The Everything Writing Poetry Book (47 page)

Sarabande Books
Sarah Gorham, President and Editor in Chief
2234 Dundee Rd., Suite 200, Louisville, KY 40205
www.SarabandeBooks.org

Reading List

The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
, by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 1997.

Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuan Huong
, translated by John Balaban, Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 2000.

Blue Earth
, by Aliki Barnstone, Iris Press, Oak Ridge, TN, 2004.

Algebra of Night: New & Selected Poems, 1948–1998
, by Willis Barnstone, Sheep Meadow Press, Riverdale-on-Hudson, NY, 1999.

Life Watch
, by Willis Barnstone, BOA Editions, Rochester, NY 2003.

Eros, Eros, Eros: Odysseas Elytis, Selected and Last Poems
, translated by Olga Broumas, Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 1998.

Lovers in the Used World
, by Gillian Conoley Carnegie Mellon University Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2001.

Creating Poetry
, by John Drury Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH, 1991.

Domestic Weather
, by Christine Boyka Kluge, Uccelli Press, Seattle, WA 2004.

Teaching Bones to Fly
, by Christine Boyka Kluge, The Bitter Oleander Press, Fayetteville, NY, 2003.

Keeper
, by Jeff Knorr, Mammoth Books, DuBois, PA 2004.

Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Poetry and Fiction
, by Jeff Knorr and Tim Schell, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2000.

The River Sings: An Introduction to Poetry
, by Jeff Knorr, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2003.

Standing Up to the Day
, by Jeff Knorr, Pecan Grove Press, San Antonio, TX, 1999.

A Writer's Country: A Collection of Fiction and Poetry
, by Jeff Knorr and Tim Schell, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001.

Smoke
, by Dorianne Laux, BOA Editions, Rochester, NY, 2000.

My Town
, by David Lee, Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 1995.

My Father's Martial Art
, by Stephen S. N. Liu, University of Nevada Press, Reno, NV, 2000.

Bat Ode
, by Jeredith Merrin, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2001.

In Far Corners
, by Neide Messer, Confluence Press, Lewiston, ID, 1990.

Overtime
, by Joseph Millar, Eastern Washington University Press, Spokane, WA, 2001.

Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing
, by Harry R. Noden, Boynton/Cook Publishers, Portsmouth, NH, 1999.

Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses
, by Alberto Ríos, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 1990.

This Time: New and Selected Poems
, by Gerald Stern, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 1998.

In the Next Galaxy
, by Ruth Stone, Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 2002.

Dr. Invisible & Mr. Hide
, by Charles Harper Webb, Pearl Editions, Long Beach, CA, 1998.

Liver
, by Charles Harper Webb, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, 1999.

Reading the Water
, by Charles Harper Webb, Northeastern University Press, Boston, MA, 1997.

Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology
, edited by Charles Harper Webb, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA, 2002.

Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies
, by Charles Harper Webb, BOA Editions, Rochester, NY, 2001.

Reign of Snakes
, by Robert Wrigley Penguin Books, New York, NY, 1999.

Appendix B
Glossary of Terms

alliteration:

This is the repetition of sounds at the beginning of words. The
b
sounds in “big bad bear” create alliteration.

assonance:

Similar vowel sounds (like the
a
sound in “sad ant tragedy”) create
assonance
.

ballad:

A narrative poem written in an iambic foot pattern, quatrains, a syllable count of 8-6-8-6, and a rhyme scheme of XAXA or ABAB.

bouts-rimés:

A poetic form created from a list of words. All of the words on the list appear at the ends of the lines in the poem.

closed form:

Any poetic form governed by rules for rhyming, meter, foot pattern, syllable count, or alliteration.

consonance:

Similar consonant sounds (like the
d
sound in “bad dog saddle”) create
consonance
.

couplet:

Two consecutive lines of poetry. Also a stanza of two lines.

dramatic poetry:

A poem that relies on the exchange of dialogue between two or more characters.

enjambment:

A line break that occurs in the middle of a sentence or phrase, as opposed to
end-stopped lines
, which break where a sentence or phrase breaks.

epic:

An ancient narrative form that depends on the devices of storytelling (plot, character, setting, and point of view).

feminine rhyme:

Also called
falling rhyme
. A rhyme that falls on unstressed syllables. An example is
singing/ringing
.

figures of speech:

Any of a number of language tools that can add polish to the language of a poem. Some of the figures of speech include
metaphor, simile, synecdoche, metonomy, puns, onomatopoeia
, and
paradox
.

foot:

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. A foot has either two or three syllables. The eight most used foot patterns in English poetics are the
iamb
, the
trochee
, the
spondee
, the
pyrrhic
, the
anapest
, the
dactyl
, the
amphibrach
, and the
tribrach
.

free verse:

The most common open-form poem. It does not depend on any patterns of rhyme, meter, foot pattern, syllable count, line length, or stanza shape.

ghazal:

A Middle Eastern poem. Originally a closed form, many of its rules have been relaxed. Currently it is a poem of five to twelve couplets.

haiku:

A Japanese form of poetry governed by a strict line and syllable count (three lines, 5-7-5 syllables). Its central image may be governed by a
sentinel word
, an image recalling a season and giving the poem its emotional charge.

lyric poetry:

Poetry that concentrates on an image, an emotion, or an argument. It is usually short, and it can be either closed or open in form.

masculine rhyme:

Also called
rising rhyme
. A rhyme that falls on a stressed syllable. An example is
before/restore
.

meter:

In closed-form verse, the measure of feet in a line. If a line has three feet, then it is called
trimeter
. The metric measures are
monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter
, and
octometer
.

monologue:

A poem in which a speaker addresses a listener or speaks within his or her own mind. No one responds to this speaker.

narrative poetry:

Poetry that has a narrative—a narrator and a story. The narrative can be quite long and can come in traditional forms, such as the epic or the ballad.

occasional verse:

A poem written about or for a special occasion, such as a birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, a death, or a historical event.

octave:

An eight-line stanza or the first eight lines of an Italian sonnet.

ode:

Originally an element of Greek drama or a song of praise, the ode later became a meditation. It is also traditionally a closed form, though it no longer follows a strict rhyme or meter.

open form:

Any poetic form that does not follow the restrictions placed upon closed-form verse. The poet may ignore the needs of rhyme, meter, and such and alter the shapes of the lines and stanzas to create a pleasing effect.

pantoum:

A Malayan form that repeats the second and fourth lines of each stanza in a pattern throughout the poem. The pantoum is written in quatrains.

quatrain:

A stanza of four lines.

rhyme:

A pattern of repeated sounds at the ends of words. You can create true rhymes
(rise/prize)
, slant rhymes
(sing/tang)
, or eye rhymes
(love/prove)
. Rhymes are usually placed at the ends of lines, though you may also work with
internal rhymes
. The pattern of rhymes in a poem is called a
rhyme scheme
.

scansion:

The process of analyzing the foot pattern, meter, and rhyme scheme of a poem.

schemes of repetition:

Methods of repeating words that create a pleasing effect. Some of the schemes include
anaphora, epistrophe, epanalepsis, anadiplosis, antimetabole, chiasmus
, and
polyptoton
.

sestet:

A six-line stanza or the last six lines of an Italian sonnet.

sestina:

A poetic form that repeats six words in a set pattern at the ends of the lines. The poem has six stanzas of six lines and a final stanza (the
envoi
) of three lines.

sonnet:

A popular poetic form of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. Two traditional forms are the
Italian sonnet
and the
English sonnet
.

speaker:

A persona created by the poet to be the voice through which a reader experiences a poem.

stanza:

A grouping of lines within a poem into a unit, similar to the paragraph in prose.

stressed syllable:

A syllable that is voiced with more emphasis. The second syllable in the word
reTURN
is stressed.

symbol:

An image, object, person, or action that has meaning beyond itself. A white flag, for example, may symbolize surrender.

tercet:

A three-line stanza.

unstressed syllable:

A syllable that is spoken with less emphasis. The first syllable in the word
reTURN
is unstressed.

verse:

Another word for poetry. A spoken or written form composed with the tools and the forms of poetry.

villanelle:

A form that repeats its first and third lines (refrains) throughout the poem. It is composed of five tercets and a quatrain, and it follows a rhyme scheme. The
terzanelle
and the
triolet
are variations of this form.

Appendix C
Acknowledgments and Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Beachley, DeAnna, “Keystone Thrust Fault Trail.” Printed with the permission of the author.

Chartkoff, Zachary, “Syn.” Printed with the permission of the author.

Figler, Dayvid, “The Infinite Wisdom of the Father.” Reprinted with the permission of the author.

French, Jeanie, “Theme” and “Thinning.” Both reprinted with the permission of the author.

Kiraly Andrew, “Superworld High, 1987.” Printed with the permission of the author.

Kluge, Christine Boyka, “Dancing on Ice” from
Teaching Bones to Fly
, Bitter Oleander Press, 2003. Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Knorr, Jeff, “What Would My Father Have Done?” “Taking Notes on Storytelling,” “Winter Turkeys,” “Not an Ordinary Wednesday,” and “Keep Your Dog Quiet.” All reprinted with the permission of the author.

Lietz, Chad, “Camping, Northern California.” Printed with the permission of the author.

Merrin, Jeredith, lecture notes on love poetry. Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Messer, Neide, “Flying Home Late,” (from
In Far Corners
, Confluence Press, 1990), “A Fixed Celestial,” and “Hold On.” All reprinted with the permission of the author.

Millar, Joseph, “Dark Harvest” and “Telephone Repairman” from
Overtime
. Reprinted with the permissions of the publisher, Eastern Washington University Press (Spokane, Washington), and the author.

Moffett, Todd Scott, “
Tarzan
Episode 716: Jane Walks to the Watering Hole” and “The Last Man to Know Adam” reprinted by permission of the author.

Webb, Charles Harper, “Dejection: Not Even an Ode,” and “Political Poem” from
Red Rock Review
. Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Bibliography

Addonizio, Kim, and Dorianne Laux.
The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.

Benét, William Rose.
The Reader's Encyclopedia
, 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1965.

Campbell, Joseph.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
, 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.

Carryl, Guy Wetmore.
Fables for the Frivolous
. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1899.

Corbett, Edward P. J., and Robert J. Connors.
Style and Statement
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Drury John.
Creating Poetry
. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1991.