Thread: Rhythm as it pertains to poetry

Originally Posted by k3ng

I am a music person. And a drummer. As such, I tend to lean towards poems that have delightful rhythms imbued in the sentences. Even when writing verses and rhymes I take joy in writing rhythmic sentences that roll off the tongue. I may not succeed very well, but that's certainly my preference.

I was reading earlier a poem on someone's blog and this particular piece of writing made an effort to rhyme in an ABAB style, but the sentences were of all different lengths. When reading it, I found the rhythm to be almost stuttering.

I used to think poetry was grounded in rhythm. My earliest exposition to some form of rhyme and verse or what I would call poetry at the time was the little tidbits in Roald Dahl's books. And that remains still my favourite form of poetry to read and write.

What are you thoughts about rhythms as it pertains to poetry?

Does it hold a high level of importance in what you read and enjoy? Is there such a thing as good rhythm/bad rhythm/perfect rhythm etc.?

I'm thoroughly aware poetry takes many different forms, but I want to concentrate on the rhythmic aspect of poetry. I've read much free verse and poetic expression, things that are truly beautiful. Yet, there is an unmistakeable joy when I read something that has incredible rhythm - a joy to read out loud even.

Do you think rhythm is a much 'older' or more 'old school' method of poetry writing? How much of rhythm do you think about when writing your works? Does it cross your mind at all?

Rhythm is a device. Imo, it is an essential device because it is all-purpose. Rhythm can be used to modulate the tempo of a piece or stanza. It can also be used to evoke/provoke a feeling in the reader. Novel use of rhythm can make a piece interesting and competent use of rhythm can make an otherwise mediocre piece a little bit more tolerable.

Bad rhythm...On the one hand, it is a matter of taste. Different readers will process the same piece differently, picking up on a flow where others don't. On the other hand, I think most people would agree that the best definition for "bad rhythm" is an absence of rhythm, or at least a point in a given stanza where an otherwise sound flow stumbles over something.

My personal feelings on rhythm and poetry...my work speaks for itself .

You are telling a DRUMMER that rhythm is a "device". And would probably resent snickers.Are words a "device"?

Originally Posted by lin

You are telling a DRUMMER that rhythm is a "device". And would probably resent snickers.Are words a "device"?

King does not need you to snicker for him. He will do it of his own accord.

Rhythm in the context of poetry is a lyrical device. And words themselves are certainly devices.

Rhythm in the context of poetry is a lyrical device. And words themselves are certainly devices.

LOL
That's even better than most poems being written for stage instead of page.

Now rhythym is a LYRICAL device? Breathtaking.
And words are not like elements of poetry but devices. Could be dispensed with entirely. Enlightening.

Originally Posted by lin

LOL
That's even better than most poems being written for stage instead of page.

Now rhythym is a LYRICAL device? Breathtaking.
And words are not like elements of poetry but devices. Could be dispensed with entirely. Enlightening.

The manner in which words are applied is a device, Lin. In what some call poems they have even been dispensed with, so called poems being written in binary code and such.

The manner in which words are applied is a device, Lin. In what some call poems they have even been dispensed with, so called poems being written in binary code and such.

Most would refer to the "manner in which words are applied" as style. "Device" is a lot more specific term than that. And sure as hell does not include "words" or "rhythm".

Just out of pure, sincere curiosity... where does this stuff come from? You can spend years in college, and around poets and poetic publishers, then step in here and here these things. From whence? Seriously. Just made up on the spot? Some new theoretical structure being taught somewhere?

Is this just nutiness like "most poems written for the stage" or is there ANYTHING behind it? And if so, what?

Simile is words, simile is a device; metaphor is words, metaphor is a device...

Basic English language class stuff really, Lin.

Well no, not really. Similes are words doesn't mean "words are similes", And the fact that there is technique to laying brick doesn't mean that bricks are techniques.
Basic logic.

I cam across another case of this today. I quote this from a public blog in a newspaper website.

"Ah Beng clatters around in clogs,
Politicians jump from party to party like frogs.
So many ordinary people put up blogs,
Some as petty as their drains are blocked!

Seriously why do you put in words your thought?
What is it you sought?
Is there a battle you wished you had fought?
An issue no one has brought?

Some come to share their wisdom
Others hope to get the spoils of the kingdom.
Some utter in complete random,
Stifling basic freedom!

With English as good as the Queen’s
Some write what many have not seen.
Some write as if they haven’t been weaned!
English that is so green!

Let’s accept them as they are.
All these talk can’t take us far!
It’s like aiming for the stars,
Better yak drinking in a bar!"



This kind of writing totally turns me off in terms of rhythm. Put aside the small errors and focus on the rhythm.
What do you think?

I don't know of any musical terms that would tell you, "The beat is --/ --/"

Poetry and Music are in fact the only language(yes music is a language)that is arranged exclusively by beat and meter.This is in fact the very thing that sets poetry apart from other forms of written language, and what makes poetry separate from prose.The beat in music is set by its time signature 4/4 and its speed by Tempo ect.Yeats used musical notation as a composition tool for his poetry.

@Keng's quoted poem (several months old) - yes, if somebody is going to rhyme they had better try to have rhythm too. Rhythm needs to come before rhyme. Both devices could reasonably be done without (not necessarily advisably) but if something rhymes AND doesn't have rhythm, it sounds like the writer defines: Poetry (n.) short rhyming lines.