Young Writers Society

Just out of curiosity, how many of you aspiring poets set or at least attempt to set your poems to a meter? How important do you think it is? And if you are metrically inclined please feel free to share any tips or suggestions about "metering." Thanks.

sometimes I set my poem line lengths to deliberate syllable counts, normally 8 or 10.
my favorite poem that I wrote follows a 8686 syllable count, however, i've never really written in iambic since i've never really practiced that. I think it might be a good tool, and a lot of prior writers have used meter in interesting ways, but I think really poetry should flow, not be forced into the confines of a structure.

Wordsworth said "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions"

I went off rhyming poetry a while back, so rhythm went out the window with it too. I find that in general, rhythm probably hinders the flow more than anything - sort of bops up and down like a pendulum (especially iambic) and prevents the imagery/meaning etc to come across well...not to mention the tendency to sound cliche from fitting words to the rhythm scheme (even in the absence of rhyme) rather than letting what you want to say dictate the poem.

I think that flow is more important than rhythm, actually. Perhaps this is because I read poetry visually-out-loud-in-my-head, so need the flow to keep me reading and to keep the sounding-out of the words still smooth. The rhythm is nice in older, classical poetry and suits that era when entertainers in courts and the like used to recite it: it made saying it aloud a lot easier. But poetry has become a more intimate, individual, less show-offy sort of area of literature, with minimal hand-gestures and drama and verbal emphasis needed to convey the meaning - I guess I am saying I see why people read poetry more 'alound in their heads' now than listen to it read: the experience is much different. Hence, for a different experience, we require a different, more appropriate medium...which is why I'd say flow is the winner here.

That said, I'll admit some of my favourite (classical, I'll admit) poetry does have an altogether childishly delightful rhythm to it.

Despite deconstruction of literature and writing today, a great deal of the work done from 1950-1970 including, if you want to be taken seriously as a poet in the oh so alive and profitable poetry market, you must master the meter and all uses of it relating to syllable placement and stresses.

Besides Iambic pentameter, the other standard meters aren't close to its popularity. Standards of poetry are largely gone now, that's why experimentation and innovation are so important, but so very difficult to be recognized as beneficial to a wide group of readers.