Poetry that Rhymes: Yes, No, Absolutely Not?

[Killswitch]

Hi Gang,

Question: Can anyone, or perhaps everyone tell me why any poetry that rhymes seems to be treated like the red headed stepchild of the poetry family?

Ive been all over the site, and to many private webpages of members and can find only two poems that rhyme, and they are both Mine!

Im not looking for links to poems that do rhyme. I am just wondering why poetry that does rhyme seems almost loathed.

Whats the deal

Also......can anyone point me towards any kind of tutorial or educational type website on poetry styles etc etc?

Thanks!



"Killswitch"

 

[JUDO]

KS -

A LOT of my poetry rhymes. I think I'm known for it. I've posted several that rhyme today. You can find them in recently-commented threads.

Rhyming poetry is not treated poorly or otherwise for the reasons you imply. It is not that the poetry has rhyme, but that rhyming poetry is often written accompanied by meter learned from the place where many of us first experienced rhymed verse -- in children's literature.

Take for example, the ballad metrical structure.

taDAH taDAH taDAH taDAH
taDAH taDAH taDAH---
taDAH taDAH taDAH taDAH
taDAH taDAH taDAH---

When rhymed ABAB, the poem will imply a childish sense of perspective, even if the subject matter is anything but childish.

Example:

The Army kills to make a check
With Missiles from the sky.
My mind dives down and hits the deck
As it screams loud, "But why?"

Sonnets rhyme and are considered 'quality work'-- difficult to achieve.

Plus, a poem doesn't have to rhyme all the way through. Free verse can segue into rhyme and meter and back again as long as the flow of thought and image doesn't compromise its message.

I think of rhyme as a spice or flavour to blend in when it can enhance the reading experience in any poem's landscape. I don't always have them, but sometimes... Sometimes they just insist on showing up.

Look around some more. Read some poetry by 'just pet, Lauren.Hynde, daughter, WickedEve, Redwave, HomerPindar and others who post here frequently. I think you'll see what I mean.

My best.
- Judo

 

[Guest]

rhyming

Hi!

I hardly ever use rhyme, but when I do it's usually slapped into a few lines of free verse. It's not that I dislike rhyme. On the contrary, if someone can create a poem in which the rhyme and rhythm emphasize the flow of the words I really enjoy that. But for me, I hardly use it simply because it's not my personal style to do so. I'm pretty sure I've come across quite a few rhyming poems here. Off hand I don't remember what they were, but I know there are a good number of them. Just keep looking

--Xtaabay

 

[Guest]

ignore the attachment

sorry.. please ignore the lava lamp attachment. It has nothing to do with my message. I'm terribly computer-impaired, and was trying to figure out how to put an image under my name for my postings... but it seems I screwed up (I know, what else is new?).
--Xtaabay

 

[karmadog]

Xtaabay, are you talking about an image like the one of my gorgeous dog over there on the left? If so, I'm afraid that the powers that be won't let you do that until you have 100 posts.

You'll just have to participate on the boards until that happens. Darn the luck! (kidding of course)

 

[darkmaas]

Rhyme and the Universal Metaphore

Xtaabay

Get a grip girl. There is more to poetry than lavalamps!

Rhyme me no more sonnets
No haiku anymore
I'm blinded by your lavalamp
Your skyblue metaphore.

Sorry about the hijacking of this thread. I'll go away now.

 

[darkmaas]

metaphor you idiot

For those of you perplexed at my eccentric spelling of metaphor pick on eof the following:

1) I wanted it to rhyme with anymore.

2) Metaphore is the Canadian spelling.

3) I was blinded by XTB's lavalamp and my hand slipped. Twice.

I'll go away again.

 

[Senna Jawa]

Hi Gang,

Question: Can anyone, or perhaps everyone tell me why any poetry that rhymes seems to be treated like the red headed stepchild of the poetry family?

It doesn't seem to me.

Ive been all over the site, and to many private webpages of members and can find only two poems that rhyme, and they are both Mine!

You have NOT been all over the site. You have the self-tropism, that's all.

Im not looking for links to poems that do rhyme. I am just wondering why poetry that does rhyme seems almost loathed. Whats the deal

No need to wonder about something which doesn't exist.

Yes, some people state rigid, stifling opinions against the free form--others, in about equal numbers, against strict forms. Both are silly.

Also......can anyone point me towards any kind of tutorial or educational type website on poetry styles etc etc?

Thanks!

I've seen in a library a marvelous text which explained different forms by writing the explanation of the form as a "poem" written just in that form.

Regards,

 

[Senna Jawa]

Re: metaphor you idiot

For those of you perplexed at my eccentric spelling of metaphor pick on eof the following:

2) Metaphore is the Canadian spelling.

Sure, I know, I do a lot of Canadian spelling off al kintz myshelve.

Regards,

 

[HomerPindar]

Hi Gang,

Question: Can anyone, or perhaps everyone tell me why any poetry that rhymes seems to be treated like the red headed stepchild of the poetry family?

Ive been all over the site, and to many private webpages of members and can find only two poems that rhyme, and they are both Mine!

Im not looking for links to poems that do rhyme. I am just wondering why poetry that does rhyme seems almost loathed.
"Killswitch"

As you've no doubt heard already, there's plenty of poetry that rhymes out there. I thought I'd point out a couple of forms where rhyme is defined as part of the form itself...such as Pantoum, Villanelle, Skeletonic, Ballad, Ballade, and limerick just to name a few...so you can find those poems that rhyme more easily

HomerPindar

 

[Guest]

Re: Rhyme and the Universal Metaphore

Xtaabay

Get a grip girl. There is more to poetry than lavalamps!

Rhyme me no more sonnets
No haiku anymore
I'm blinded by your lavalamp
Your skyblue metaphore.

Sorry about the hijacking of this thread. I'll go away now.

What? More to poetry than
lovely light filled lavalamps?!
NOoooooo!!!!

--Xtaabay

 

[sideshow_cecil]

Personally, I like to write poems that rhyme because they are fun and that's why I do it. I write for my own amusement rather than having some deep heartfelt point to tell everyone. If I actually have something to say, I prefer satirical short stories or blues piano. For example:

every december the cold wind blows
the weather report tells of coming snows
but I stay inside, and keep warm my toes
and call Santa to send me some Ho Ho Hos
yes Santa's my pimp, his girls are the tops
and I don't think they're elves or made in work shops,
when they come over the fun never stops,
but don't wreck it all by telling the cops.
when Santa brings them by he lands on my roof,
with a pink fuzzy sleigh I don't recall from my youth,
each of the reindeer has one gold hoof,
and Santa smiles with a similar tooth.
He slides down the chimney to bring me some ladies
to have the kind of fun that'll put me in Hades,
these girls are so wild I should test them for rabies,
but oh so sweet those hot sugar babies.
Those Ho Ho Hos they'll do it all,
and when I want some more I just have to call,
but of course there's a price to have my fantasies fulfilled,
Santa takes payment in toys that I build.

 

[Killswitch]

Re: Re: Poetry that Rhymes: Yes, No, Absolutely Not?

You have the self-tropism, that's all.

Eh?

I'm very sorry, but I do not know what that means. Can anyone tell me? Do I need to have a doctor look at it? Maybe get a special cream or something?

Seriously though......what does it mean?

K.S.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: Poetry that Rhymes: Yes, No, Absolutely Not?

Eh?

I'm very sorry, but I do not know what that means. Can anyone tell me? Do I need to have a doctor look at it? Maybe get a special cream or something?

Seriously though......what does it mean?

K.S.

I think that means you're moving towards it (finding rhyming poems here at Literotica) but you haven't actually found them yet. I've always thought of tropism as a sort of moving towards, or flexing towards (or away from) something. Of course, I could be wrong.

--Xtaabay

 

[Cordelia]

Tropism: 1. The involuntary response of an organism to an external stimulus. 2. Any automatic reaction to a stimulus.

That is such a great word.

***********************

And Killswitch,

As I mentioned in another thread, I choose my poem form by the subject, or the subject by the form of the poem. (Or perhaps the poem chooses me?)

I end up rhyming or not rhyming as the subject dictates.

And as for what constitutes good poetry, I follow the words of Duke Ellington. He is talking about music, but I think it works for any art. He said, "If it sounds good, it is good."

Of course, I'm an accountant....



-Cordelia.

 

[Sure]

Who knows, Cordelia? Maybe Duke Ellington was an accountant on the side.

 

[Killswitch]

And as for what constitutes good poetry, I follow the words of Duke Ellington. He is talking about music, but I think it works for any art. He said, "If it sounds good, it is good."

-Cordelia.

Sounds good to me Cordelia. I am also a musician, and that is probably why I either prefer rhyming poetry, or am guilty of "Tropism", because most music lyrics rhyme.

I may not have used the word in proper context.....but you get my drift.



K.S.

 

[beths-virtue]

poetry's bastard child

rhyming is looked down upon,
i m not sure why,
i cant rhyme very well, other than in couplets, so ,

i tend to say, wow neat ... they can rhyme

soem of the most well known poems rhyme....
poe's the raven, for example,

_Land can rhyme quite easily
but used to get criticism for it, and now he seldom does,

Judo writes good rhymes too

ive only written a few poems that rhyme, and , the feedback i have gotten from them is ,
the rhyming seems to prevent other poets from relating to the poems, but

looking through a recent magazine, that does print poetry... every poem they published rhymed.....12 poems in all...

i guess, it all depends .....and in the end , nothing is decided

 

[Rybka]

Re: The Duke

And as for what constitutes good poetry, I follow the words of Duke Ellington. He is talking about music, but I think it works for any art. He said, "If it sounds good, it is good."
....
-Cordelia.

I prefer the quote from A Drum Is A Woman, "It isn't civilized to beat women. No matter what they say or they do... but will somebody tell me, what else can you do... with... a''' drum! - D. Ellington



Regards,                    
  Rybka

 

[Guest]

Question: . . . Ive been all over the site, and to many private webpages of members and can find only two poems that rhyme, and they are both Mine! . . . "Killswitch"

Ummm - you didn't find my poems!

I currently have more stories than poems posted on Lit but two of my poems do rhyme. Their subject matter is erotic (one is about anal sex, the other sex and football) and the poems are slightly humorous (at least I hope so) - thus, a rhyme pattern seemed to fit.

I know I have read some rather BAD prose containing trite and overused rhyme. That would turn anyone off reading poetry.

 

[Dirt Man]

To Rhyme, or Not to Rhyme, that is the question.

Most form poems are rhyme, and subject to strict guide lines. And that too may be why people shy from writing rhyme, as well as the fact that we learn to rhyme as children in early English classes. And least we forget today's popular Rap music that rhymes, and rhymes, and rhymes incesently. As a fan of both Robert Service, and Robert Frost, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe, I feel that no artist should ever stop growing whatever artistic endeavor they are into. Nor should they dismiss using any of the tools of their trades, and rhyming is a tool that even the greatest bard of all William Shakespear used. Personally, I don't hate rhyme, though I do hate doing form poetry. However I do form poetry to grow, and I write free verse to grow as well. Even combining the two when ever appropriate. Each of us, I think, starts out writing rhyme in that mamby, pamby sing song way that we were taught in grade school, but if we keep at the trade, we grow out of it as we expand our horizons, and read the greats. So that too may be why you think people put down rhyming poems, and to a great degree you may be right as people who progress seldom care to look back. I suggest that if you want to become a better poet, read more poetry. Poetry written, and published by the best of the best will help you grow.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

In the morning’s whispered promise
in each day’s borrowed grind
the statement of each child
is the smile they leave behind.
~
Spring clover giggles
Summer time laughs
Autumn tumbles
And Winter gasps.
~
The colors of the wind
sing the song of sun’s death
and the child in us all
shivers, in the moon’s breath.

 

[MyOpinion]

Put my vote as Absolutely!

Here's one to prove it:

Lady in my Tub
There was this lady in my tub
Who handed me a brush to scrub
The dirt she said was on her back;
Now, gentlemen’s manners I do not lack,
I took the brush and cleaned her fair
Then threw all caution to the air!
I slid my hands down derrière
So round, so pink, so smooth, so clean
They made me act like some sex fiend!
It was, I suppose, the healthy sheen
That made my hands slip in between
Her creamy, dreamy open thighs;
You know the kind, come on now guys,
What would you do that’s otherwise?

*smirk*
I think it fits the
taDAH taDAH taDAH taDAH
taDAH taDAH taDAH---
taDAH taDAH taDAH taDAH
taDAH taDAH taDAH---

Did I get it right Judo?

 

[Angeline]

Rhymin Time

I write a lot of poems in this weird jazzlike rhythm that is usually bopping about in my head. I love using rhyme in poetry and put it--not necessarily at the end of a line or even consistently anywhere, but wherever I think it fits with the music of the poem. This is art, right? The rhyme doen't have to be at then end of the line.

(illustrating the point with this poem because Opi's reminded me I have it. )



Sea of Soapy Love
by Angeline ©

Step delicately in, back straight,
hair pinned with tortoiseshell
in raven twist atop my head.
My hair is as you wanted.
Well I know that your delight
is in the artifice we make tonight,
this lovers’ game, this waterplay
in sloping clawfoot porcelain.

The Nag Champa burns sweet,
its mild scent imbues the humid air,
and all the room aglow in candlelight
reflecting on the bubbles, fair and
insubstantial prismic orbs that
foam in fragile rainbow eddies,
clinging drifting every tiny breath
or shift revealing or concealing
tender heat-pinked shining flesh.

The rivulets are slipping, sliding
snaking beads of steaming moisture
streaming down the arc of silk
or pattering in drip and drops of
gentle sparkling rain that falls in
plips and plops of little splashes
from the sponge you hold above.

And Oh your eyes are shining on
my arching smile seraphic senses
swimming in a sea of soapy love.

 

[MyOpinion]

Re: Rhymin Time

I write a lot of poems in this weird jazzlike rhythm that is usually bopping about in my head. I love using rhyme in poetry ...

Hey, Angeline, that must be one sexy jazz number floating around in your head! Hehehe!

 

[Angeline]

All that jazz...

OPI said:

Hey, Angeline, that must be one sexy jazz number floating around in your head! Hehehe!

It's Lester Young's fault. You listen to enough of his music and all kinds of ideas occur.