Define Poem

[Tracalero]

What is poetry in your opinion? After seeing so much crap on here, I'm curious as to what constitutes 'poetry'? I've graduated high school and college, so I had to read a decent amount of poetry. IMO, its some at the following:

1) Rhyming (style can vary, but some is nice) Some 'modern' poetry eschews rhyming, but bah...

2) Flow (ie, a 15 word line should be a progression of the previous line or flow into the next...not just stretch so you can sneak a rhyming word) Look up "Iambic pentameter" if you want to get advanced...

3) Have a format (it should NOT be a paragraph)

4) Have correct spelling - sometimes you won't for emphasis, but chit some of y'all make me cry

5) Imagery would be nice.

6) Stylistic language

7) Overall moving - so much stuff here just says its point w/o conveying the emotion

Not all that of that is needed, but it might help to keep those things in mind. Any questions, ask me...

 

[chicano]

The one I really had a problem with was "rhyming". Not every poem has to rhyme to be good, there is quite a few poetry out there that is well written without it having to rhyme at the end of every line..

You did however left out originality. Now what would poetry be if it wasn't original, there is just way too much poetry that comes out the same, and you just get tired of seeing the same things getting posted over and over (broken hearts, revenge, deah of a loved one, etc) it has to be original in order for it to cacth the reader's attention, right?

But the most important thing you forgot to mention is that in order for you to be a good poet, you have to write from your heart, you need to express yourself and let out the emotions within you. Not just write at random but to write what your feeling inside, otherwise it comes out dull and boring, or you can often tell when a poem doesn't have a specific spark to it. Usually meaning it really wasn't put up to much effort.

I disagree with you saying that there is a lot of crappy poetry up on here. I mean don't get me wrong, there are a few poems posted up that are considered garbage in my point of view, but most of them are well thought of and organized.

 

[Tracalero]

Even though you don't agree, thanks for the response...

Rhyming is a personal preference of mine, hence the acknoweldgement that it doesn't have to

I don't think that the subject matter *can* be original...there are a few overarching themes of human life (love, heartbreak, the joy of birth, the pain of death), but I think thats where imagery comes in since 10 people could write about the same thing but in different ways.

I think most people here do write from their hearts, so I didn't put that one.