Poetry Forum

I haven't yet read the article, which I will momentarily, but this is something I've thought about. I once saw a video of Frost reciting "Stopping by Woods", and there was no music in his recitation. I think the problem is simply that few poets have the ability to express with their vocal ...

It took me a while to absorb and warm up to this poem. I like it. It is a direct and clear political statement. You say that Americans don't understand British irony. I do think I grasp the irony in this poem, but I would like there to be a little more of it. A couple small suggestions: Let Budweise...

Mirror, thank you for your clarification. I'm still looking for another word. NotQuiteSure, thank you for thoroughly examining the poem. Quite a few of your critiques should be useful. The only one I want to respond to is the word "pavement". In Britain, it means what Americans call the &q...

Mirror, you're right that "lunacy" isn't quite the right word. It's more a kind of obstinacy that the speaker is suffering from. However, colloquially, the word "lunacy" can be used to mean "nutty". "Lunacy" does have the sound that I want. Can I get your opin...

Thank you, Elph. About 90% of the time when posting a poem, I consider it to be finished and I am posting it to see people's reactions and to discover if perhaps I've made a glaring error which I overlooked. I probably should post poems earlier in the writing process, but I'm not always participatin...

She came to me in a dream in a strange antique coif, not the damp and matted curls in which she had been taken off. Seeming stern, but not unkind, she said You never think of me. I could not get across to her the underlying irony. Having joined the forum just recently, I've been looking down the li...

I was looking for a forum where people could post their favorite poems. The "Found Poetry" forum doesn't seem to be it. But I did find this thread from 2014. I noticed that the poem above is missing a line. Here is the complete poem: Piazza Piece — I am a gentleman in a dust coat trying To...

Thank you, Macavity. I'll think about the things you said. Regarding rhyme, I don't usually rhyme (as this poem shows), but I like to throw in unexpected rhymes for emphasis. I understand that it would be jarring to some readers, however. Perhaps I should reconsider the technique. I own a vase which...

Thank you so much, Mirrorball. I would love to have a discussion about the difference between "show" and "tell", because it isn't completely clear to me. I wonder if such a discussion already exists somewhere on the board. It seems to me that a good poem has to have a little bit ...

Binz, I'm just asking Elphin exactly what he/she thinks I should do. I've always been satisfied with my first stanza. The problem is that Elphin's last bit of advice didn't make sense to me.

What I find useful is to write the poem free of the constraints of structure and then once it says what you want it to say parse it into lines and verses in a way that adds to the "mere" words. The other way to do it, I worry leads to padding to make words fit a pre-defined structure-- e....

Elph, here is what I wrote: In this church parking lot, petals are blown in circles by the wind, petals from a nearby pear tree. Here is what you wrote: In this church parking lot, pear tree petals circle in the wind, and here is what Binz wrote: Beside the church, pear petals pirouette. Binz's line...

Thank you, everyone. I’m going to try to come up with images for the sixth stanza that are a little less bizarre and more appropriate to a petal. The idea of a petal calling the police to arrest the wind is the kind of thing that really hits my funny bone, but I can see that it would fall flat for s...

I also don't understand the poem, but I love the light rhythm. I suspect that to understand it, I have to know something that I don't.

Since you are speaking in the past, shouldn't "until" in the fifth strophe be "before"?

Thank you, Binz. My humor can get a little weird at times.

I'd like to hear other comments before I say more.

I've made nine posts and analyzed two poems in depth, so I think it's okay for me to post a poem. Going forward I'll try to analyze two or three poems for each one that I post. Petals in the Wind In this church parking lot, petals are blown in circles by the wind, petals from a nearby pear tree. Som...

I really, really like this poem, especially the line: "oh this is the vice that gets me to feel!" You've put your finger right on it: We are compelled to do what evokes our deepest feelings. Putting the poem in the first person improved it considerably. In line two the apostrophe should fo...

I just want to respond to what NotQuiteSure said about the intrusive rhyme.

I often end unrhymed poems with a rhyme, so for me it is a technique. To throw in a rhyme in an unrhymed poem provides both emphasis to the meaning and a moment of sonic beauty. For me, the rhymed ending works very well.

Not that it matters insofar as the poem is concerned, but my stereotypes are a little different. The one about the helicopter in it is pretty accurate. However, I think of the English as drinking warm beer in pubs (more than tea in cafes), and I think of the Australians as wearing skimpy bathing sui...

It is a hope of mine (or maybe a fantasty or a conceit) that my poetry will endure after I'm gone, so I never put anything in a poem that would require a footnote after twenty years. Does it matter to you that no one may know or remember who "Antony on YouTube" is/was in twenty years? How ...

Very nice, with a double meaning for "what shouldn't be".