Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Should Poetry Rhyme?

What are your thoughts on this one?

I would love to see a discussion going on on this question.

Put in your vote and we'll see who wins, rhyming or not rhyming.

We were discussing this at my writing group the other night, and there were some very definite ideas about it. I know what I think and I'd love to know how you look at the whole thing.

So, don't be afraid to vote - we all have the right to our own opinion.

And speaking of opinions, I'd love to know your opinion on the rhyming/non rhyming question.

10 comments:

Carolyn Cordon said...

I've put my vote in.

I write a fair amount of poetry (not enough though lol). I feel the poem determines the style the poet uses for each poem.

I've written rhyming and non rhyming, and I like both.

Anonymous said...

I can't think of a single poem that I have written that end rhymes, but I do have some internal rhyming and slant rhymes in some, if not many. It is part of the pleasure of language and poetry that I can do that.

Lisa

Carolyn Cordon said...

Lisa, thank you for your comment.
It is true, those internal rhymes chime quietly in our brain, and add to the poem quietly, but strongly.
End rhyming, done without thought beyond getting the rhyme gives a discordant 'CLANG' that adds nothing at all, except for a rhyme. Any moron can rhyme, doesn't make them a poet though.

Carolyn Cordon said...

The question is not to rhyme or not to rhyme, but to be poetic when doing
so. More of my own poetry is in rhyming form, with strong meter. But that's
mainly because I subscribe to "bush poetry" (and its many competitions).
Some of the best poems I feel I've written are free-form. Why? Because not
having to fit the discipline of rhythm & rhyme gives me greater freedom to
express what I am feeling/writing. Then again, some of the best poems I feel
I've written are slavingly rhythm/rhyme ones.

An Afghani friend says that poetry is like "putting an ocean into a teacup".
Now that's poetry.

I didn't poll because I needed another choice beside Yes, No and Maybe. I'd
say the argument is not whether it rhymes or not, which is really
irrelevant, (ie, mark me neither yes or no) but whether it's poetic.

Interesting though that people are at least discussing poetry with you!
Max M

Carolyn Cordon said...

I voted. No prizes for guessing my answer. I will give you my reasons here in this reply as I couldn't figure out how to do it on your website. I believe that true poetry rhymes simply because to me, if it doesn't it just as well could be someone just writing a string of thoughts, and if you're going to do that you might just as well write a story. To me a poem tells a story but with rhythm and rhyme and that’s what sets it apart from a plain old story. Not a very logical answer but then the fact that the poetry that I encountered as I grew up all rhymed. I don't even like songs whose lyrics don't rhyme. There should be another name for poetry that doesn't rhyme other than a different genre under the same generalisation of poetry.
Suzanne McC

Carolyn Cordon said...

I've added a couple of comments emailed to me, to further aid the interest of this topic.

LA Nickers said...

Just voted.

You may find this of interest, as I wrote on this topic not long ago:

FREE FORM FUN – on free verse vs. rhyming poetry

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the ADD on F-book.

;-)

I would love to have you join us at Simply Snickers - for weekly poetry prompts (posting through Sundays).

Blessings,
Linda N

Carolyn Cordon said...

Linda, thanks for your feedback. I enjoyed your Helium article and congrats on the number 1 rating.

I'll check out the other site - weekly prompts might be the kick in the bum I need to get writing, lol!

Carolyn Cordon said...

From Carol C
Yes I've noticed the current trend to thumb the nose at rhyming poetry - like it's somehow no longer valid because it's not fashionable anymore. I don't think poetry has to rhyme though, but I'd like modern day poets to consider rhyming poetry as equally valid.

The problem with rhyming poetry, that I see, is that sometimes poets incessantly choose simple words just in order to rhyme, like 'glow', 'flow' etc. & it can be a bit boring. If the rhyme is clever though, using half rhymes at times and maybe breaking the rhyme altogether in an important part of the poem, that's much better and has more impact.

Good luck with figuring out what path you take... I'm enjoying doing both kind.