llfe@hound.UUCP (L.FENG) (02/19/85)
I would like to start some discussion on "what constitutes a good poem."
There are a number of things that have to be defined before we can start
talking about poems, but I think that this can lead to an interesting
discussion. First, we need to define good. Therefore, in English poetry,
Questions:
1) what is the purpose of a poem?
Is it social comment?
Is it self expression?
Is it a literary exercise?
Is it something else?
Is it a combination of things? If so, what?
2) what are the various forms of poetry?
What are the various rules (meter, rhyme, alliteration) for the forms?
Is there a "free" form with NO rules?
Does it matter?
3) from the above, can we determine a set of rules that
defines "good poetry," realizing that there will always
be poetry that is good that falls outside of our rules?
What other questions can we ask?
--
From the lunch hour of hound!llfe.