TOLT Poetry Exercise 3

I'm still working my way through The Ode Less Travelled. This week I learned about End-stopping (when a line of a poem ends on a complete thought), Enjambment (when a poem flows straight through the end of a line and into the next) and Caesuras (a pause in a poem). I also learned my new favorite poetry term, which I think describes me to the T: Poetaster - someone who writes really, really bad poetry. ;)

The third poetry exercise sort of kicked my ass. This time I was supposed to write five "blank" (non-rhyming) pairs of iambic pentameter in which the first line end-stops and there are no enjambments or caesuras. THEN, I was supposed to write ANOTHER five blank pairs of iambic pentameter, using the same subject matter, this time using enjambment and two caesuras. Here's one set of mine, which has a bit to do with the one year anniversary of me growing out my beard.

My beard and hair have grown for one full year
It makes the summer feel a bit too warm!

A year has made my face hirsute, it makes
the summer heat acute, please fall arrive!

I'll post more as I work my way through the book. Stay cool everyone!

The Ode Less Traveled by Stephen Fry

Holy cow, today I finally started reading The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry and I am totally in love with this book! It's very positive and witty (and RIFE with puns) and makes you feel like ANYONE can have fun writing poetry, with a bit of studying. I've only read the introduction and chapter one, but I've already learned about meter and feet and iambs and trochees and spondees and THE IAMBIC PENTAMETER!

Each chapter ends with a series of poetry exercises, so I thought I would post some of mine here, in case anyone else wants to try their hand and post some response-poetry in the comments. Get ready for some bad poetry!!! :D

The first poetry exercise was to mark-up the meter and feet in a bunch of lines of iambic pentameter. The second exercise was to write 20 lines of your OWN iambic pentameter in 10 minutes! Most of mine were crap, but here are a few I thought were so-so:

My beard has grown in length and girth and gray
I wish I had more hours in the day!

That Shakespeare bloke could do this in his sleep

I've also started reading a giant collection of WB Yeats Poems which was given to me over ten years ago, but which I only just cracked the spine on last week. A lot of it is going over my head, but there sure are some sweet lines in there too. I'm sure I'll get more and more out of it as I plow through the Fry.

Please post some iambic pentameter in the comments!

First of the Month

The worst bill of all is the rent
To pay it, much money is spent
If you don't have enough
Then your luck is just tough
You'll have to go sleep in a tent!

June 1st?!

There once was a month called June
This year it came way too soon!
Oh Nine was just starting
Now it's quickly departing
Time flies when one works like a loon

A Limerick for Ginevra

There once was a sofa named Ginny
Whose width was a little bit skinny
Two people could sit
But three wouldn't fit
Unless the three people were mini!

Doing the Dishes

I've been writing some new Limericks, and I'm trying to stay a little closer to the form of Lear's Book of Nonesense to work on my meter. Here's my first attempt!

There once was a sink full of dishes
The supper that caused them? Delicious!
My desire for scouring
Was not overpowering
But cookware cares not of my wishes!

A haiku for all the limerick haters out there

It don't have to rhyme!
Yeah its meter is footless!!
Haiku are the BEST!!!

Frozen Friday

The weather here keeps getting colder
The temperature's younger not older
It was nine above oh
Now it's twenty below
I'd go outside if I were bolder

Thermal Thursday

I thought nine was cold
But now it's negative six
It's like Hoth up here!

Winter Wednesday

It's bright and sunny
and NINE DEGREES FAHRENHEIT
I'm staying inside

Longstreth's Limericks... AND HAIKU!

Well, it is a new year, so how about something new on this, my POETRY BLOG?

I yearn to wax P.
Limericks are limiting
How about Haiku?

Please post a haiku in the comments!