ronb@tekgds.UUCP (Ron Blair) (09/18/83)
Blank verse is OK. It is not reasonable to expect THE great poem to appear in this net. Poetry here expresses a person's perception of something. It is not required to rhyme that perception. Form of any sort forced on a poet (fledgling or not) is a type of censorship or at least intimidation. Since most poetry is quite personal, this intimidation only serves to keep some people off the net. We might as well discuss GOTO's. The real proof is whether or not the poem *works*. Does it communicate the perception motivating the poem? I, for one, am very interested in these perceptions because the people generating them have much in common with me by virtue of the net and all that implies. I encourage constructive criticism of my poetry just as I encourage the same of my computer programs - perhaps it will help me better succeed next time or correct a flaw. However, I doubt the worth of someone telling me I HAVE to do something his/her way. It seems to close creative doors. Even if s/he is right there is sometimes a need to make mistakes in a non-threatening environment. My assumption is that this net is such an environment. Wrong? (tektronix!tekgds!ronb) Ron Blair
rccall@dartvax.UUCP (09/19/83)
I must say that I agree with "dann" for the most part
about blank verse. The problem with it is that everybody
writes it -- and thinks that
just by throwing
a few lines on a page
it is possible for one to create
a masterful work of art
especially
if you don't capitalize
at all.
Well, let's face it -- that's just not the case. If anything,
blank verse makes VERY high demands on poets, since there's no
underlying structure to give the poem any coherence and/or
consistency. Not that there isn't any GOOD blank verse --
check out Theodore Roethke sometime -- but also observe
that his poems are very carefully crafted in order to achieve
their effects.
Blank verse, I think, is (or should be) just as demanding and
difficult to write as rhymed, metered verse. If more people
would realize that, we'd suffer a lot less in reading it.
P.S. I must add that in speaking of "Blank verse," I really
mean "Free verse" -- technically, blank verse is metered
(iambic pentameter) and so at least it has structure, even
if it is not rhymed.rccall@dartvax.UUCP (09/19/83)
Oops! I forgot to include my path name with that last bit
on blank verse. Here it is now, in case anyone out there
feels inclined to respond:
decvax!dartvax!rccallljs@hlhop.UUCP (Lotta Stallman) (09/21/83)
I always thought blank verse was unrhymed iambic pentameter, a la Shakespeare. What you guys are talking about is FREE VERSE. Lotta Stallman BTL Short Hills