Personification as a Poetic Device

In it’s most simple form personification is a poetic device where animals, plants or even inanimate objects, are given human qualities. I said simple because, in it’s basic form, if we imagine a rabbit hunting with a 4-10 shotgun that is personification, and that is a fairly simple idea.

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Supine and Standing Dreams

In thumping thuds of far off drowsy drums
I hear the restless distant call of questions,
beckoning me closer to feel their boom
and beat within my body louder the taunt

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Homophones and a Multiplicity of Meaning

I am a big fan of how homophones can provide a multiplicity of meaning to a word in a poem. It is a poetic device that I use myself and one I think worth exploring.

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Rhyme Within Contemporary Poetry

While poems relying heavily on patterned end rhymes have fallen out of favor in contemporary poetry I think it is still useful to understand rhymes, as they are still very often used internally where they are not on the end of the line. Remember there are no rules to poetry and everything talked about in

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I Will Not Let My Death

I will not let my death bore my friends.
Our lives can do enough of that,

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The Hermit in the Woods

I met a hermit where a stream diverged,
passing the hours and the minutes of day
and honing his whit he stopped to stretch, and said—

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On Flaming Ships in Darkness

On flaming ships in darkness,
the pitch-black of inflating blindness grows boundless on every-side,

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Backlash of Tongues – Poem

The re-inspection
of words, that were his, or his,
is often entombed
in the backlash

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Flower – Short Poem

Flower,
perfect pearl blue.

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Her Autumn – Poem

When among the trees will autumn come?
What multitude of words will I have lost
among the soft-dying of sweet summer poppies

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Sound and Meaning Within Poetry

If you look for an answer as to “what is poetry” you are liable to find too many answers to be easily able to answer this question. For me though, there are a few things that define the difference between poetry and prose. One of those is a heightened attention to sound and rhythm. As in my last post we are going to explore further into how sound can contribute to meaning within poetry.

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The Wolf at the Door

Ever since the wolf was at the front door,
we’ve build our lives with bricks,

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The Nature of the Heart

The heart is a hunter searching
before the dead of winter has melted;

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The Long and Short of Poetry

The long and short of sounds within poetry, is that they can be used to slow or speed up the time within poetry. Long vowel sounds slow down a line of poetry, which can be used to make it sound more somber.

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The Reaper

Born backwards, blue, and dead
I beat the dreaded embalmer
and returned to this life again,

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Mother Teresa & The Search for God

Mother Teresa sent her message out
in the bent and broken bodies
writhing as fuel to fill her soul

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The Game of Craps

The world is a gamble,
In jest we place our bets
and wink at destiny
as hopeful players do
in this the game of craps.

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A Morning Hike

Under the figs
I woke to fog and dew,
white oaks, and mist

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Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance

Alliteration, assonance, and consonance The Raven – Edgar Allen Poe “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping

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About Poetry – Part 2.b

Sounds are the basis of poetry, not the pursuit of some glorious combination of them, but sounds as just a reality. The fact that it is an inexplicable reality should make us want to learn about sounds, because not wanting to is like being a blindfolded painter. A blind painter would be more respected, than someone who has no desire to lift an ear to poetry fully conscious of its fleeting sounds.

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