Young Writers Society

Soooooooo I have to write a whole bunch of structured poems for my writer's craft class, and, seeing as how I hate structure, I can't think of anything to do! I've never written anything besides free-verse, and if anyone can think of any interesting poem styles, please help me out! Also, if you know the structure of how to write them, add that as well. (Take your time, they're not due for awhile) Thanks! Anything will do . . . I'm up for a challenge. ](*,)

I had the same problem a little while back. Here are some of the interesting ideas I found.


Alphabet in Sequence
Here's an example:

Transylvanian Extractions By Paul McCann
A Blood Counting Dentist Elasticised Frankenstein's Gums.
His Injections Just Kidnapped Loose Molars Never Offering People Quick Replacements .
Some Transformations Used Vampires With X-tremely Yellow Zombies

Cinquain poems follow the following rules -

Line 1 - One word (a noun) naming the subject of the verse.
Line 2 - Two words (adjectives) describing the subject.
Line 3 - Three words (verbs) describing the subject's actions.
Line 4 - Four words giving the writer's opinion of the subject.
Line 5 - One word (noun) giving another name for the subject.
Here's an example:

The Cinquain by Beverley George

Violin
Brown, shapely
Singing, shrieking, sobbing
A moody music maker
Fiddle

These were two of my favorites. I hope they help you out!

My first tip? Get OBSESSIVE over metering.

You see, rhymes will come and go, but what you need is a consistant metering. For example (forgive me if I use my poetry as example) in my poem, Bluebird, it's a 9,7,9,7 pattern. Look at the first verse:

Remember when we were together
And we watched the bluebird fly,
Its swift wings and radiant body
Melt into the autumn sky.

Now, look at the amount of syllables are there in it:

9
7
9
7

Wowie! And if you look throughout the poem, you will notice the same pattern.

Metering helps the poem flow just a little bit better. Mind you, it's hard to do, but it's worth the effort if you can do it. Just be careful about it; a metering patter of 13,15,13,15 would probably not be good since it looks too long. The standard is 8,6,8,6, though writers usually deviate from it.

You will notice that that poem actually rhymed. The second and fourth lines rhymed. You might be saying to yourself, "Well... it flows just because it rhymes. Why should I concentrate on the metering when the rhyming scheme helped the most?" Okay, you're right. The rhyming scheme did help. The A,B,C,B rhyming scheme kept things together. But before you start saying that rhyming is the most important part, check this out:

I go further down, hydrogen
Chokes me, binds me, there’s no escape
Such sweet sights, the lovely redness
Such vile end, the endless depths

Though there is no rhyming scheme, it seems to flow just because there is metering. This pattern is an 8,8,8,8 pattern. Check it yourself. Metering is extremely important, so be careful with your words.

Now! For your rhyming scheme...

Now, look at this verse, from another one of my poems:

Fear is shining in your eyes,
I see clearly where I lay
‘Tis a good mood to disguise
But I know too much your way

Now, pay attention to the rhyming pattern. It is a A,B,A,B form. So the first and third verse rhymed, and the second and fourth verse rhymed. In the Bluebird poem, it was an A,B,C,B rhyme. The second and fourth verses rhymed.

Now, I'm not sure what your teacher considers is "proper" poetry, but I hoped that helped.

Thanks guys! Keep 'em coming . . .

This is helping me heaps too!