Skip to main content

Celebrating Syllables -Sounds Good To Me!

In recent years, I have explored a surprising number of poetry forms that rely on syllables for their structure. Among the forms I have featured on these pages you will find -Haiku, Tanka, Dodoitsu, Nonet, Etheree, Shadorma, Clogyrnach, Kimo and Naani poems. 

All of these poetry forms require the use of pre-determined syllable rules to give them individual identity. Sound good?

Of course, there are many more poetry forms that use syllables - some traditional, others more recently invented. They deserve my further attention. 

I realize I have a lot more of the poetry terrain to explore. I find that an exciting prospect...

Right now, though, I am keen to revisit Etheree poems!

 They remind me of staircases when complete. I enjoy the challenge they present. If you haven't tried Etheree poems before, please consider them as a new poetry project!




It is once again, Poetry Friday and our genial host this week is Elisabeth Norton  at Unexpected Intersections. Elisabeth shares one of her poems focus on her day and the various decisions one makes in the course of negotiating our respective lives. Please visit Elisabeth's post and also gain access to poet's from all around the globe!





Comments

  1. Ooh this is a form I'm going to have to try! I like that you gave us two examples. In the second poem, I particularly like this line: Scent pours out recklessly. What a wonderful description of the experience of walking past a blooming scented plant on a summer's day! Thanks for sharing these today - you always inspire me with the poetic forms you feature in your poetry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Elisabeth. It is always gratifying when someone else gains some inpsiration from your humble efforts. Good luck with your Etheree efforts!

      Delete
  2. Oh, interesting Alan. I had not heard of this poetic form. I love structured forms as I feel they give my creativity a workout. Thanks for sharing this! I love your words and pictures shared here especially Storm in the Night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the notion of creativity work-outs Tim. Thank you for your kind response. Much appreciated.

      Delete
  3. oooooh, it's been a while since I've tried one of these...yours are so well crafted. You make me want to give writing etherees a try. Now, I need a good thunder storm to write a poem like your first. I love the feels in that poem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda, as always, I very much appreciate your feedback. Hope the weather co-operates with your desire to revisit an Etheree.

      Delete
  4. I love etherees (and nonets)! Yours are spot on, with a flow that doesn't even hint at all the syllable counting and word testing that must have gone into each of them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary Lee, only those with a deep understanding of poetry would appreciate all the hidden work involved in making a poem flow across and down a page. You are one such person, and I very much value your insightful comments. Thank you.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for both of these poems Alan, Your "Storm in the Night" moves me along, and I love your tantalizing "NATURAL SCENTS" POEM, nature and all its wonders always draw me in, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad you were drawn in to these poems, Michelle. Like you, I am quite drawn to natural wonders.

      Delete
  6. Your Storm etheree 'struck' me, Alan. Bravo on both. :)
    (from Bridget)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Bridget. May I lend you an umbrella?

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.  I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. N...

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

  This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully  @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant.  A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...