Young Writers Society

Okay, I'm curious, I write poetry without a set structure. I asked my Dad about this and told me about Concrete artists. Who believes poetry needs structure for it to be a poem. Needs a rhythem.

I feel, poetry comes from ya, and poeticness is the words not in the rhythem.

Thoughts?

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Listening to: Gogol Bordello - Baro Foro
via FoxyTunes

Lol, oh Vernon....

I don't believe poetry needs a cold hard structure, but I believe it needs to flow. It if doesn't have that, then it's just a paragragh or a group of words.

It certainly doesn't need rhyme or a hard and fast rhythm but it needs to be distinguishable and differnt from prose. Where do we draw the line?

This is the definition of poetry I found on the web -

An imaginative response to experience reflecting a keen awareness of language. Its first characteristic is rhythm, marked by regularity far surpassing that of prose. Poetry’s rhyme affords an obvious difference from prose. Because poetry is relatively short, it is likely to be characterized by compactness and intense unity. Poetry insists on the specific and the concrete.

Unity and rhythm...flow. Poetry is intended to be beautiful and creative and to flow.

I agree with ink_on_fire. The way the poem flows is part of poetry. The words chosen and the way one writes it helps the flow of the poem.

But I do believe that all poetry doesn't have to have a structure. There are some that do, like haikus and sonnets, and there are some that don't--like free verse poems.

Summerless <3~

It depends on your definition of structure. If you mean it has set rhythm, set rhyme, it fits into places, so forth, then no a poem doesn't need that. That's obvious by the many successful poets out there who wrote in mostly free verse.

But I even think free verse has a structure. Structure is also about your flow (like said above, so I won't go into it), where you break your lines, how long your lines are, where your stanza breaks, how long your stanzas are.

I can't really think of an example. Perhaps some poems are written randomly, but when I write, I consider the line break, and how that gap and eye movement might cause my reader to see things differently. Word play is great when it is in between a line break.

In that sense, all poetry needs structure. If you're just writing and there is no thought as to where you break your lines, or where you stop your sentence, then you aren't working hard enough at poetry. True, it comes from ones soul, but sometimes, the soul sucks at writing, and it needs to be edited before it's good. Something people don't always like to hear is the poetry is for the reader, not the write. You need to structure it so your reader receives it in the way you want. Otherwise, the poem is random and meaningless.

Set rhythm? What does that even mean?

Yes, poetry needs rhythm. It needs to beat on the heart like a drum. That doesn't mean it needs to be seven syllables per line. You'll know when the rhythm is right.

And although the content of poetry is important, the concrete poets emphasized and important point: the structure can be utilized for the same importance. And so can all aspects of the poem. If you sort of take a Native American approach to poetry, and utilize every part of the buffalo, your poems will be holistic and connected.

I think it's rather like a human body. Got the same bones in it whether it's dancing ballet or swing.

I'm not really sure what to think of concrete art. Sometimes it's interesting to think about. Sometimes it's just bull.

There are many, that would agree with you. The thought and sentiment of the poem is the key aspect. alas, if it does not have some kind of basic structure or flow - the reader will not enjoy it, let alone finish it.