To Think of Elephants discussion

I love writing, most particularly stories, but I write far more poems. I have two blogs on Wordpress, one for one of the books I am writing, and the other just for poems.
http://journalofpoems.wordpress.com/
http://kingsandrebels.wordpress.com/a...

I also have a lot more poems here on Goodreads, if anybody would care to read them. I love being criticized a lot, because nobody ever will (my fault, probably). But please, read and comment! C=

Mifalda, I like your library poem. Since you said you like criticism, I should tell you that we can't get away with writing "neath" any more. I understand why you didn't use "beneath" -- it would have messed up the rhythm. So I guess it would be a good idea to rewrite that line. "Writing is rewriting", as they say. ;-)
You have a good ear for poetry. Do you study music?

Ah, thank you for the comment!

Yeah, I do study music, though not so thoroughly as I would like. Mostly I just get to learn from my family, most of whom have been lucky enough to really study it. >.> I really just know the bear bones. Why do you ask?

I asked because you did a great job with the rhythm in your poem.

I haven't read them yet (sorry). But you can always use 'neath, instead of neath. 'neath implies grammatical awareness that it's incorrect... At least in my view. But Jeanne's the pro at this.

Poetry has its fashions and fads, more so than stories I think. For example, in the late 1960's when I first read and wrote many poems, "confessional poetry" was in vogue. I never liked it. In the nineteenth century, it was perfectly acceptable to use contractions like 'neath and 'tis and most poems rhymed in regular patterns. Now, free verse is used more. When I first had to write a poem for a poetry workshop, I found a contemporary poem in the New Yorker that I liked and studied the rhythm and where the verbs occurred. I wrote about an entirely different topic from the poem I had admired, but used a similar arrangement, at least for the first few lines. I learned a lot from this exercise.

Ah, free verse. >.> I have to agree with Robert Frost here, "Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down." Which would mean it is loads of fun, and you get a lot done, but you aren't actually playing tennis. That being said, it is so much easier. >.<
Wow, I've never really looked at poetry fads before. That is interesting. The only time I have ever actually attempted to write a poem in the arrangement of another was when I was writing an Anglo-Saxon epic ballad for my ancient literature class. I don't think I am good enough to remove things like contractions without butchering the rhythm (that is such a weird- which is even weirder- word! I mean, seriously, what is the etymology?).

rhythm

rhythm (n.) Look up rhythm at Dictionary.com
1550s, from Latin rhythmus "movement in time," from Greek rhythmos "measured flow or movement, rhythm," related to rhein "to flow," from PIE root *sreu- "to flow" (see rheum). In Medieval Latin, rithmus was used for accentual, as opposed to quantitative, verse, and accentual verse was usually rhymed. Rhythm method of birth control attested from 1936. Rhythm and blues, U.S. music style, is from 1949 (first in "Billboard").

Wow, cool to know. Dictionary.com? Sounds interesting. -.^

Actually, I copied the above from an etymology on-line dictionary.
http://www.etymonline.com/

Oh my gosh, I think I just found a new favorite webpage. Thank you!

You're welcome! I love learning the origins of words and expressions!