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Dapper Businesswoman

I used to believe wholeheartedly that creating images through the use of flowery language was all that a poem needed to be "good", something that still hinders me today. I was so convinced that it was superior to a piece that had little imagery because it was so visual, even though it was intangible for the reader to gasp what the ******** was going on. Now in a sense feel it was even weaker because it couldn't tell enough to show what was going, if that makes any sense. I believe in order to be an effective poem there needs to be a comfortable harmony based on what the writer wants to say to the reader which brings me to the other aspect I feel is vital to a successful poem, relationship readers have with your work.


Not whether they like or dislike it, poorly written or genius technique, that it resonates emotion within them. Obviously you can accomplish this easily with someone who doesn't know the mechanics or has a taste not beyond what you read in English in high school. Maybe then we get closer to what I feel is the center this maze that's impossible to find a clear path out of: is it as simple as a "good" poem just resonates something in the reader making them feel, thus making technique secondary to consider or saying that poetry is subjective is just an excuse for people to write poorly who don't understand the mechanics thus making their opinions about what's good less valid?


Maybe that's too black and white....but that's subjective.


emotion_awesome





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The rebel prince!
I was so convinced that it was superior to a piece that had little imagery because it was so visual, even though it was intangible for the reader to gasp what the ******** was going on.


This. I can't tell you how critical of realization this is, in a world where "the five senses" are the mantra which currently strangles the throat of entry-level poetry. True, images are important, as there are many instances where we can't see what is going on-- where the concept has not been adequately developed. However, there are also other ways to develop a concept. If we look to the Versist tradition; well, isn't it evident that back then sound and structure were used to shoulder part of the burden of development? Often the sensory data itself is not as exacting, rather it is relegated to T-Rex arms placed upon some powerful meterical legs-- which ultimately allows for the survival of the beast.

Compared to this, a style heavy in Imagery could be viewed as top-heavy.. unless you have your strongest bazookas in place on your rotating turret, you will die under a flurry of boomerang velociraptors.
what is poetry? :mindfreak: burning_eyes

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I honestly can't point to a single thing that makes good poetry. It could have all the right elements, but suck. What makes good poetry is all up to the reader since we have different ideas of what are the fundamentals to begin with.

However, it seems we can all be in agreement as to what makes bad poetry.
Lovers Never Tell
I honestly can't point to a single thing that makes good poetry. It could have all the right elements, but suck. What makes good poetry is all up to the reader since we have different ideas of what are the fundamentals to begin with.

However, it seems we can all be in agreement as to what makes bad poetry.

FACT

Aekea Scarface

I'm not sure if either I or someone else has said this already:

Good poetry -- or at least a good element of poetry -- should flow naturally. Sure, there can be spots intended to actively make the reader pause for a moment. For the most part, however, the poem should be read in a fluent movement. Everything should feel natural and unforced.
This is why, in my opinion, rhyming is so difficult. Not only do you have to pay attention to diction, but you also have to pay attention to rhyming and a rhyme scheme. With bad rhyming poetry, the element of rhyme is so glaringly obvious that it makes the poem nearly unreadable. Good rhyme on the other hand gives a natural flow to the poem. Instead of the poet forcing the words in because they rhyme, it's almost as though the individual words fit nicely into the poem and then just happened to end up rhyming with each other.

Frankly, I would say that the notion that a poem could have all the right elements but still be bad could partially {if not fully in some instances} of the elements being forced into the poem.

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