From: pixy@yabbs
To: Natalie@yabbs
Subject: re: <no title>
Date: Tue May  3 12:31:50 1994
In message re: <no title>, Natalie said:
> 
> however, it has gotten to the point where the conventions are no longer 
> taught in schools.  I had to teach myself how to write in iambic 
> pentameter.  I still remember my 9th grade english class where we were 
> told to write a poem and the techer told us that anything we wanted could 
> be poetry.  There has to be some thought put into it, not just a random 
> selection of words that look good.  That's what the conventions do...they 
> make the poet think of the words that best suit his or her purpose.  And 
> while I know that cummings did put a lot of thought into his poetry, it is 
> his poetry and others like it that have led to this total lack of 
> understanding of poetic forms and what *I* consider to be the sorry state 
> of poetry today.  I just don't like the aesthetic that I'm being forced to 
> conform to.  And while I do write free verse, I also discipline myself by 
> writing sonnets.  That's about allI can think of at the moment, cause I'm 

Actually, i was taught the conventtions of how to form meter and rythm,
but i doubt that everyone is. Yes, i would agreee that some poems now use
free verse out of sheer laziness. I would even hesitate to consider most
free verse poems--perhaps raw thought would be a better term. some totally
disregard any verse when it could elevate the communication of their
thoughts into a totally different level of experience. with free verse the
content and diction communicate, as does the lack of verse. Many don't
consider the poem something that acts upon many different complex levels,
so what we get is a lot of second rate poetry. 
But now on the other hand, look how many people butcher rythm and
meter. too many people just think that the only way to wirte a poem is in
the standard a,b,c,d...rhyme scheme and whatever rythm seems to fit in
with the first line of the poem. Certainly this is not good poetry. Most
of the poetry in unfree verse is just as childish and incomplete as the
free verse. 
rythm and rhyme are something that need more consideration from
poets. And no rythm or ryme is still a type of rythm and rhyme and still
requires the same considerations as such.
pixy