Poetry and Poems

For example, the number of lines in a stanza and the number of stanzas in a poem? I’m doing The Moose by Elizabeth Bishop and there are 28 stanzas in the poem with 6 lines in each.

The structure of the poem, a good poem, supports the style and message of the poem. Nursery rhymes, with their paired couplets, are meant to sound light and memorable…you wouldn’t try to read "The Moose" to a class of First Graders and expect to keep their attention. By the same token, Nursery Rhymes sound too "rhymy" on most adult ears. The Moose is written in a poetic narrative, but with some structure. In addition to the six line pattern, there is a varying rhyme scheme. The varied pattern of this rhyme scheme keeps the poem from becoming too predictable, yet the rhymes that do exist keep your ear in waiting for the next rhyme. The lack of strict pattern in rhyme and meter also allows the poet a wider choice of words so that details are not sacrificed to form. The number of stanzas are less important than the number of lines in each stanza. The number of lines keeps the poem from being too choppy (as it might sound in only 4 lines) and allows the rhyme pattern to wander past the fourth line. The number of stanzas is determined by how long it takes to tell the story…but to keep the audience’s interest for 28 stanzas, the poet needed to find a form that would not tire the audience’s ear, yet keep their attention. A six line stanza with varying form is very good way to achieve this result.

Hope this helps

I am doing a project for my physical science class about the element Berkelium. One of things I got to do is make a poem about Berkelium. Anyone know how to start it out??(the poem has to be 10 lines)Can anyone give me a line or two? I am going to make the poem talk about how useless Berkelium is(it really dosent have any value and really no uses) any ideas on how to do it?

This is VERY LAME i know

But you did sound desperate – and I tried!!!

An atomic number of 97!
Said the professor to his Berkley brethen
With melting and boiling points still unknown
“It’s worthless”, the students bemoan

Its metallic and radioactive
But not flashy enough to keep an audience captive
Though silver in colour
It’s really much duller

I need to write a poem, but need more information on the format of a Blues poem or Affirmation poem. What exactly is a blues and affirmation poem? HELP!

Poetic Form: Blues Poem

One of the most popular forms of American poetry, the blues poem stems from the African American oral tradition and the musical tradition of the blues. A blues poem typically takes on themes such as struggle, despair, and sex. It often (but not necessarily) follows a form, in which a statement is made in the first line, a variation is given in the second line, and an ironic alternative is declared in the third line.

African-American writer Ralph Ellison said that although the blues are often about struggle and depression, they are also full of determination to overcome difficulty "through sheer toughness of spirit." This resilience in the face of hardship is one of the hallmarks of the blues poem.

Some of the great blues poets include Sterling A. Brown, James Weldon Johnson, and Langston Hughes. The title poem of Hughes’ first book, The Weary Blues, is also an excellent example of a blues poem. It begins:

"Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway . . . "Another example is Brown’s poem "Riverbank Blues," which begins:

"A man git his feet set in a sticky mudbank,
A man git dis yellow water in his blood,
No need for hopin’, no need for doin’,
Muddy streams keep him fixed for good."Contemporary poet Kevin Young is continuing the tradition; his most recent book, Jelly Roll, is a collection that draws heavily on the blues tradition. Young is the editor of the recent anthology, Blues poems.

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Write an Instant "Writer’s Affirmation" Poem

Method:
Line 1 I am creative
Line 2 I value
Line 3 I write
Line 4 I trust
Line 5 I honor
Line 6 I give voice to
Line 7 I give voice to
Line 8 I am
Line 9 I make
Line 10 I hold
Line 11 I am safe writing on the page
Line 12 I make my home a place to write

Sample: I am creative
I value the artist in me
I write what’s in my heart and head
I trust the nature of my truth
I honor my kind audience
I give voice to what haunts
I give voice to what heals
I am open to inspiration
I make a place for creative expression
I hold the outcome in high esteem
I am safe writing on the page
I make my home a place to write

Okay, so here’s the deal. We have to read poems in front of our class that we wrote, and the person with the best poem wins. I actually think my poem has a chance to win, but i don’t want to win. How do i make my poem seem terrible?

You should mumble but don’t make a big deal about so that way no one listens. If no one is listening then you can’t win!

Is there a poem that you love so much that you would possibly get it tattooed on your body? If so what poem would it be?
I do want a tattoo of a poem but I was just wondering what other people would want, not necessarily to give me ideas but just to see other people’s favorite poem.

I would get the lyrics "Take this to your grave, I’ll take it to mine."

:]

I need a good poem, with a meaningful message but also has a lot of images. Poetic techniques such as similes and metaphors should also be in the poem.
Oh and it should preferably be a song (lyrics)…
Oh and try and avoid love as the theme although if the poem has a lot of images and good similies and metaphors than ok >.<

How about Ted Hughes’ ,Song?

Song

O lady, when the tipped cup of the moon blessed you
You became soft fire with a cloud’s grace;
The difficult stars swam for eyes in your face;
You stood, and your shadow was my place:
You turned, your shadow turned to ice
O my lady.

O lady, when the sea caressed you
You were a marble of foam, but dumb.
When will the stone open its tomb?
When will the waves give over their foam?
You will not die, nor come home,
O my lady.

O lady, when the wind kissed you
You made him music for you were a shaped shell.
I follow the waters and the wind still
Since my heart heard it and all to pieces fell
Which your lovers stole, meaning ill,
O my lady.

O lady, consider when I shall have lost you
The moon’s full hands, scattering waste,
The sea’s hands, dark from the world’s breast,
The world’s decay where the wind’s hands have passed,
And my head, worn out with love, at rest
In my hands, and my hands full of dust,
O my lady.

When you consider that this was written when Hughes was only sixteen it is amazing. But any poet would be blessed to produce work such as this whatever their age. This poem is packed full of imagery with the metaphor running through and holding the whole together.

I have to write a comparison of any poem I like describing how it relates to a story in genesis. It doesn’t have to be immediately obvious. Any ideas welcome. Please help. Please state poem, author and what story it relates to.

Carpetbaggers. (Peter Gabriel, 1975)

I’m supposed to pick a poem to present to the class, but I’m not sure of which one to do. I kind of want to do Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabelle Lee because I just like it, but I don’t think it would be a good one to present to the class. Anybody have any suggestions for poems?

Edgar Allan Poe is a great poet to do something like that on. Another good poem is The Jabberwocky

I remember reading a poem, a Russian poem, I believe, and it said how beautiful it was for us to see the turning colors and the falling of dying leaves. The poet then asks the question: to whom is our death beautiful? Does anyone know what poem this is?

Sounds like Autumn Views by Balys Sruoga.

I am planning on writing a book report on a biography of the poet William Shakespeare. For the report, I need to state my favorite poem written by that poet. But, unfortunately, there are so many poems written by him, and I am unable to comprehend and read them all. Are there any Shakespeare fans out there? Could you recommend a few poems for me? I like poems about loss, death, or some sort of sorrow. I feel they are most favorable.

I suggest you go with one of the sonnets. They are short and to the point. Sonnet #30 is a good one. I interpret as someone thinking about all the bad things that have happened to them, sinking more and more into a depression, but then at the end he remembers a dear friend and feels better. Or, you could go with Sonnet #150. It seems to be saying "Why do I love you? You are such a b*stard. Where do you get this power over me? Since you are so nasty, and I am better than you, you should really love me. Why don’t you?" The sonnets can mean a lot of different things depending on how you interpret them, which is fun.