form, style

[lowkeyberserk]

when i try to write something i feel myself flailing about with the openness of the page, i can write forever. perhaps a form might constrict my words and give them shape...

unfortunately i am a complete layman when it comes to this... seriously, I'm in Iraq right now and I'm really bored and i think about girls all the damn time and i thought what the hell, I'm gunna write some erotic poetry.

what are some forms that i might try to fill with words, perhaps that lend themselves easily to erotic poetry?

 

[butters]

first of all, good luck out there

secondly, i'll be as interested to hear from our form-ists as you on this one. a good question!

one thing i will say, though, is this: instead of allowing the open page to dictate the mood (ok, pun intended), why not think first about the images you want to show, the mood you want to convey, and maybe jot down notes on those. that's not the poem, but the what you want to say - and then see which of the suggestions you get here will help carry these best. THEN you get to work out the how to say it part.

 

[bronzeage]

when i try to write something i feel myself flailing about with the openness of the page, i can write forever. perhaps a form might constrict my words and give them shape...

unfortunately i am a complete layman when it comes to this... seriously, I'm in Iraq right now and I'm really bored and i think about girls all the damn time and i thought what the hell, I'm gunna write some erotic poetry.

what are some forms that i might try to fill with words, perhaps that lend themselves easily to erotic poetry?

The simplest form poems are the ones based on syllable count, such as haiku, tanka, and the rest. These forms do not require rhymes, but force the mind to turn over dozens of possible word combinations to find a phrase which fits the image. Syllable forms work well on paper, which is fine if your audience is readers. If the work is to be recited for an audience, it's likely to sound like prose.

There is plenty of room within the form to experiment with meter and rhyme.

For example:

Mind words a poet
spins, a deceiving spell cast
to ensnare your heart.
When your beauty is lusted,
Poets may not be trusted.

 

[EroticOrogeny]

There are sites on line for poetic forms.
There's one here at 2009 Survivor Poetry Contest
Another site is Poetic Forms Lists

 

[Angeline]

If you're new to writing erotic poetry, the easiest form is probably the limerick, which has a long lusty history in the annals of erotic literature.

 

[Epmd607]

If you're new to writing erotic poetry, the easiest form is probably the limerick, which has a long lusty history in the annals of erotic literature.

Since you mentioned it -- is there anything erotic about the limerick? To me it leaves no opening for sensuality, the core of eroticism.

The sonnet isn't too complicated, Shakespeare was comfortable with shaping his erotic thoughts in that form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

 

[bronzeage]

Since you mentioned it -- is there anything erotic about the limerick? To me it leaves no opening for sensuality, the core of eroticism.

The sonnet isn't too complicated, Shakespeare was comfortable with shaping his erotic thoughts in that form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

There was a masochist named Flo
Who was irate with her new beau.
She begged, “Don’t tease me.
Beat me, to please me.
But the sadistic bastard said, “No.”

 

[CharleyH]

Since you mentioned it -- is there anything erotic about the limerick? To me it leaves no opening for sensuality, the core of eroticism.

The sonnet isn't too complicated, Shakespeare was comfortable with shaping his erotic thoughts in that form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

I agree. I adore limericks, but I've yet to find one that is sexy and erotic.

I have no idea what goes through one's mind when they are in a war zone like Iraq, but I can imagine that there is a lot to tell being so far away from one's homeland, from the people one loves. Sex can be like war, loyalty can be likened to patriotism, sex can be a bullet unexpectedly shot in the night. There are loads of ideas, lowkey just needs to juxtapose his experiences with wants and desires. IMO. Form? The form is the easy part once you figure out what you want to say, or what you desire.

 

[champagne1982]

Most of the eastern forms of poetry lend themselves very well to erotic verse. You may want to read some of the works of Sufi poet, Rumi and then shape a ghazal to carry your eroticism.

Ghazals have a pleasant mix of formula requirements in meter and rhyme, even if you just try to keep a syllable count going and a simple refrain. You can really get down and sexy with it.

Love's Stain Upon Me (a ghazal)

Wetness sparkles in shining dew upon my skin where your mouth has lain upon me.
Loves kisses falling on my face anoint my heart as they drip like rain upon me.

If a story of our love were told there would be a golden light around your soul.
Brilliant as it flashes through the night, burning away the tortured pain upon me.

Brace above me in the haze of your passion with your face nestled against my throat.
Your hair flows through my fingers, over my touch, against my breast, a mane upon me.

There are hot moments that we could lose ourselves within as our hips slap together.
In our lustful sex, as we mate, you push the burden of being sane upon me.

I don't want to realize the world is nearby when you're loving me so damned well.
Sing songs of love and let them surge up, bursting in bubbles like Champagne upon me.

 

[Angeline]

Since you mentioned it -- is there anything erotic about the limerick? To me it leaves no opening for sensuality, the core of eroticism.

The sonnet isn't too complicated, Shakespeare was comfortable with shaping his erotic thoughts in that form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

I agree. I adore limericks, but I've yet to find one that is sexy and erotic.

I have no idea what goes through one's mind when they are in a war zone like Iraq, but I can imagine that there is a lot to tell being so far away from one's homeland, from the people one loves. Sex can be like war, loyalty can be likened to patriotism, sex can be a bullet unexpectedly shot in the night. There are loads of ideas, lowkey just needs to juxtapose his experiences with wants and desires. IMO. Form? The form is the easy part once you figure out what you want to say, or what you desire.

Actually I agree that the limerick is a pretty unsensual form. It's pretty un-anything except a sort of childlike pace and rhythm. But it is accessible (easy to rhyme and write) and it certainly has been the most used in published erotica as far form poems. Personally I prefer erotic free verse.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

There is a thread somewhere on here about writing rude limericks but erotic is another thing altogether. Oh and don't believe it about writing haikus they are a bastard to write!! I do like writing within forms as one or two people on here will tell you! I think they are something like giving you standards to live by lol a good easy starter is a triolet or a pantoum. The first triolet I did was an erotic one about bdsm so it's possibel!

 

[Palba_Noruda]

Most of the eastern forms of poetry lend themselves very well to erotic verse. You may want to read some of the works of Sufi poet, Rumi and then shape a ghazal to carry your eroticism.

Ghazals have a pleasant mix of formula requirements in meter and rhyme, even if you just try to keep a syllable count going and a simple refrain. You can really get down and sexy with it.

Love's Stain Upon Me (a ghazal)

Wetness sparkles in shining dew upon my skin where your mouth has lain upon me.
Loves kisses falling on my face anoint my heart as they drip like rain upon me.

If a story of our love were told there would be a golden light around your soul.
Brilliant as it flashes through the night, burning away the tortured pain upon me.

Brace above me in the haze of your passion with your face nestled against my throat.
Your hair flows through my fingers, over my touch, against my breast, a mane upon me.

There are hot moments that we could lose ourselves within as our hips slap together.
In our lustful sex, as we mate, you push the burden of being sane upon me.

I don't want to realize the world is nearby when you're loving me so damned well.
Sing songs of love and let them surge up, bursting in bubbles like Champagne upon me.

Whoah, that's a beautiful poem. Ghazal would be a good challenge.

Or, you could try the form of ancient Japanese:

In my heart's depth
I keep our secret smothered
although this morning I suffer
like a snipe scratching its feathers


Soon I shall cease to be.
When I am beyond this world,
can I have the memory
of just one more meeting?


The pillow that knows all
won't tell, for it doesn't know,
and don't you tell
of our dream of a spring night.


Only the waning morning moon
visits my garden
where no lover comes.


Unable to sleep,
I gaze at the flowers of the bush clover,
as the dew forms on them from the long night,
till suddenly before dawn
they are scattered by the wind



How can I blame the cherry blossoms
for rejecting this floating world
and drifting away as the wind calls them


My heart, like my clothing
is saturated with your fragrance.
Your vows of fidelity
were made to our pillow and not to me.


Life, like a thread piercing through jewels,
if you must break,
break now!
If I live any longer
I will weaken and show my hidden love.


-Various 12th and 13th C Japanese Poets

 

[AoNoDoY]

You could do seven lines of seven
words twenty-one times You could get
words from all kinds of different places,
magazines, your mind, other threads, words
you hear in a day, etc. wait
you're such a clean bridge looking searching
surprised murdered raped always excellent wake

soapy island waiting cymbals equally tongue at
that hard tackling tight shoulders kissing tub
bone sink slipping scars legs skin curves
breast dampness rabbit cash t-shirt smooth eyes
legs lips pink nake genteel firm rosebud
master looks auburn innocent body lost nipple
mouth desires flesh gripped smiled glass air

hands head chest hiding push honestly apologetically
best morality insanity indecision stiffen amber dropped
confusion fire cock willingly slowly treasure floated
tug stranger scrape hear hips mists minds
fleece flesh fingers caressing help pleasure leather
sense words tones brushed vibrant parting fluid
sudden stared stormy cock belly bend kitten

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Did you get a dictionary for Christmas?

 

[AoNoDoY]

Did you get a dictionary for Christmas?

LOL How did you guess?

 

[champagne1982]

Whoah, that's a beautiful poem. Ghazal would be a good challenge.

Thanks PN! A while back we had a series of informative posts about certain forms. I wrote a PoBo Master Series Class on the Ghazal at that time... lemme see if I can find the link...

 

[hernandez9039]

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[KillerMuffin]

Blank verse. It's unrhymed iambic pentameter of any length. Iambic pentameter is known as the "walking meter" because it settles naturally into the rhythm of a person's walk. du-DUH. Kind of like left foot, right foot, unaccented, accented. The pentameter part is the ten syllables that the usual sort of person can say in a single breath comfortably.

Keeping it unrhymed means that you don't end up with weirdo rhyming syntactical contortions while teaching yourself how to work with sound.

Blank verse can have as many lines in a stanza as you'd like or as few. I like couplets. Put them in pairs and work them together. The trick is to get the words to sound good and work in the meter at the same time. Ask Robert Frost, he'll tell ya.

Here's some Earl of Rochester in iambic pentameter, but not blank verse (he rhymes his), first bit of the Imperfect Enjoyment:

Naked she lay, clasped in my longing arms,
I filled with love, and she all over charms;
Both equally inspired with eager fire,
Melting through kindness, flaming in desire.
With arms, legs, lips close clinging to embrace,
She clips me to her breast, and sucks me to her face.

The reason I suggest skipping the rhyme is that it's hard enough to make words behave when you're not used to forcing them into a pattern. Adding rhyme will ruin a poem faster than any other poetic device. Blank verse will teach meter (because a good poet knows when to swap an iambic foot with a trochee or spondee). I'm kind of with Frost and a few others on this one. Meter's a good place to start to begin to get a feel for pitch and line shaping.

 

[henderson791]

Thank you for sharing this interesting information.
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[Palba_Noruda]

Blank verse. It's unrhymed iambic pentameter of any length. Iambic pentameter is known as the "walking meter" because it settles naturally into the rhythm of a person's walk. du-DUH. Kind of like left foot, right foot, unaccented, accented. The pentameter part is the ten syllables that the usual sort of person can say in a single breath comfortably.

Keeping it unrhymed means that you don't end up with weirdo rhyming syntactical contortions while teaching yourself how to work with sound.

Blank verse can have as many lines in a stanza as you'd like or as few. I like couplets. Put them in pairs and work them together. The trick is to get the words to sound good and work in the meter at the same time. Ask Robert Frost, he'll tell ya.

Here's some Earl of Rochester in iambic pentameter, but not blank verse (he rhymes his), first bit of the Imperfect Enjoyment:

Naked she lay, clasped in my longing arms,
I filled with love, and she all over charms;
Both equally inspired with eager fire,
Melting through kindness, flaming in desire.
With arms, legs, lips close clinging to embrace,
She clips me to her breast, and sucks me to her face.

The reason I suggest skipping the rhyme is that it's hard enough to make words behave when you're not used to forcing them into a pattern. Adding rhyme will ruin a poem faster than any other poetic device. Blank verse will teach meter (because a good poet knows when to swap an iambic foot with a trochee or spondee). I'm kind of with Frost and a few others on this one. Meter's a good place to start to begin to get a feel for pitch and line shaping.

I agree with Henderson. Thanks for posting all that, Killer.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Actually I disagree with part of that it was working at getting the rhymes right for form poetry taught me about iambic pentameter, because although I am quite musical I just cannot seem to 'hear' the rhythm of poetry

 

[KillerMuffin]

Actually I disagree with part of that it was working at getting the rhymes right for form poetry taught me about iambic pentameter, because although I am quite musical I just cannot seem to 'hear' the rhythm of poetry

There are a lot of pontifications (poets call them theories, but I'm also a scientist and their use of the word theory is wrong, wrong, wrong) on how to develop a sense of pitch or stress-rhythm in a line. Everyone's got to stick their oar in the water and row. The boat doesn't get anywhere.

Formal poetry requires meter so a poet interested in developing formal skill should develop a sense of meter. The bonus is that often helps develop a sense of pitch and inflection. It doesn't work for everyone, of course, but each form offers a different pastiche of lessons for a poet. As a form, blank verse is simple.

In conjunction with metrics, I like Frost's idea best. It's not to approach meter by counting syllables and consulting a dictionary, but rather getting a feel for pitch. He calls it the "sound of sense." Pitch is rather like listening to people speaking through a wall or door, where you can hear them clearly enough to hear the voices rise and fall with each vocal inflection, but not to pick out the words. A good rhythmic poem is one that matches pitch and meter. But, that's neither here nor there.

Meter has a lot to teach a poet, but the only should in poetry is that a poem should have words in it.