how to
How-tos for all things poetry; learn how to analyze a poem, construct a haiko, differentiate between a metaphor and simile and more.
Bamboo
During my first year of high school, way back in the mid-1980s, I wrote the following short poem in our 9th grade English class. Mrs. Cox, our English teacher was raving and oohing/aahing about it in our class to the point of getting my classmates to call me a teacher's pet. For a whole week, she kept reading it out loud in our class as well as in the other English classes which she was assigned to teach that year. I was puzzled and dumbfounded of why Mrs. Cox liked it so much.
By P.P.C. Sisauy2 years ago in Poets
A Ghazal For You
THE GHAZAL, Minimum of 10 lines. Couplets. All lines must have the same number of syllables. Both lines of the first couplet end with the same word. (called a radeef) This word also ends line 4, 6, 8, etc. The word preceding the repeating word follows a different rhyme scheme but still rhymes with the other words before the radeef. No words can be used twice for this kaafiya. The ghazal (pronounced like “guzzle”) has a long and complex history, migrating throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East in its 1400 year history. The earliest ghazals date back to 7th century Arabia, shortly after the Islamic Caliphate was formed. Ghazals are romantic and tragic in nature, a tradition that many contemporary poets uphold. Psh, is that all? Ghazals are tricky and require each word to be carefully chosen, so a good ghazal may take a very long time to complete. Adapted Bing
By Denise E Lindquist2 years ago in Poets
