Is rhyming poetry inferior? Should poetry have rules and if so why? Should it

1. 55

   poetvixposted 13 years ago

   Is rhyming poetry inferior?  Should poetry have rules and if so why?  Should it come from the...
   
   heart and soul or be constricted into someone's preconstructed framework of what is considered proper?

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2. 60

   KristenLNewsomeposted 13 years ago

   I write poetry,And my favorite poet is Edgar Allen Poe.
   If you very closely look at poets such as Poe,You see his poetry has no pattern or rules,It is simply what comes to him.Poetry is a way of expression and expression is given to us,Hence why we have free will,Poetry should be written and viewed as art and when someone writes poetry,No other has the right to look down upon it,Because it came from the authors heart,soul and mind.
   
   Giving you this,Now only you can decide,That is the beauty of poetry.

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3. 62

   wingedcentaurposted 13 years ago

   I would not say rhyming poetry is necessarily inferior. But my understanding is that poetry has larger goals than fitting into a certain linguisitic pattern. If the goal is to make a poem rhyme that might (and I say might) take energy away from infusing the poem with timeless meaning and beauty.

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4. 60

   Porshadoxusposted 13 years ago

   The ancient Hebrews avoided rhyming poetry for being inferior. Instead, they used couplets or triplets of synonymous lines. Read the Biblical Psalms for examples.
   
   Poetry should be expressive of self: emotions, impressions, actions, etc. With this in mind, rhyming should be thought of as only a tool for expression, not a box into which your poetry must fit.
   You could try alliteration, acrostic, other structures, or just write in stream on consciousness, whatever comes as it comes.
   
   I have had my 5th grade students think of an especially intense situation from their lives, then just write their feelings about it as they come. What emerges from this exercise is some of the most amazing poetry I've ever heard of. And it's as real as poetry can possibly be, because that person has lived what he/she is expressing.

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5. 60

   attemptedhumourposted 13 years ago

   It is how well a poem is written that matters, rhyming poetry takes a certain skill and one can still write between the lines. Rhyming poetry written poorly should be a criminal offence, as should all the other poorly written forms. But then who is the judge to decide these matters?

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6. 61

   eslevy17posted 13 years ago

   I think rhyming is nice, but it shouldn't be necessary. Those who rhyme because they think that's what poetry end up with something limited, but on the other hand I don't think free-form poetry is very poetic. I think poetry needs some kind of lyrical quality, whether that's meter, rhyme, or whatever. If it has none of that, it might still be good, but it's just spoken word, or a series of written words.

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7. 75

   dksuttleposted 13 years ago

   Poetry needs rules no more than the human heart needs rules.
   
   My husband calls what I write "Crayon Poetry" becuase he says I write outside of the lines. Writing poetry is a form of liberation that has been healing for me. I have many friends who write rhyming poetry. I respect their work.
   There are so many rules we live by I see no reason to go out and inflict myself with another set. In my opinion poetry should be as free as we would like to be.

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