Wikipedia says that poetry is a “form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and meter—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.” Let me break it down for you.
Poetry, like all the other literature, is a form of expression. It uses words and phrases in the most artistic way possible to convey whatever the poet wants to convey. It also uses several figures of speech, some literary devices, and various techniques like rhyming scheme, meter, etc., to achieve its purpose. Poetry is an aesthetic in itself.
Who Is Poetry For?
There are several misconceptions about poetry in various aspects-like how to determine its worth, how to analyze it, how to savor it, etc. The misconceptions are also often just controversies and debates. Regardless, the most common one among them all is that poetry is only for scholars, academicians, or artists.
And that’s just false. Because poetry is for everyone. It is for anyone who will have it. Anyone who will hold it close to them, caress it, and nurture it. So, I write this article today, hoping that someone who has not trained in the whims of poetry writing, will someday find some sort of guidance for their endeavor here.
A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Poetry
If you want to write poetry professionally, there are several resources out there to help you out. They’ll study the greatest works of poetry, analyze them, and snavel away their secrets to you.
These resources will also help you if you have already been writing poetry for some time and want to improve your writing. But if you are just starting out, and are feeling a little lost, then the below-given tips are for you.
Now before we go any further, know that writing is a way of living. It’s not just a hobby, or a craft, or even a profession. It’s simply a way of living. And to live like this means to be aware of one’s self, to truly see the world and everything in it, and to be constantly awake.
It means to notice the growing weariness of your front door, to see the light illuminate the particles of dust on your table and dance with them, to hear the slight hitch in your lover’s voice, and more.
Finally, writing means to note all of these things in your mind and dwell over them so that when the time comes, they’ll spill out of you like the scorching waves of Mount Vesuvius.
Now, there are some techniques you can use to enhance them while spilling out these words on the paper. They are–topic, word choice, sound, metaphor, and imagery, the five basic needs to write a good poem.
Topic
You can write poetry about anything and everything. Ranging from themes like love, betrayal, and wonder to stories of anguish, torment, and adventure. You can even write poetry about the simple acts of living like making coffee, waking up from sleep, and walking down the street.
Thomas Gray once said that “Poetry is thoughts that breathe and words that burn”. And he was right. Any thought of yours that you can give a unique perspective to can become a poem. Any action that adds to a much larger theme or a plot can be a poem too.
You can write poetry about whatever you want, as long as you care about it, and write it meaningfully. Let me give you some examples.
I blink, as my breath falters and my knees quiver,
“One last time”, my brain whispers.
With shaking hands clutching the table, I rise slowly,
“One last time”, I whisper back.
- Emily Wran
The topic here is the struggle. To take the poem in literal terms the protagonist here seems to be trying to get up from the ground. But the poem might also be symbolizing the internal struggle of not giving up. The essence of this poem is in its dramatic execution and the promise of a backstory.
What’s Heaven?
Johnny Cash said it was coffee with the women he loves
On a Sunday morning,
And my pastor says it’s a metaphysical place
With no suffering,
But I would settle for a bit of both right now.
- Poetry Bandit
Just some thoughts put together meaningfully. The poem shows a beautiful yearning for love and happiness or peace. The essence of this poem lies in its simplicity.
Word Choice
Let’s look at some examples first.
The airplanes zoomed across the dark clouds
Dust and heat filled the room.
The girl sat under the table clenching her knees to her chest,
“Someone will save me,” she whimpered, “Someone has to.”
The airplanes flew across the dark sky
Brown air filled her lungs and burnt her skin
From under the table came a whimper,
“Someone will save me. Someone has to.”
(Resource–Emily Wran)
There are three basic rules for choosing words while writing poetry. First, ‘more words’ does not mean a better poem. While writing poetry, people are encouraged to use as few words as possible.
Second, ‘big words’ do not mean a better poem. And when I say big words, I mean words you found in a thesaurus or with the help of google. Just because a word looks complex and seems more standard, does not mean that it will improve your poem. Sometimes simple words do the trick sufficiently enough.
This is not to say that don’t use alternative words at all. Use them, but according to the needs. And that’s our third rule. Words chosen change according to requirement.
Maybe ‘paused’ is a better word than ‘waiting’ when you need to show a frozen frame. Maybe the word ‘collapsing’ has a more dramatic effect than ‘falling’. Choose your words wisely. And improve your vocabulary. That helps a lot more than you could ever imagine.
Sound
You don’t have to rhyme every line in your poetry. Wanting to write in a strict rhyme scheme can adversely affect your word choice and creativity. So, instead, what you can do is use some other options to achieve that appealing auditory effect of poems.
Repetition - It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. Repetition occurs in many forms and is done for many reasons. As said earlier, repetition can be of words or phrases, and sometimes even sounds. Some examples are:
All for one and one for all!
Who shall watch the watchmen?
This article by Litcharts discusses the forms and uses of repetition, in detail.
Punctuation–We all know punctuation, and hence we also that it can make or break a sentence. Right pauses and right enunciations will not only add to the beauty of poetry, they’ll create it themselves. For example:
Life is not a joke.
Those who live know,
it is sometimes a yoke.
Life is not a joke!
Those who live know.
It is sometimes a Yoke!
(Resource–Anonymous)
Metaphor
We have all known what a metaphor is since our sixth grade. Or perhaps at an even younger age. A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two things and states one thing is another, to help explain an idea or show hidden similarities. While metaphors are the jewels of writing, they are not to be taken literally.
Metaphors add to the beauty of the poem and help make them more intriguing. Some example of metaphors are–
Love is a battlefield.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
- As You Like It, William Shakespeare
Remember those walls I built / Well, baby, they're tumbling down / And they didn't even put up a fight / They didn't even make a sound
- “Halo”, Beyoncé
Imagery
Imagery is a literary device that refers to the use of figurative language that appeals to one of the five senses. It is said that the more imagery there is in a poem, the more a reader will connect to it.
Also, it is to be noted that imagery can appeal to the reader’s sense of motion or movement, and internal sensations, feelings, and emotions, such as fatigue, thirst, fear, love, loneliness, despair, too.
Don’t write the obvious things, instead, put yourself in the moment, and tell me what you see, what do you hear, what does the air taste like, what’s that fragrance coming from the back of the room, are there goosebumps on your skin?
You don’t just have to describe the surroundings. Imagery can be of anything, as long as it appeals to the readers’ senses or internal states. For example- The dog’s fur is silky.
Sparks exploded beneath my skin where he touched me.
“If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
- Twelfth Night
Focusing on beautiful, crisp imagery rather than strictly relying on the sound and structure of the poem, fares a lot better in the long term.
In the End
Writing poetry has no rules. There is no one way that you need to write. It cannot be restricted. So just pick up your pen and get to it.
Robert Frost said that “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness”. And when you feel what he says, forget everything else and just write. You can refine your poem later. Remember, an empty page cannot be edited. So first, write something.
You’ll improve gradually, with a lot of help and guidance. Don’t compare yourself with those who have already made a name for themselves. In fact, don’t compare yourself with anybody. Move at your own pace. And learn.
Know that writing poetry is an extremely personal affair. What one person might like, the other might despise it. Write poetry for yourself first. Don’t care what anybody else will say about it. If you are just starting, listen to me - Write poetry as you know it and how you know it.
Written By - Chandana. C. k
Edited By - Nidhi Verma
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