How to write poetry? How to learn to write poetry

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Many people, especially in their youth, want to write poetry. Most of them try to compose something, but not everyone gets an attractive result. And as a result, there are not so many real, recognized poets. Maybe it's not worth trying in this case? However, the number of amateur poets is large, and more and more beginners appear every day.

Can everyone be a poet?

It's hard to say why people write poetry. Most often, they are driven by the desire to express their emotions about the world around them: an impressive corner of nature, heartfelt feelings, reflections on the structure of life - all this becomes a topic for poetry. No less often, poems are written as a kind of response to the events of public life (in modern times or in history) that excited the author. In any case, the reason for writing poetry is usually an emotional impulse, and rhythmic lines become a response to the events of external or internal life.

Many people try their hand at poetry, and you can do it too if you feel like it. Of course, no one will guarantee that you will become a good poet, but such an experience will not be in vain. The main thing is youlearn how to write.

Verse and stanza - clarifying the meanings

If you are trying your hand at poetry, then it will not be superfluous to know some important concepts related to versification.

Verse… This word has two meanings. First: poetic speech organized in one or another tradition (for example, "Pushkin's verse"). Second: a rhythmically built line of poetic text.

It is incorrect to use the word "verse" in the meaning of "poem", since the first is an integral part of the second or (in some cases) a much broader concept than one work.

The combination of two or more poetic lines (verses) is called a stanza.

Among such combinations there are a couplet, a three-line, a quatrain… and so on, up to ten verses.

Further in the article, a few more important concepts will be explained. We understood why different people write poetry and how it can be useful, and also figured out the meanings of words that confuse readers and many aspiring poets. Next, we will talk about the secrets of writing a good poem.

First step: where to start?

If you have never studied versification before, then it is most reasonable to start by reading the poetic works of recognized authors. It is not necessary to immediately grab the classics if you do not really like it. Start with modern authors, then move on to the poets of the Silver Age, and then you can complicate your reading repertoire. If you still don’t know how to start writing poetry, then just find andRead what resonates with your soul. At the same time, it is very possible that your first independent opuses will be similar to the work of those poets that you like best. Treat this as the first step in learning and keep composing as you go. It is no secret that the first verses of many later famous poets were imitative. But a purposeful person will be able to develop his talent and find his own style of writing. Believe in yourself, try, experiment.

Poetry genres

But in order to know in which direction to move, let's look at the main varieties of poetic works.

Let's talk about what genre to try. For sensitive natures, lyrical and philosophical poetry, as well as ballads and stanzas, are suitable. Those who are actively interested in the surrounding social life can try to write journalistic poems. Parodic, satirical and humorous poetry also deserves attention - individual copies of these genres are loved by readers no less than serious poems.

Varieties of versification

The chosen genre and style will tell you how to write. A verse in the meaning of "a way of expressing poetic speech" is composed according to certain rules. We list the types of poetic works:

• white verse (there is no rhyme, but the meter and rhythm are clearly preserved);
• acrostic (a manner of writing in which the first letters of each line form a word together, rarely two or three);
• mixed verse (way of writing withoutmaintaining the same size throughout the piece);
• poems in prose (there is no rhyme and rhythm, but a special expressive style allows them to be classified as poetry);
• ver libre (a difficult style, characterized by a special construction of lines, short and rich images and lack of rhyme).

Next, we will look at the main components of the poem: rhyme, meter and rhythm.

How does a rhyme work?

So, you have decided which poetic styles and methods of versification you want to try yourself. But the desire to engage in poetry is not enough, you need to know how. Writing a verse - each line of your work - is necessary according to certain rules.

One of the most important points is rhyme - the consonant ending of two or more words. As you know, in a poem such words are placed at the end of the line. At the same time, adjacent two verses can rhyme, or through one, less often two. The rhyme has its own variations:

• male (with emphasis on the last syllable);
• feminine (stress falls on penultimate syllable);
• dactylic (with emphasis on the third syllable from the end of the verse);
• hyperdactylic (accent on the fourth syllable or beyond).

There are many other varieties, but for the beginning poet, you can still get acquainted with the main ones. It is important to find a suitable and original rhyme, not like "love - blood" or "never - forever." And besides, the words chosen for the rhyme should organically enter the text of the poem, creating that image,which the poet intended to convey.

If you want to know how to write poetry correctly, then also check out the concepts of poetic meter and rhythm.

Why do we need time signature and rhythm?

The size of the poem is extremely important, because it determines the sound, melody, mood of the work. You can determine the size by a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables in 2-3 lines of a poetic work. If you are thinking about how to learn to write poetry, then try to analyze your favorite works for dimension and understand how the author got the desired effect.

Bicomplex measures:

• iamb;
• trochee.

One stressed syllable and one unstressed. In iambic, the stress falls on the second syllable, and in trochee, on the first.

Tri-complex measures:

• dactyl;
• amphibrach;
• anapaest.

One syllable is stressed and the other two are unstressed. The difference is in which syllable the stress falls on: the first is dactyl, the second is amphibrach, the third is anapaest.

Will knowing the meter help you learn how to write poetry correctly? By itself - hardly, but it is still useful to look "inside" this or that poem. Such an analysis reveals something that is not noticeable during normal reading, and allows you to learn how to build a poetic pattern.

Another important factor is the rhythm - the cyclical alternation of unstressed syllables with stressed ones. To better feel the rhythm, you need to read the written poem aloud.

Poetic tricks

We have learned a lot about poetry, but have not yet fully decided how to write. A verse is a single line that combines to form a poem. In order for it to have not only form, but also content, you need to know and be able to apply poetic techniques. Here are some of them:

• allegory;
• alliteration (voicing);
• anaphora;
• antithesis (opposition);
• exclamation;
• hyperbole;
• gradation (gain);
• invert;
• irony;
• pun;
• metaphor;
• metonymy;
• appeal;
• oxymoron;
• personification;
• refrain;
• rhetorical address or question;
• synecdoche;
• default;
• euphemism;
• epithet;
• epiphora.

Knowing these techniques alone will not tell you how to learn to write poetry. But if you get used to finding artistic means in other people's works, it will become clear what can be used in your own work.

Poet or graphomaniac?

Suppose you have already written one or more poems. How to determine how good they are? To do this on our own is not easy, because not with reason, but in a fit of inspiration, we write poetry. At the same time, we ourselves can adore every line of our own creativity, but will it cause the same delight in others? One way to check this is to give other people to read your poems. If you were able to interest someone else in your work, thencame closer to understanding how to write good poetry.

The main signs of a successful poem:

• the reader feels the feeling that the author put in, or sees the described picture;
• fresh, original rhymes, suitable in meaning and mood;
• measurement and rhythm are observed in all lines;
• there are no speech, stylistic and other errors (except when it is part of a creative technique).

"I want to write poetry, what should I do?". The only answer is to write. And also to read, and the creations of not only recognized masters, but also novice authors. By practicing and analyzing other people's opuses, you will learn the technique of writing poetry and develop the ability to distinguish successful lines from unsuccessful ones. But be prepared for the fact that you will have to train in developing your style for many years, if not your whole life.