What makes a poem erotic?

[SimonDoom]

I've been publishing stories here at Literotica for about 2 1/2 years and only recently have published three poems, so I'm new to both publication and participating in this forum.

I have a question and I don't know if it's been raised before: What makes a poem erotic to you? I'm thinking less about subject matter than about form: meter, rhyming scheme, that sort of thing. Are there certain kinds of word choices that are arousing and others not arousing? Is it more erotic to read a poem in a recognizable rhyming scheme, or something more free-form?

I assume there are no right answers and that this is all subjective, but I'm curious. I'm trying to figure out what to write next and also how to make it erotic.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

We had a whole thread about that already, I'll see if I can find it, although of course there's no reason not to ask again.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

There's this thread words to avoid in erotic poetry

 

[butters]

for me, eroticism works better when word-choices are more a step to the side than in your face, the difference (often) between erotica and porn. of course, that's not always the case, but seems more often than not for me as a reader. frequently, on its surface, a poem can appear as not about eroticism at all - like washing dishes at the sink - but when it's read, when the words are savoured, their rhythm, their connotations, how they can make your own body respond in recognition, that's when a poem can be erotic. i think a lot of these really depend directly on sensory input, slipperiness, the thud of a beat, the rise and fall of enunciation, inflections, aromas, heat or chill on flesh, that sort of thing.

i don't want forms to get in the way; if used well, they don't, they're more something to recognise after the first read-through. some forms using repetition can work to induce rhythm that underlies the imagery, a heartbeat kind of thing or the body-thrusts in coitus.

i want to be embraced by the poem, so i feel - vicariously - sensations, see images, taste flavours etc....

avoid telling me, show me.

 

[todski28]

Sometimes it helps to see some examples

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=90697718#post90697718

Here something we tried a long while back to try and address the issue poetically

 

[Piscator]

A sense of humour helps. Lorna Crozier My Last Erotic Poem

 

[SimonDoom]

There's this thread words to avoid in erotic poetry

I saw that before I posted my thread. I thought it was interesting but it addressed a somewhat different issue.

 

[oggbashan]

My answer?

The mind of the reader.

 

[todski28]

My answer?

The mind of the reader.

That’s generally a given from the idea of arts as a subjective form but is there a way to write on something as universal as erotica in an objective manner I.e. to connect with if not the entirety of humanity (cough flat earthers cough) but enough people to claim an erotic objectivity?

 

[SimonDoom]

My answer?

The mind of the reader.

O.K., but the question then is what do you, as one particular reader, find erotic? If enough people give genuine -- and meaningful -- answers, then we may get somewhere and determine it's something more than just "whatever you like."

 

[Lyricalli]

O.K., but the question then is what do you, as one particular reader, find erotic? If enough people give genuine -- and meaningful -- answers, then we may get somewhere and determine it's something more than just "whatever you like."

That is a tough question to answer, and one I'm not sure I have an answer to myself after several years of reading and occasionally attempting to write erotic poetry. I have found it both subtle metaphors and in poems with more direct language.

Though, as I think about it now, it may just come down to the distinction between showing vs telling. Don't tell me there is touch, make me feel the touch through words. Set the verbal parts of my brain on fire, and well, you've got the rest of me.

There is something to the "whatever you like" response, because people have different experiences, different connotations and responses to words. And eroticism is so determined by the lives each of has lived, and what we're bringing to the table as readers.

This is all off the cuff, so it's helpfulness is likely debatable, but I find the questions interesting, and so here we are.

 

[Lyricalli]

A sense of humour helps. Lorna Crozier My Last Erotic Poem

I love this

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I saw that before I posted my thread. I thought it was interesting but it addressed a somewhat different issue.

Why? You asked what words don't work.

 

[SimonDoom]

Why? You asked what words don't work.

OK. To be fair, that thread addresses part of my question. My focus was more on what IS erotic to people than on what is NOT erotic.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

OK. To be fair, that thread addresses part of my question. My focus was more on what IS erotic to people than on what is NOT erotic.

That's like asking why do some people love liquorice and I hate it

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I must say I don't find badly written crude dirty ditties at all erotic, you know what I mean they're mostly written as abcb or abab rhymes, some lines short, some long and the wording lends a lot to yoda talk just to get the rhymes in.

 

[oggbashan]

That’s generally a given from the idea of arts as a subjective form but is there a way to write on something as universal as erotica in an objective manner I.e. to connect with if not the entirety of humanity (cough flat earthers cough) but enough people to claim an erotic objectivity?

Simple answer - NO.

People's erotic impulses vary so much that an overall principle is unlikely. All you can aim for is a proportion of the readership.

Direct images may offend; subtle ones can miss the target. Poetry that is not intended to be erotic could be if it fits with an individual's perception of a past encounter.

What works for me may be offensive or meaningless to another.

 

[Senna Jawa]

[...] What makes a poem erotic to you? I'm thinking less about the subject matter than about form [...]

I assume there are no right answers [...].

But there is a simple right answer. Select an erotic theme and forget that your poem has to be erotic -- just write an as good poem as you can, regardless of the topic.

(If you want me to write more, let me know).

 

[Deleted member 3041612]

What makes a poem erotic is how it captures your thoughts. What you get from it. What is conveyed. How it is conveyed and emotions it may evoke as a result.

It's all about what moves you and/or the creative vision of the poet/writer.

 

[oggbashan]

To go back to the OP.

In my opinion form and structure are irrelevant. An erotic poem could be a sonnet or have no apparent form at all.

What matters is what the poet conveys to the reader, however that is done.

 

[todski28]

To go back to the OP.

In my opinion form and structure are irrelevant. An erotic poem could be a sonnet or have no apparent form at all.

What matters is what the poet conveys to the reader, however that is done.

What makes a poem erotic is how it captures your thoughts. What you get from it. What is conveyed. How it is conveyed and emotions it may evoke as a result.

It's all about what moves you and/or the creative vision of the poet/writer.

I think these hit the nail on the head for all intents and purposes, the differentials between individuals is such a large chasm that all you can hope to do it convey your ideas and hope they come across the way you intend, sometimes they’ll hit sometimes miss,

I write a lot of shit in porn/erotica off the cuff and very raw

Sometimes I get feedback others I get nothing the ones that got a lot of feedback I tried to emulate and re-write as better and the other stuff I kept some phrasing’s but in general ditched the structures that weren’t working.

 

[ag2507]

Somewhere between crude and obscure

Some of the better erotic poetry was written in times of censorship so crude descriptions were out and subtlety was in. Huge swathes of Shakespeare are very erotic but you have to know the code: "we'll talk of country matters", "it hangs like flax on a distaff". A lot of music hall lyrics have the same timbre, nothing dirty but you sure get the message.
Erotic poetry has to be well crafted, stumble lines and ill formed rhythm kill the message: you'll notice pieces like Eskimo Nell are brilliant rhythmic and rhymed monologue. I have published anthologies of erotic poetry and selecting from the contributions is very hard. It can range from haiku to blank verse to rhyming couplets but the result is an enjoyed sensual experience.

"Oh! Sir Jasper do not touch me" appears totally bland until you run it through:
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch me
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch
Oh Sir Jasper do not
Oh Sir Jasper do
Oh Sir Jasper!
Oh! Sir...
Ooooh!

In the end it is somewhere between crude and obscure.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Some of the better erotic poetry was written in times of censorship so crude descriptions were out and subtlety was in. Huge swathes of Shakespeare are very erotic but you have to know the code: "we'll talk of country matters", "it hangs like flax on a distaff". A lot of music hall lyrics have the same timbre, nothing dirty but you sure get the message.
Erotic poetry has to be well crafted, stumble lines and ill formed rhythm kill the message: you'll notice pieces like Eskimo Nell are brilliant rhythmic and rhymed monologue. I have published anthologies of erotic poetry and selecting from the contributions is very hard. It can range from haiku to blank verse to rhyming couplets but the result is an enjoyed sensual experience.

"Oh! Sir Jasper do not touch me" appears totally bland until you run it through:
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch me
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch
Oh Sir Jasper do not
Oh Sir Jasper do
Oh Sir Jasper!
Oh! Sir...
Ooooh!

In the end it is somewhere between crude and obscure.

We used to sing that on the WRAF coach, the first I really learned any dirty ditties!

 

[GiadaRosetta]

For me

As a reader, I want the writer's words to take me somewhere. Pull into into your space.

I want the words to feel like someone's fingers are caressing my neck and causing the pace of my breathing to change. Let my mind wander in the fields of your verse.

Bonus points if you get me so distracted that my coffee gets cold. Cold coffee is always a sign of a hot time in my book.

Love Giada