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Metre

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The fashion today’s

For Free Verse, I’d say

But I find the discipline neater

To write poetry

Syllabically-

The Soul of the Work is The Metre.

 

I’m not autocratic

Nor even dogmatic

And occasionally I might complete a

Piece without form,

Which isn’t my norm,

But then I return to The Metre.

 

Sometimes there’s a price

For being precise

You’ll need, now and then, to delete a

Great word that won’t scan,

Like Abraham’s lamb,

A sacrifice made to The Metre.

 

And relevant rhymes

I agree will, sometimes,

Embellish and make the line sweeter

But the essence for me

Of all poetry’s

The Power and Pace of The Metre.

 

That Carol Ann Duffy

I find a bit stuffy

(I’d tell her this if I should meet her)

“You write your Free Verse.

 (You’ll soon line your purse!)

But I –

I write in Metre”

◄ Mammaries Are Made Of This

I Got Ewe Babe ►

Comments

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Graham Sherwood

Mon 16th Apr 2012 22:39

Thermo, Baro, Electric or Gas, this fits all the bills John. Another cracker!

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alisonsmiles68@gmail.com

Mon 16th Apr 2012 13:00

I had a bit of a go at the Old English a la Heaney & Beowulf (OK and lots of older poets whose names I don't know). It's kind of addictive ...

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Andrew Brown

Mon 16th Apr 2012 10:32

Hi, there, Mr Coopey! The irony of the word 'syllabically' is that we don't actually use them all...

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 15th Apr 2012 23:55

I'm with you, J.C. Having your metre read is a
gas!

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Yvonne Brunton

Sun 15th Apr 2012 23:42

Hear,Hear!!
I've long had a feeling that maybe many of those who write free verse have not actually got an 'ear' for the discipline of metre and rhyme.Their symbolism, imagery and leaps of faith into uncharted allegory may well be first class but for me are not as delicious to savour as full bodied verses flowing and ebbing in a rhythmical rhyming structure.
To me, free verse is a different discipline,difficult to master in its own right.

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