I know it's all the rage these days to write poetry that does not rhyme. In fact I've had some people tell me that rhyming poetry is 'oh so amateurish!'... It reminds me of the aesthetic arguments re. 'pure form' versus 'experential continuity'.  As with most things, I see merit in both sides of the argument and can never really be an advocate for a sole perspective.  That's why, when I write poetry, I mix it up a bit. 

Dorothy Porter's 'The Monkey's Mask' is a must-read for poets in my opinion.  Perhaps you've already read it but in case you haven't, grab a copy and take a look.  She has constructed an entire novel in poetic form...It didn't rhyme...and I loved it.

But who can go past magnificent rhyming classics like 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by Robert Browning or 'The Man From Snowy River' by good 'ol Banjo?  I know I can't.

What do you guys think?  And perhaps someone can enlighten a novice such as myself, why the shunning of the 'rhyme'?

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Hi Leigh

I like this topic, to rhyme or not to rhyme,
it's drives me insane making this decision, as rhyme has such intuitive flavour, the brain clicks in to the rhyme and the ears
snap it up.

Take Poe's poem
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,


So much rhyme.

I like the idea of mixing it up and do so in my poems
In my first poem below I've included quite a bit of rhyme in 'Remembering Kristallnacht'
whereas in ' The bark of dog' there is none. For me I think theres a place for everything, no limits nor boundaries, rhyme
if you choose. Great topic thanks.

Kind rgs
ilan
Added by Ilan on October 29, 2010 at 12:02am in Member Poetry
the bark of dog

by Ilan

Between
Newtown cinema
and crumply bookshop,  
people look 
for 
poets
like  
Plath     

In these narrow alleys
cripples and 
alcoholics 
lived and
died

This
spaceless abode
of
peeling 
Victorian  
terraces,
all 
squeezed in

and   

Out of these
ruins, 
one hears 
God 

or
 
the bark
of  
dog 
 
Copyright Ilan Cohen 2010



Remembering Kristallnacht
Added by Ilan on October 31, 2010 at 7:58pm in Member Poetry
Remembering Kristallnacht

by Ilan

Is it love  
in the marshes 
for the sun is down 
and t'is cold  
to be locked in a dungeon 
with metal bars 
and empty stars  

Is it love to be across the oceans 
surrounded by cold currents and  
the sharks of teeth, 
in this great underneath 
deep dark deep dark 
tinkle tinkle 
not a twinkle 

Is it love 
if liberty is in chains 
and the veins of men
are blue 
for the women too.
 
Slaves enter this courthouse
one by one  
upon which judgement 
upon which bare breasts 
and empty nests  
until the hammer down
Ah the frown  

Is it love if birds blue 
if your lover too
and the world cruel 

All the Hitlers that killed love 
and life     
that stamped numbers 
that made tattoos out of men,  
bones out of souls 
and fires out of books 
Remember Kristallnacht  

Is it love if ye killed 
if ye music stills,
less the lust  
and t'is for you
black daffodills 

When ye sleep at night
where does it end 
and when ye awake 
in thee sweats and stares  
What of all your tomorrows.  

Is it love 
In the comas of Morpheus 
dost come Thanatos 
and our dreams are not  

Is it love if you fall, 
less humanity's grace

And all that's left are numbers,
is it love?
     
Copyright Ilan Cohen 2010
Reply to This

 
Hi llan,

Your poetry is beautiful! I wish mine was half as good...Hopefully I'll get there someday with lots of practice :)
Hi Leigh

Can you mk the 28th at 530 at me
for poetry reading - see events
page

Cheers ilan
Hi Ilan,

Unfortunately I can't make it today...Hope the evening turns out well...Let me know how it went :)
Hi Leigh

I'm new to this group - and am certainly no expert - but I think you should use whatever technique best conveys the feeling or image or story you you want to communicate - and if you want to mix it up, less obvious, internal rhymes can really float a poem.

cheers

Elizabeth
Elizabeth,

I'm with you. Variety is the spice... As a full-time perfomer I have to be aware of what reaches my audiences. Its a fine line between entertaining and self-indulgence. I write mostly in rhyming format (bush verse) but occasionally non-rhyming. Each has its merit. What's important is why you are writing and the passion in the process.
A snippet for you. Geoffrey

Empty shoes, with bed full up, the occupants fulfilled
Empty shoes, the curtains drawn, death does linger still.
© Geoffrey W Graham 2010
'Bush verse'...that sounds like a style I'd resonate with I think :) Thanks a lot for all your input guys...I will no longer feel like an imposter because I enjoy, when the mood takes me, writing poetry that rhymes.

Hi Leigh,

 

In high school, I use to love writing poetry and short stories, as such, received high marks for my passion in these written forms. However, having said that, I've never really taken my writing too seriously, which is why I get extremely frustrated when "so called experts" (you know the ones can't get their own works published) severely critique the style and technical origins of my (and others) written form.

 

My advice (for what it's worth) is to write from the heart with passion using vivid word pictures, this way, you can take your readers on an emotional journey and not attempt to complete a sudoko puzzle.

 

I wrote this one to thumb my nose at the purists.

 

Crimes of Rhythms and Rhymes

 

Whether you write in prose or are the purest of poets

does it really matter, so long as we’re all willing

to compose, share and compare all wares in writing?

Albeit poems, rhythms and rhymes.

 

But can I wage a disclaimer regarding matters in rhymes

that above all else, we remember that there are no crimes

for writing in prose or limericks or even quatrains.

So let’s all be good sports and not be judgmental on lines

that differ’ from ours. Can we share or can we refrain?

 

Why I’ve cast my own eye over this rhythm and rhyme today

and to my surprise the first lot of lines is I believe a quatrain?

Which differs again from the next lot of lines - I hear you say ah?

Get a little bit closer and have a good look – be careful not to strain

you’ve only got one set of eyes you know!

Now about those lines, what do they say?

It’s a Quintet according to those who are trained.

 

So as you can see, there’s a combo of rhythms and rhymes

in this little poem, but I think you’d agree - still rhymes?

Go on, share and compare your own rhythms and rhymes

we’re not going to bite, not unless you’re sprinkled in thyme.

 

Copyright © Steve Goldsmith 2010

If I was a polite man I would vomit...

Expectation rules again huh... It's

Either chalk or cheese... Ham or spam...

Etc etc etc etc

Surely the portion of value... Is the word...
And how it assesses itself in construct
With others... Like people in a lift liking their own quick sharing...
There is smell in pairing...
If you want to value your writing write it
Than it will intrude itself or it won't 

If you want to write
The Jaberwocky again
do so
Or a formula for a man
... Now that would be appropo 
A wriggle and a squelch 
And not much else
Or more
If you decide
Then
Worry St the rhym 
The words will make their own
To site
The reason 
And their place upon the page
A rhyme or not
This matter is quite sure 
To seek it.
And indecision
Hello Leigh
I think it's important to learn (or to maintain a natural ability) to use rhyme. Many poets use rhyme internally, whether they intend to bury rhymes within the line or not. It's all about the inner ear. I believe that half rhymes are far more potent, especially when used at the end of the line, as this interrupts a reader's predictive reading, and creates a finer music. With phantom rhymes - those that may appear within one or even five lines from each other, within a line, it can be a major reason why we come away under the spell of a poem and can't really define why it works so well. Magic. Paul Muldoon is a rhyming wizard. He's brilliant at creating narratives with complex external and internal rhymes. He can be simultaneously ancient and current. he's so good he can rhyme rock with cataract!!

Hi Anthony,

 

I agree with what you're saying.  Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20 is a perfect example of this.  In his song: "These Hard Times", he rhymes "Need" with "Relief" and "Sky" with "Tonight" beautifully. It's a true gift.

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