peebrain:
Originally posted by expiringpoet:
becos there is no "set" structure for how the message should run.
I'm not sure now if its good practise to write down what i want to
say in the 1st stanza, 2nd ..and so forth - to ensure that the
message will be tighter. Again, i wonder if by doing this,
the creative process will become stilted and constrained by
the form. Well, this is typical me - conflicted as
usual.
would like to hear yr 
or anyone
else's advise on this...tks.. [/b]
Expiringpoet,
You have raised very pertinent questions that I must try to addresss to the best of my
ability.
Creativity is not about letting loose the wild horses -- but
how you rein them in to do your bidding.
Deadpoet and Dsnake mentioned how common it is for a poet
to write about a specific image in mind, and not knowing how the
rest of the poem will take shape.
I beg to differ.
It is true that a lot of my poems have their origins in a specific
idea in mind -- say, writer's block or solitude or existential
angst -- and it usually starts with one verse, for instance, "In
dreaming I take my waking slow"
This verse is the start of the poet's examination of the human
condition. From there, I think of how to link this
insular line to a greater whole of sorts -- how to give the poem
meaning using this verse
as a trigger.
I could use the line, "In
dreaming I take my waking slow" to illuminate the
attractions of dreaming -- how the fantastical world could be more
spiritually illuminating than our harsh reality.
As for traditional forms: they do not stifle
creativity -- instead they force you to break your
thoughts into coherent slices, to be assembled and appreciated by
the reader.
And as a modern poet, part of the challenge is to use these
traditional devices as creatively as you can, within the boundaries
of structure and reason.
I've written a villanelle to explain what I
mean.
In Dreams We
Break (A Villanelle)
In dreams we break, and are torn asunder,
shunned while velvet nights shudder and rage,
so we wake to escape, our spirits bolder.
Cahiers, written by a nameless author,
though modest, defile with each stained page,
in dreams we break, and are torn asunder.
Exuent a fear impossible to master,
a dark light prances and torments the stage,
while we wake to escape, our spirits older.
Cursed is this contract, to place an actor
confessing her lines, even moved to persuade
as we dream and break, and are torn asunder.
A minstrel sings of Tristan and Isolde,
lovers crossed and doomed by curious fate,
unlike them we wake and escape, our spirits lighter.
Jostled 'tween two worlds, yet courage is steered
by checks and balances, a bittersweet adage:
although in dreams we break, and are torn asunder,
we shall wake to escape, our spirits bolder.
When I wrote this poem, I had only one image --
of two opposing worlds, one in dreaming, and one in waking.
That's how a villanelle is usually constructed -- you start with a
couplet ("In dreams we break, and are torn asunder/ So we wake to
escape, our spirits bolder") and then insert a tertiary line to
form a tercet.
Each line of the couplet is repeated in an alternating
fashion, and the challenge lies in the poet's ability to use fitting rhymes and images to
SUPPORT the precis of the poem.
That's why I've stuck to imagery associated with Theater and
history -- actors, Tristan and Isolde,... etc. In order to tie in
with the beauty of fiction inherent in dreaming. It's tempting to
cook up rubbish rhymes so as to get the stanza over and done with
-- but that's hardly the point of writing poetry.
I've also deviated from the standard villanelle -- I didn't stick
strictly to the repetition of couplet -- along the way, I made
slight changes to the couplet to reinforce my message.
Which is why the poem begins with:
In dreams we wake and are torn asunder,
So we wake to escape our spirits bolder,
and ends up like this:
although in dreams we break, and are torn asunder,
we shall wake to escape, our spirits bolder.
You'll see that Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, Dyland and
Sophie Hannah make creative adjustments to traditional forms. Use
them to your advantage -- they're your tools!
Also, bear in mind I had no idea how I was going to finish the
poem, or even come up with three other stanzas. But this is where creativity will come to
save you, and discipline will force you to reexamine your writing,
and make every word count.
