My native tongue is poetry –
Though some might say mere verse.
My accent is iambic time –
That might get on your nerves.
Phonetically I like to rime –
Syllabically I count.
Inversion keeps me on my toes
When moving feet about.
Some say that rime is indirect –
Inversion is contrived –
The force of form is incorrect,
By sentiment derived –
A nineteenth-century accident –
Anachronistic curse.
I say that rime is precedent
Of bard tradition’s verse.
Inversion is a chance to stage,
A drama, screened by time,
And sentiment can be a sage
Who prompts a phrase sublime.
A meter is a lyric song –
A chant to memorize –
A count to help the words belong
To beats that mesmerize.
Some try to master language flow,
Abandoning old means.
By service to the figures, though,
New power intervenes.
(Pleasant Grove, Utah, 17 June 2008)
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2 comments:
That's a very good poem. it would take me a month just to look up all those words.
i think the sub title would be, "in defense of form" :-) i agree that form can be very useful but i also know that when used carelessly, thoughtlessly, without skill, it can kill a poem. i'm a bit scared of form i'll admit, because unlike you i don't have the confidence that i can fill it appropriately, fittingly, effectively. i keep saying i'll work on that and just practise, write a few bad poems in form just so i learn how to use it. and you know, someday, i will. :-) btw check out my latest post, i played with limericks after you posted some ages ago.
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