The “rules” of poetry
When people first hear the word poetry…
beside the notion of eloquent language and the concept of emotional sensitivity coming to mind, they might often think about this form of literature as being filled with rules and structural regulations.
While classically poetry has had it’s share of rigidity and intense structure, this is not always necessarily the case. For example, slam poetry would probably drive someone from the Renaissance era insane.
Personally, I believe that good poetry is not so much about structure and form as it is about emotion and the ability to convey a concept not easily stated in any other way. Hence the reason that I, and many others, do not always follow the so-called rules.
First and foremost, poetry is an art and as such should not be constrained. We all need to have our own rules to some extent.
My personal rules and guidelines
1. I either use rhyme or not. It seems clumsy and awkward to switch between the two in the same poem.
2. When I use rhyme, I tend to rhyme in a pattern of matching up either the first and third/second and fourth lines or a stanza of lines one and two then three and four.
3. I generally write 3-5 line stanzas
4. Modern free verse has always been a great stylistic friend
5. I rarely punctuate except for emphasis with a question mark or exclamation point or to separate items in a series with a comma
I figure hey, what the heck? After all, E.E. Cummings was known for his unorthodox and grammatically flexible style while the great William Shakespeare literally made up hundreds if not thousands of words.
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