terms

I could go on and on and on but .........

Cheers!
Now, questions please?

---

www.wikepedia.com
www.poetryarchive.org
"A poet's aid" by Fowobaje E. A.
Lecture note from Abubakar Gimba
The poem as craft by Hambrick W.

Writing poems for reader involves a poet bn able to communicate or think in line with the reader. It does not involve the 'showing off' of the use of vocabs as most writers do or to write a 6 page epistle. Nah! (imagine stressing your reader with big big grammars).

While writing a poem for reader, the poet’s poem should be aimed at communicating clarity, complexity and astonishment as a by-product of the effectiveness of the music, emotion, imagery, journey, and form inherent in the poem:

Clarity - The purpose of all writing is to communicate effectively. Poets are said to say the most they can in the fewest of words possible. Many books and movies have been summarized with just a page of poem. A poem written in clarity is often appreciated rationally in a way that the reader easily gets the idea or essence of the poem without interpretation. Such form of poems are Narrative and lyrically written.

Translucent - Poems that are translucent are interpreted more figuratively than literally. In translucent poems, there is an infusion of symbolism, metaphor, and personification. The reader must be more reflective, intuitive, imaginative, and thoughtful to ascertain the poem's deeper meaning. The so-called free verse form is translucent in nature. Sometimes the beginning of a poem seems clear, and then a poem moves into an area of white space or translucence - and then the poem ends leaving the reader with something to savor, re-visit, or think about.
White space, or areas in a poem that invite reader participation in ascertaining the poem's essence or vision, allow great variation in interpretation. These poems tend towards intuition, and move a bit away from the rational. Most well-remembered poems are translucent in nature at some point in the poem. Eg. “The Second Coming” even my Nairaland poem “The Seductress is Hapless”.
"Oh Madina! come live in my gallery of thought"

Opaque - Opaque poems are written with such a sense of mystery, free association of thought, or private myth-making and symbolism that sometimes even the most astute readers have difficulty "taking in" the poem rationally.
The beauty of these poems, or poetic lines, lies in the realm of the imaginative, the intuitive, the metaphysical. Stream of consciousness poems are in this category. Sometimes poems or poetic lines are best appreciated for the stream of ideas and the sound combinations rather than for the reader to come away with a logical, coherent, rational meaning. Carried to extremes, the reader may leave the poem feeling isolated from the poem's "meaning" and intent.

Complexity
Great poems are richly layered and evoke a myriad of thoughts, feelings, and responses. (Please refer to the explanation on transparent, translucent, and opaque.)
Great poems invite the reader to enter into the poem and to add their own life experiences and imagination to the interpretation of the poem.
Great poems are literal and figurative, real and surreal, grounded in the every day, and yet through metaphor and symbolism they transcend into areas of thoughtfulness
and contemplation.
Great poems have Implicative Lacunae - a Greek term meaning to have multiple layers of reception and perception. In other words, the best poems are multi-layered and can be perceived and received by readers in a variety of ways to offer many different interpretations and emotional and intellectual responses.

Astonishment
Beautiful poems often have a surprising turn, a hinge moment, or a volta where the poem takes a new direction, challenges the reader's expectations, or leads the reader into the realm of mystery or white space where the literal gives way to the figurative.
Beautiful poems have one or more "meta" moments, or places where the poem leaves the earth and enters into a higher plane of thoughtfulness or appreciation, again where the literal gives way to the figurative.
Beautiful poems make use of the notion of caesura or dramatic pause, often by means of a stanza or line break. These dramatic moments allow the reader to experience the full power, intensity, or intention of a single word, or an entire line or stanza of the
poem.
Great poems make good use of the liminal line - The term liminal means threshold. The end of every line of verse is pregnant with possibility. There is drama, or some type of anticipation that builds at the end of every line of verse. A poem with effective line breaks adds complexity to a poem, and offers an almost intuitive level of appreciation to the poem.
Great poems generate astonishment. Astonishment often comes through irony, dramatic moments, humor, or suspense. Often the juxtaposition of imagery, the push and pull of line breaks, unique word choice, or the beauty of the poem's lines adds to a poem's astonishment. Example of such poem is Oma4u’s piece “In My Home”.

A Poem according to Encarta dictionary is a complete and self-contained piece of writing in verse that is set out in lines of a set length and uses rhythm, imagery, and often rhyme to achieve its effect.

The aim of every poet is to be able to use words to communicate his thought using various figures of speech and poetic element [/b]to his audience/reader. A poet also aims at eliciting exposition that is meant to give a detailed description or discussion of a thought, experience and occurrence.

Contemporary poems have been observed to invite or evoke an emotional response. They have a distinct tone or mood that may change as the ideation of the poem progresses. Eg.

[b]“The silent bells of Christmas
Heard as folly jingles for merriment
To the rich and pocket of carcass
For the bereft who’s persiflage underwent
The season of regret for letting 12 days hard work plummet”


The above poem evokes to the reader the meaning and emotion in a subtle, figurative way, and also expose and describe an image, idea or moment/situation more directly and literally communicating its meaning (which describes someone who suddenly realizes that he’s not ready for Christmas because of financial constraints).

In crafting poems, poems stir up and bare the meaning of its lines in different poetic elements like Emotion, Music, Imaginary, form and journey etc.

For the sake of some people here, I’m going to take them one after the other with brief explanations.

Emotion: This is aimed at evoking emotional response to the reader. They have a distinct tone or mood that may change as the ideation of the poem progresses. In this poem, the reader is forced to identify with the poets satirical/sarcastic, irony, sardonic, mournful, tragic, ominous, uplifting and witty state. Example of this such poem can be found at Amiablejay’s poem at https://www.nairaland.com/1219890/one-poem-road/7#26674879

Music: In this poetic element, poet uses words that are pleasing to hear.in order to spice it up and captivate the reader, poet interposes words to music though the use of end rhymes, alliterations, assonance, repetitions, caesura onomatopoeia etc.
A brief example is Mode 9’s diss line

“Here's the sweetest part, this baba that baba/
You not the father/
You got intellect myopia
So when I diss a baba (Addis Ababa)
Its not Ethiopia”

Line 1 & 2 have the same rhyme (end rhyme) and meter i.e. the pattern of rhythm
Line 4 compliments line 5 for onomatopoeia i.e. the imitation of words associated with something.

Imaginary: Now, this is where the poet implores his/her skill. The poet’s imagination is his wings. He can decide to be ‘invincible’ when describing scenes or objects in abstractness with just witty words. He can create word pictures in the mind of the reader or listener by means of precise, unique, imaginative vocabulary, interesting words combinations etc. In fact, permit me to say that a poet’s imagination is his/her greatest tool! With an imaginary skill, a poet can murder his thoughts on paper using a pen.

In this element, he/she juxtaposes and uses figurative languages like:

Symbolism - When something represents something other than itself
In the below poem, “metallic insects..” was used to describe tankers and trailers on a traffic jammed road, the lampyridae, as an insect that produces light from its belly, represents the vehicles headlamps at night (I wish I could get the local name).

“Their honks were like buzzes
From a desperate housefly;
Streams of smoke blurred the air
As the metallic insects cued up
On the road beaming the light of the night
Like a trapped lampyridae in a race-field”

Word play (Pun) – to play with words “He sheath and pavilioned his bravery…scared to confront confronting confrontations” or “…fly and fly, fly from fright.. fly above the sky…fly for freedom”

Metaphor - The comparison of two different things without using the words like or as (line 1 and 2 of the above poem)

Metaphors invite reader inference and active participation in the rendering of the
comparison, whereas a simile is a more direct, straightforward comparison.
Simile - The comparison between two different things using the words like or as
Hyperbole - exaggeration for dramatic effect
Understatement - purposefully downplaying a situation, event, or impact
Personification - giving inanimate objects life-like characteristics