Writing/understanding poetry collection

[Isis]

Things with * next to them are on YWO. Things with ** are on other forums which you can view without being logged in. Everything else is on a blog or on a regular website. If you have stuff to add, please do so! Discussion of these resources is welcome too.


Comprehensive guides

What is poetry? ( http://www.ualr.edu/rmburns/RB/beforet.html)
ReccyV’s intro to poetry* ( http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=3436)
A Guide to the Art of Poetry ** ( http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/original-poetry-lyrics/a-guide-to-the-art-of-poetry/t.27966773/) – includes a long and very valuable reading list
PL’s Peak: A guide to poetry and critique ** ( http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/original-poetry-lyrics/pl-s-peak-guide-to-poetry-and-critique-feedback-discuss/t.27141949/) – covers some of the same stuff as “guide to the art of poetry”, approaches some of it differently. Make sure to check out the second page of the thread, which is about critiquing.
Tips for editing poetry ( http://suture.deviantart.com/art/Tips-For-Editing-Poetry-24179464).
What makes a good poem? ( http://www.abraxaspress.co.uk/E_good_poem.htm)


Figurative Language

My imagery thread* ( http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=4225)
A chapter on imagery taken from a very solid poetry textbook. ( http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2002/craft-of-poetry.html) The article cites some examples of poems, but they are not included in the text: they all, I think, can be found with some googling.

Metaphor and simile ( http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~tpl/workshops/metaphor.html)
Organic metaphors in romantic poetry ( http://www.ajdrake.com/e491_fall_04/materials/guides/gd_rom_organic_metaphor.htm)
Metaphors we live by. ( http://theliterarylink.com/metaphors.html) This is a useful introduction into thinking about metaphors in every day language, which is just a jump away from the bending of language into poetry. Ignore the fact that the page looks like it was made in 1996. Good stuff lies within.

Notes on Symbolism ( http://www.abraxaspress.co.uk/E_symbolism.htm)


Structure

A bit about line ( http://www.ualr.edu/rmburns/RB/linet.html)
On the Function of the Line ( http://www.ualr.edu/rmburns/RB/levlinet.html)
13 ways of thinking about the poetic line (http://www.danagioia.net/essays/e13ways.htm)

Rhetorical structure in poetry (http://www.abraxaspress.co.uk/E_structure.htm)
non-formal structures in poetry (http://structureandsurprise.wordpress.com/pedagogy/poetic-structures-summarized/) – if you click on links in the right sidebar, you can find examples for each structure type.
Distinction between structure and form. (http://structureandsurprise.wordpress.com/theory-criticism/the-structure-form-distinction/) Sort of dense, but interesting arguments, most of them focusing on the importance of the “turn”. You can decide whether the turn is so important for poems or not.
Pattern and variation. (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/568/01/)

Sound

Sound patterning in poetry (http://www.textetc.com/traditional/sound.html)

Examples of sound devices from the poetry of Robert Frost, with definitions. (http://www.frostfriends.org/sounddevices.html)
List of sound devices used in poetry (http://homepage.smc.edu/meeks_christopher/SOUND%20DEVICES%20USED%20IN%20POETRY.htm)
How sound makes you pay attention to aspects of a poem (http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/resourcebank/soundinpoetry/)
Glossary of rhymes (http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/furtherreading/page2.html)


Reading/Critiquing/Thinkin’ ‘bout Poetry

Amour’s How to Critique Poetry* ( http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=4747)
On Critiquing (http://www.blehert.com/essays/critique.html). For those of us who have some basic experience critiquing and thinking about poems, this essay discusses the different levels of critique and the different stages of critique that are useful to different writers. Very straightforward but also very useful for anyone who has a stake in helping and teaching other writers.
Understanding Poetry ( http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/understanding-poetry.html)

Poetry and Pleasure ( http://www.mcgillreport.org/poetry_and_pleasure.html)
Why Poetry? ( http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=13&ved=0CJUBEBYwDA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marcwordsmith.com%2Fpdfs%2FWhy-Poetry.pdf&ei=kBCxTbzJLoLE0QGIj52aCQ&usg=AFQjCNENy2Xy0cYzns9nbBB8h-SjpBpqMA) This is a pdf. I hope it works.

Philosophy of Composition – Edgar Allen Poe ( http://www.eapoe.org/works/ESSAYS/PHILCOMP.HTM). Discussion of poetic structure and length, narrative and narrative poetry, and the Raven.


Forms

sonnets ( http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/sonnet.html)
haiku (http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm).
Read all about it:
Links upon links upon links,
the tiniest form.

terza rima 1 (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5794), terza rima 2 (http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/terza.html)
glosa 1 (http://www.poetry-nut.com/glosa_poetry.htm), glosa 2 (http://ticket2write.tripod.com/id113.html)
triolet (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5795)
Accentual Verse (http://www.danagioia.net/essays/eaccentual.htm)
A collection of metered celtic forms (http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/celtic1.html)
villanelle (http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page8.html), villanelle examples abound (http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.com/2001/02/villanelle-william-empson.html)
pantoum (http://www.rbuhsd.k12.ca.us/~rgrow/Pantoums.html)
sestina (http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue197/sestina.html)
cinquain (http://www.ahapoetry.com/cinqhmpg.htm)
luc bat (http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/02/luc-bat.html), luc bat and related climbing rhyme forms (http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/luc_bat.htm).
ghazal (http://www.ahapoetry.com/ghazal.htm)
cascade (http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/2010/06/03/PoeticFormCascadePoem.aspx)


Poetic Traditions and other miscellania.

Ekphrasis:
History of the tradition (http://www.writingaboutart.org/pages/ekphrasis.html)
The Poet Speaks of Art (http://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/titlepage.html)
And even more contemporary examples, with both poetry and prose (http://electricveneer.com/clients/inekphrasis/).

Poems on poems (http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/poetry/)

Prose poetry* ( http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=6651)
Moves in Contemporary Poetry (http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/moves-in-contemporary-poetry/)

Poetry & Punctuation* (http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=243)

[Shaun]

Good sweet heavens, Isis! This is awesome! Thanks for posting it.

[Isis]

Updated: 13 ways of thinking about the poetic line; accentual verse.

[Julian]

This thread must be Heaven <3.

This must be stick'd or something similar.

[lalodragon]

This thread must be Heaven <3.

This must be stick'd or something similar.

Second this. Sticky this!

[Isis]

Found another one, which is mostly amusing: Moves in Contemporary Poetry. It was framed as a challenge: use one of these "moves" in a poem and see how it works. Rinse and repeat until you find what works, what doesn't, and you have a better understanding of the rhetorical tricks and fun twists people are using in poetry these days.