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Contemporary Rhyming
Does anyone know of any contemporary poets that use mostly rhyme? It seams like the free form style pervades every inch of today's poetry. How I miss the old poets, like Robert Service for example, who used mostly rhyme in the works. I guess I'm just old fashion that way. Also post if you agree. Thank you everyone,
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
Methinks I saw this same post in General Discussions?
Not meaning to be nit-picky, but there's no need to post a thread in more than one place, and it clutters things. Just a bit o' advice.
Like Snemma advised you, I think you might find you like free form a lot if you study its ways sufficiently. I started out preferring fixed meter and end-rhyme, but moved away from that as I progressed as a writer. I still like rhyme, but sparely used, and more internal than end-rhyme. Also alliteration is a fine ornament. I feel that regular AABB or ABAB rhyming (unless it's done truly well enough to be less than obtrusive) tends to give the poem a sing-songy air, something that I... can't abide.
You know, it's possible that so much rhyming poetry has been written that it's just hard to write something that hasn't been written before. There are a limited amount of rhyming words and ideas that these may portray. Mayhap poets steer clear of it for this reason.
But there's no accounting for taste. Just, give free verse the time to sink in a bit, pay attention to what words are used, where line breaks are, etc. (all of those subtle but interesting things free verse, when written well, can use to make its point), and you will end up liking it, I believe.
Andrew
(who likes Robert Service, and still recites The Cremation of Sam McGee when he gets the chance, but just... doesn't feel the same about it as he does about a really powerful freeish poem)
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
*decides to copy her earlier reply here to eliminate the need to continue the conversation in multiple places (even though quoting herself feels a bit odd indeed)*
| I Wrote: : |
| Hiya! Yep... I've noticed the same. The vast majority of contemporary work that I've read of late has been free verse. I actually prefer free verse... so I find that enjoyable. I don't dislike rhymed poetry entirely... but I'm picky about it, I guess. To hold my attention, it has to be well rhymed and expressive/unique - not just rhymed. There is sooooo much poetry available online or via a visit to the bookstore/library though... I'm certain you could discover some new poems that appeal to you. If you need some suggestions for links and/or anthologies - let me know... when I have some free time I could take a look at what I have bookmarked and what I have on my bookshelf to try and find some suggestions for you. And heck... give that free verse stuff a chance too... I'm certain you'd miss some good stuff if you overlooked pieces just because they didn't rhyme.  ~Snemmy |
And... I have to say I concur with all that Andrew has said. Free verse, I think, is often 'more' than the reader realizes. There is much to be appreciated, though sometimes that goes unnoticed I suspect. Reading it aloud helps, I think. OR - better yet... listening to the author/poet recite the piece (and there are, by the way, online sites that include audio recordings of poetry). When a poem is heard as opposed to read (or rather... in addition to being read), the 'reader' is better able to appreciate the rhythm or flow of the piece, to pick up near-rhyme that they might not have noticed on the page and to appreciate any alliteration, consonance, internal rhyme, symbolism, etc. that may have been embedded therein.
*decides to hush before she gets all emphatic and repetitive in her comments*
~Snemmy
(who sometimes cannot help herself)
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
I certainly am not opposed to free verse. I actually use it quite a bit in writing. It does give a writer complete and total freedom. I also believe there should be no rules in poetry, anything goes when it comes to art. And it's true that rhyme has been done to death, but then again, so has most forms of poetry. I think the the biggest problem people have with rhyming is the actual rhymes themselves, because those words have been written so many times. What I find most beautiful about rhyming poetry, isn't the rhyme itself, but the words that come before the actual rhyme. It's very similar to the chords of a guitar. C chords, D chords, G chords, E chords etc. have been used like crazy, but the way in which the artists uses them, is where true talent comes from. My last thought is this, "Death to all rules of poetry." Rules only hinder talent.
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
I am fond of subtle rhyme. It's just clockwork end-rhyme that gets to me. It is too obtrusive to allow real poetry of meaning and thought to shine through. I think the neoclassicists of Europe (especially Britain) are to blame for such - the English language is from a linguistic viewpoint much better suited to alliteration, as early English poetry shows.
Robert Service was certainly good at rhymes and rhythms; far better than most. But his poetry is rather lighthearted, and I feel rhyme is best suited to that kind of style. I've not read a great deal of his work, but it seems rhymester would be a better title for him than poet, doesn't it?
Andrew
(who is entirely talking personal taste right now, he admits)
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
Of course, end-rhyme in really good hands can be a beautiful thing, too!
Andrew
(who has just come face to face with such in Phil's (lostinmyself's) poem)
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
| Fionndruinne Wrote: : |
| I am fond of subtle rhyme. It's just clockwork end-rhyme that gets to me. It is too obtrusive to allow real poetry of meaning and thought to shine through. I |
lol
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
Awww, bless you, Andrew. That made me feel all happy.
Hmmm, this is a funny subject, for me, as I really don't mind freeverse or rhyming poetry. I write both, and enjoy both, too. I also believe that both can still be very original, it just depends on the author, and even over used words, in the right combination, can be very interesting.
I do love freeverse though, which is rather funny, as I used to dislike it a lot.
Anyway, that's it from me, really.
*hugs to all*
Phil xxx
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
| poetsoul Wrote: : |
"Death to all rules of poetry." Rules only hinder talent. |
Rules develop talent. If there were no invention of metric rule to measure rhythm, the skill of rhyming poetry would not exist as it has done for centuries. I cannot imagine what It would otherwise have evolved into. Perhaps nothing.
N_F
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
Hmm. Metric rhythms and various kinds of rhyme have of course been present in poetry since the earliest known Indo-European languages. Ancient rhyme was not so fixed - it was employed, but to suit the moment, rather than the whole poem being built around the rhyme. I prefer this, for it never means that something important in the meaning must be sacrificed for form.
I too used to write mostly closed form, and did achieve a little skill in it, but I think as I became more involved in linguistics, and the power of the word's meaning became more important to me, I drifted away from that.
Rules do develop talent, that I have seen in more areas than only poetry. Of course, they also hold a lure for some to think they understand the talent by way of learning the rules, and so we get empty rhymes the writer feels is poetry. But I suppose that will always be so. There are a thousand unwritten rules to each written one, rules which the possessor of talent understands but cannot name.
I'll quit rambling now. Slàn.
Andrew
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
I write both free verse and rhyming poems, but I don't think that either restrict a poet... if self expression arrives with perfect rhythm, metre and rhyme, who am I to comment? Some poets I've come across who use rhyme frequently include; Philip Larkin (of 'This Be The Verse' fame) Simon Armitage, Carol-Ann Duffy... true, these were my GCSE and A-Level poets, but they stay in the mind, and some of their poems are pretty damn good! I don't think you can slate a particular kind of poetry just because you don't like it, or find it too rigid/free of form, everything has it's own merits and downfalls, I try to just accept poetry for what it is; beautiful words.
Re: Contemporary Rhyming
Rakerman1999 <--- really good rhyming poet.
*emphasizes*
case in point. And I think he isn't very subtle either
Whee, two cents!
So, in any case--
The moment a rhyme is written for the rhyme's sake, it's meaningless. Meaningless poetry we have much of. Poetry that's "uninhibited," shall we say, can conceal more depth, power, and passion (and make it horribly hard to make full sense of), and by the way literary fads go is "the way of the future." But when rhymes are discarded entirely to just, you know, be contemporary, again, the work is something closer to a rabidly mutilated sentence. Teens around the world make their first forays into poetry exactly this way. They also rhyme predictably, too, which might have added to the stigma of line-endings sounding similar.
In the end, anything you write can be moving, gorgeous, eternal; it's really not (as much) how you write it, but what you're writing. Beauty is, for the most part, unmistakable.
~Guy with massive condescension and grammar problems