| Author | Message | ||
| Michael Reed Samford
Valued Member Username: mikesamford Post Number: 187 Registered: 03-2008 |
A few years ago when I first started to read and write poetry, I read a lot of fixed form poetry, Hopkins, Poe, Frost, and the like. I used the old French fixed forms a lot when I started to write. I was however just looking for a way to learn to read and write better. Still I think the fixed forms helped me to understand meter, to learn about different types of meter footing, to scan and how to adjust line and paragraph spaces. I also learned about many poetic terms and techniques which I am sure could have been learned without forms. It is my belief (and I may be alone in it,) that fixed form poetry is a one aspect of poetry that all poets should learn and master, if that is a possibility. Still I understand there is not much you can do with them after they are written. They are not the type of poetry that will sell or help build a fan base. I know of only one magazine that publishes them and that is “Trellis” which is new, not being around for a year yet. After my experience with fixed forms I was just wondering how the other poets here (Fine writers all) If they have or still do use form poetry, and if anyone suggest to new writers to use them? (Message edited by mikesamford on May 02, 2008) Hope to help. | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 29720 Registered: 11-1998 |
It's been my experience, Michael, that what you've outlined here is true. People still read form and people still practice it, but it's a much, much smaller segment of the market. And so what you've said as a conclusion is also true -- "there is not much you can do with them after they are written." That's not to say there are no venues, just that the majority of journals don't accept form or rhyme unless it's exceptionally well composed. However, some journals do publish special themed issues, forms (sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, etc.) being one of those themes. Every once in a while Stirring (whom I work for) does publish a themed issue on forms. So, you can save the forms you've written to submit when a mag announces a themed issue. And Stirring is not opposed to submissions of traditional forms for our regular issues, but they have to be of superior quality, and they do not represent the majority of our submissions or acceptances. Form and end-rhyme have been pretty much relegated to the classroom these days. They are still wonderful for learning poetic technique, as you noted. And much that is good about them (meter, sound, etc.) can still be applied to free verse. So it's very worthwhile learning and practicing form because it will improve your poetry overall. Many pros still do write in form, but you'll most likely find it's not a major portion of their body of work. You'll find it in their chapbooks and books, but it's usually interspersed in tiny spaces beside the free verse, which is normally taking center stage. Love, M | ||
| tristan watts
Member Username: cementcoveredcherries Post Number: 51 Registered: 04-2008 |
Hi Michael, I remember in my OAC writers craft class a few assignments were based on analysing and writing form poetry. I think that class was the last of my experience with writing that style. I love the writers that you mentioned! For me, I have found most of my way through free verse. I do not know if it’s that I am just most comfortable with it or prefer it over writing styles. Think it might be time to try and write one form poem and see how it goes? After all writing is about experimentation. N’est-ce pas? Cheers, Tristan Watts "You will hardly know who I am or what I mean" ~ Walt Whitman | ||
| Ros Badcoe (Rosemary)
Valued Member Username: endolith Post Number: 177 Registered: 03-2008 |
I thought I'd read that forms were making something of a comeback - but that may be over here rather than with you - Wendy Cope over here writes villanelles, triolets etc. There are certainly web sites devoted to some types, e.g. sonnnets, so these things are still being written. There's also this book from 2002: An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art (Paperback) ed. Annie Finch. | ||
| W.F. Roby
Valued Member Username: wfroby Post Number: 191 Registered: 03-2008 |
Formal poetry is quite popular. Here is a HUGE LIST of formal-friendly journals. http://www.ramblingrose.com/poetry/formalpubs.html I'm confused by your question "Does anyone write in forms anymore?" -- makes me wonder how much contemporary poetry you're actually reading. I see formal work all over the place, viz Billy Collins and his Paradelle joke-form incident. Couldn't happen in a poetry world devoid of form . . . | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 29727 Registered: 11-1998 |
Thanks for the link, WF. I'm sure it will come in very handy for those looking for venues for their works in form. Given the Poets Market lists 1600+ journals, mags, etc. for poetry, I wouldn't exactly call this list HUGE at roughly 4.5% of the total market (and there are 14 discontinued/closed-to-submissions mags on it), but it proves that a market for form does indeed exist. Again, thanks for the link. Love, M | ||
| Michael Reed Samford
Valued Member Username: mikesamford Post Number: 190 Registered: 03-2008 |
Oh! WF I don’t read much fixed form anymore, I stumble across them, and still enjoy the good ones, but I still write in them from time to time. My point is that they seem to be such a good learning tool that it seems they would be good advice for writers that are just starting out in poetry. But here and other workshops I visit seem to never recommend them. Of course reading the contemporary poets is a must also (and more enjoyable.) Thanks for the link -I will check some of them out. I have a ton of old forms that I thought I should just get rid of. (Message edited by mikesamford on May 02, 2008) Hope to help. | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 23525 Registered: 07-2001 |
Michael, write in forms here or elsewhere. The tent is large enough to cover everything you can imagine as a form. The problem I have with much of what are called forms, including some of my own, is that they often ignore the form and seem forced... But I enjoy many of the shorts - tanka, ku, lims, short songs, cinqs - though some who do forms see those as formless. I do not enjoy sestina and cannot appreciate some of the round styles, but a well-down sonnet is a beautiful as a Peace rose... Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 29728 Registered: 11-1998 |
The topic of traditional forms comes up quite a bit here at Wild, Michael. You might want to take a stroll through the WPF Library: NATUROPATHY: Poetry Forms to see if there's any information in there that would be of interest to you. Love, M | ||
| David C.
Valued Member Username: david_shay_mish Post Number: 197 Registered: 07-2007 |
A pantoum is a damnable thing. And (pace the admirable Ros) Wendy Cope would put me off formal verse (or anything) for life. | ||
| Ros Badcoe (Rosemary)
Valued Member Username: endolith Post Number: 180 Registered: 03-2008 |
*grin* David. I think she can be quite clever, but not exactly T S Eliot, I agree. Pantoums? I think it's quite fun but very difficult to do anything meaningful with the forms that repeat so much. | ||
| Michael Reed Samford
Valued Member Username: mikesamford Post Number: 191 Registered: 03-2008 |
Thanks M, I will check it out! Hope to help. | ||
| tristan watts
Member Username: cementcoveredcherries Post Number: 56 Registered: 04-2008 |
Hi Michael, Looks like you have started "form-a-palooza" Thanks for that, read a couple of pieces this afternoon. Ching! Ching! Tristan Watts "You will hardly know who I am or what I mean" ~ Walt Whitman |
