FAIRFIELD WRITERS GROUP – WRITING EXERCISE
14th of May 2011
HUMOROUS POEM EXERCISE
· Write a humorous poem on anything you want.
Information and examples are below.
Information and examples are below.
Seven Centuries of Poetry in English, edited by John Leonard.
''We value poetry for many reasons. It involves philosophy and feeling, it is a cultural record, it both concentrates and extends language. It is also, like singing, an art which centres langugage in our bodies. Rhythm is of prime importance in the speaking of poetry - even in the speaking of a silent reading.
Compared with the immediate pleasure of reading poetry, the study of rhythm and metre is technical. Yet the enjoyment of any art is generally enhanced by an understanding of some of its techniques. Poets themselves, who may have begun by writing well with an internalised understanding but only a hazy formal knowledge of rhythm and metre, often turn in mid-career to a study of the principles, to sharpen their perception of what they do.
Rhythm in poetry formalises and tightens ordinary speech rhythm, and like the rhythm of all spoken language, it is learned by hearing. As children, we imitated speech rhythms even before we learned words, and in learning to speak we adapted rhythm as well as vocabulary and syntax to the purpose of communication. At the same time, most of us internalised the four-beat line of poetry from hearing children's rhymes. Later, if we learned to appreciate the more subtle five-beat line (the pentameter) and the variable line of free verse, this also would have been influenced by hearing others. The analysis of rhythm, whether of conversation or of poetry, therefore draws upon reflection; it brings to light knowledge which we implicitly possess. In a way, it might follow that analysis is superfluous; a thorough enjoyment of poetry is possible without it.
Yet it is the very entrenchment of rhythm and metre in our intimate experience of language that makes them worth studying.
RHYTHM: a perceived pattern of repetition in time. The term has wide reference, from the cycles of the seasons to the pulse of an atomic clock. As applied to language, 'rhythm' refers to a timing which is not exact, but rather fluent, like that of the heartbeat, breathing and walking. The BEAT of a rhythm in English is normally carried by stressed syllables.
METRE : (from the Greek, metron, measure) a regular and recurring pattern that can be abstracted from the rhythmical organisation of lines of poetry.''
FREE VERSE: where the lines have no regular count of beats or offbeats. They are therefore of irregular length. Free verse is free of metre.
When the voices of children, are heard on the the green
And whisperings are in the dale:
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
My face turns green and pale. Blake
Compared with the immediate pleasure of reading poetry, the study of rhythm and metre is technical. Yet the enjoyment of any art is generally enhanced by an understanding of some of its techniques. Poets themselves, who may have begun by writing well with an internalised understanding but only a hazy formal knowledge of rhythm and metre, often turn in mid-career to a study of the principles, to sharpen their perception of what they do.
Rhythm in poetry formalises and tightens ordinary speech rhythm, and like the rhythm of all spoken language, it is learned by hearing. As children, we imitated speech rhythms even before we learned words, and in learning to speak we adapted rhythm as well as vocabulary and syntax to the purpose of communication. At the same time, most of us internalised the four-beat line of poetry from hearing children's rhymes. Later, if we learned to appreciate the more subtle five-beat line (the pentameter) and the variable line of free verse, this also would have been influenced by hearing others. The analysis of rhythm, whether of conversation or of poetry, therefore draws upon reflection; it brings to light knowledge which we implicitly possess. In a way, it might follow that analysis is superfluous; a thorough enjoyment of poetry is possible without it.
Yet it is the very entrenchment of rhythm and metre in our intimate experience of language that makes them worth studying.
RHYTHM: a perceived pattern of repetition in time. The term has wide reference, from the cycles of the seasons to the pulse of an atomic clock. As applied to language, 'rhythm' refers to a timing which is not exact, but rather fluent, like that of the heartbeat, breathing and walking. The BEAT of a rhythm in English is normally carried by stressed syllables.
METRE : (from the Greek, metron, measure) a regular and recurring pattern that can be abstracted from the rhythmical organisation of lines of poetry.''
FREE VERSE: where the lines have no regular count of beats or offbeats. They are therefore of irregular length. Free verse is free of metre.
When the voices of children, are heard on the the green
And whisperings are in the dale:
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
My face turns green and pale. Blake
beginning poetry
For Starters'Write a poem,' our teacher keeps yellin'
But us boys take the pee and say 'shove it!'
Only girlies and wimps can do poems
That's what I think. Oh bugger, I've done it!
But us boys take the pee and say 'shove it!'
Only girlies and wimps can do poems
That's what I think. Oh bugger, I've done it!
For twelve hours a day I've bin slavin'
Maintaining a decent street cred
But the court's just adjourned in the bike-shed
The verdict? 'Big softy - You're dead!'
Maintaining a decent street cred
But the court's just adjourned in the bike-shed
The verdict? 'Big softy - You're dead!'
Life's full of surprises though, innit?
Here I sit, pen in hand, chewing gum
And compared to graffitiing lampposts
What the hell, I confess, this is fun!
Here I sit, pen in hand, chewing gum
And compared to graffitiing lampposts
What the hell, I confess, this is fun!
Copyright Peter Fairbrother
No comments:
Post a Comment