Ode – a poetic definition

I am sponsoring an “ode” category for the Poetry Society of Tennessee’s (PST)  annual Festival contest. As such, the brochure chairperson, Florence Bruce, asked me to proofread the abbreviated description of an “ode”.  She described it as a “poem of praise”.

ROSE: Florence, about the ode description – (poem of praise) is this the standard PST definition? I’ve reviewed some forms books and find a much expanded definition. I’m okay with your stating it’s a poem of praise. I’m just wanting to know, if PST has standardized the form for entries into their contests.

FLORENCE: The ode has no standard format.  Verses may be rhymed or not, free verse, blank verse, whatever.   That’s my understanding from my experience as a teacher.  

“Poem of praise” is, of course, an over-simplification. The brochure limits the amount of space I have to describe theme and format.  

 

However, by definition, Merriam-Webster’s Handbook of Literary Terms says “A ceremonious lyric poem on an occasion of public or private dignity.” It goes on to say it is emotional, marked by exaltation of feeling and style (here, I think, is where we get the “praise” thing); varying line lengths; complexity of stanza forms.  Example given:  Allen Tate’s “Ode to the Confederate Dead,” 1926.

 

The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics says:  “… a formal, ceremonious, and complexly organized form of lyric poetry, usually long, frequently the vehicle for public utterance on state occasions, as accession to the throne, birthday, dedication of monument,” etc. Examples:  ”Ode to the West Wind” by Shelley; “Ode to a Nightingale” and “To Autumn” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by Keats.  I think the latter is the best example to give to your group, and it is easy to find a copy of that.  It’s not too long, weighty and discouraging - plus it has a lovely message.   

 

Thrall and Hibbard’s Handbook to Literature says:   “Any strain of enthusiastic and exalted lyrical verse directed to a fixed purpose, and dealing progressively with one dignified theme.  In manner, the ode is an elaborate lyric, expressed in dignified language,  sincere, intellectual in tone,” etc.  

 

ROSE: Thank you, Florence, for your insight into a standardized definition of the “ode” form. I will use this in my judging for the festival contest.

Also, I plan on using the judging criteria, I outlined in my previous post on this blog. This will help me to subjectively compare the poems.

 

Rose Klix

http://www.RoseKlix.com

 

Poetry forms suggested reference

Some of our Poetry Society of Tennessee – Northeastern branch (PST-NE) members have suggested the book (hardback) by Viola Jacobson Berg entitled PATHWAYS FOR THE POET : Poetry Patterns Explained and Illustrated (copyright 1977 by Viola Berg, published by Mott Media).  Included in the 200+ patterns and examples of poetic forms within this 235-page book is one for HAIKU.  I quote:

 A quote about haiku and senyru from this book follows:

“The Haiku is a 13th century Japanese form which creates a sharp, simple, rich, concrete image in seventeen syllables.  It is described by Harr (Lorraine Ellis Harr, ed., DRAGONFLY (July 1976), p. 64) as an ‘intuitive response to the Natural world.’  It is arranged in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables.  Haiku are not titled.”

 

[an example is given]

 

“Haiku may have fewer syllables.”

 

[an example is given]

 

Berg also discusses and renders examples of TWIN HAIKU, HAIKUETTE, HAIKU-KU, and HAIKU SEQUENCE. 

 

She also discusses SENRYU:

 

“A senryu has the same unrhymed form and syllable count as the Haiku (5-7-5, or less), but in content it relates to people, to our human-ness in nature, to our relationships with each other, our foibles, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies.  Senryu involve human reactions and responses, relating man as he is. (Harr, p. 65)”

 

“This brief form can contain only the essence of a truth as the poet sees it or as he ties a truth and an experience together.  Philosophy, emotion, beauty, and impact must all be unified in some measure so that the combination offered is thought-provoking, a mirror by which man can in some way see himself.”

 

Example:

 

“Hearts that are brittle

resist tenderness and love

fearing they will break.”

 

Rose, as you can see from the Senryu example, quoted exactly as it appears in her book, Berg has capitalized the first word in the first line, but not in lines two and three.  Also, she has placed a (.) at the end of line three.  As I recall, Tom McDaniel capitalized the first word in each of the three lines in the example you provided me in an earlier e-mail. 

 

McDaniel entitled his Senryu; Berg states unequivocally that “Haiku are not titled.”  In my entire semester of independent study of Haiku at George Mason University under Dr. Christopher Thaiss (at that time, Head of the Northern Virginia Writing Project), I never saw a Haiku (1) with a title; (2) with any capitalization at the beginning of a line; (3) with any punctuation at the end of line three.  Ironically, perhaps, Dr. Thaiss thought many of my efforts at writing Haiku were excellent, while the Japanese faculty member in the English Department, Dr. Nabuko, said my attempts were, for the most part, fine examples of “short English verse,” but not Haiku.

 

What I have taken from all of these experiences and sources is:

 

Haiku and Senryu, in the modern American mind, is pretty much whatever one wishes it to be.

 

Perhaps, within the Japanese culture, there is more unanimity as to what constitutes Haiku and Senryu than in our current American culture (one might hope so).

 

Unless MORE specificity is given to prospective contest participants re requirements/expectations of form and style, any increasing number of prospective participants will become discouraged about entering poetry contests (and rightly so).  Imagine a group of mathematicians entering some kind of mathematics competition without clarity as to whether “base 4″ or “base 10″ would be the acceptable standard for the competition!  Or, whether the complex calculus problem to be solved for the top prize could be approached by “equation method,” “geometric method,” or either/both!  Yes, I would throw my pencil and protractor at the professor also!

 

Perhaps under the rationale of “we Americans are all about improvisation and diversity,” it is my opinion that many in our modern culture go about writing formal poetry with barely a reference to the rubrics for individual forms.  My friend, Dr. Thomas Burton, Professor Emeritus of English at East Tennessee State University, stated to me yesterday morning (Sunday) that it would be more respectful to the art and craft of poetry, and less embarrassing to those attempting to write poetry, it needful attention were given to learning to “write to the rules” before breaking the rules.  But, in my opinion, the rush of our present-day culture, combined with the pressure to have something published somewhere/anywhere has led to many writers pressing a bit too hard to get something they have attempted into print. 

 

Perhaps I have a bit too much pride in what I attempt to do, but I tend to “err” on the side of not getting something into print.  Reading through many of the poetry examples in the LOST STATE VOICES anthology, Volume II, I was somewhat underwhelmed with what I read.  Not that many of the poems were bad, they just were not wonderful or exceptional.

 

While you have managed to “ratchet up” my interest in entering some contests in the near term, unless some clearer rule delineation or specificity is coming down the pike, I will probably become less interested in doing so in the future.

 

Thank you, Ben, for your candid comments.

Rose Klix

http://www.RoseKlix.com

 

Haiku – Form

The following is from one of our Poetry Society of Tennessee – Northeastern Branch (PST-NE), Janice Hornburg, who has had success with publishing her haikus. 

Haiku World site has been very helpful to Janice in figuring out how the elusive haiku works. There are links to everything you might want to know about haiku. This site has a monthly kukai (haiku contest) that I occassionally do well in. The Ten Tips are posted on the site. Check it out.

Ten tips for writing haiku

1. Write in three lines of about 10 to 17 syllables (some writers use a short-long-short format, but sometimes it’s better to just say what you need to say and not worry about form); haiku are usually not 17 syllables long in English.
2. Try to include some reference to the season or time of year.
3. To make your haiku more immediate, write in the present tense.
4. Write about common, everyday events in nature and in human life; choose events that give you a moment of understanding or realization about the truth of things around you—but don’t explain them.
5. Write from personal experience (memories are okay) rather than from imagination to produce haiku that are authentic and believable.
6. Create an emotional response in the reader by presenting what caused your emotion rather than the emotion itself.
7. Put two images together in the poem to create harmony or contrast, using words that are specific, common, and natural (avoid long or conceptual sorts of words).
8. One image of the haiku can appear in one of the poem’s three lines; the other image can be described in two lines (either the first two or the last two); avoid creating haiku with three images (or three grammatical parts) because this weakens the energy created by the gap between just two parts.
9. Avoid titles and rhyme (haiku virtually never have either) as well as metaphor, simile, and most other rhetorical devices (they are often too abstract or detours around the directness exhibited in most good haiku).
10. Avoid awkward or unnatural line breaks and avoid dropping or adding words just to fit a syllable count (the poem should come across as perfectly natural and easy; anything that is choppy or unnatural will detract from the reader’s perception and enjoyment—make the words come across as so natural and easy-going that the reader doesn’t even notice them). And of course, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy experiencing life through your five senses! –Michael Dylan Welch

 We welcome your comments as well. 

Rose Klix 

http://www.RoseKlix.com 

Poetry Punctuation – the dash vs the ellipsis marks

Since we’re on the subject of poetry punctuation, I’m reminded of another punctuation question earlier this week. This time it was one of our Poetry Society of Tennessee’s Northeastern branch (PST-NE) members Marlene Simpson.

Ben wasn’t available on that fateful day. Marlene had a contest deadline to beat and wanted to send the poem out that day. So she took a chance on my advice. Currently, Marlene doesn’t have internet access, so she asked me over the phone to critique her poem and decide whether the dash or ellipses belonged. That was a stretch for me, because I’m a visual learner. I don’t do as well audio. Marlene was very patient and read over the lines to me several times.

I also consulted my Gregg Reference Manual (Ninth Edition) and found a few clarifications. I shared them with Marlene and now share them with you.

Section 291 – Ellipsis marks are three spaced periods, with one space before and after each period.

a. As a general rule, do not use ellipsis marks in place of a period at the end of a sentence, However, ellipsis marks may be used to indicate that a sentence trails off before the end. The three spaced periods create an effect of uncertainty or suggest an abrupt suspension of thought. (No terminal punctuation is used with ellipsis marks in this kind of construction.) Emphasis added as it relates to Marlene’s poem interpretation. 

b. ellipsis marks are often used in advertising to display individual items or to connect a series of loosely related phrases.

Where can you match these services?

. . . Free ticket delivery

. . . flight insurance

. . . On-time departures

The Inn at the End of the Road . . . where you may enjoy the epicure’s choicest offerings . . . by reservation only . . . closed Tuesdays.

Section 207 Dash – To Indicate an Abrupt Break or an Afterthought [Emphasis added as it relates to Marlene's poem. I tried to make these all em dashes, but didn't know how in WordPress. Maybe somebody can tell me.]

Use a dash to show an abrupt break in thought or to separate an afterthought from the main part of a sentence. When a sentence breaks off after a dash, leave one or two spaces before the next sentence. (Or in the case of poetry - continue on a new line?)

Examples:   I wish you would-   Is there any point in telling you what I wish for you?

   We offer the best service in town-and the fastest!

   According to Bertrand Russel, “Many people would sooner die than

think-and usually do.”

Well, Marlene and I worked on the critique of her poem. I hope I steered her in the right direction. Good luck in winning your contest, Marlene. We decided the ellipsis is softer than the dash, because the dash emphasizes a strong break in thought.

Many times, punctuation in poetry is used to help the cold reader know how to emphasize the content or length of pause, etc.

Maybe Ben Dugger will comment further on this when he gets a chance.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Rose Klix

My website is http://www.RoseKlix.com

Poetry Punctuation – semi-colon use

At yesterday’s meeting of the Poetry Society of Tennessee’s Northeastern Branch (PST-NE) in Gray, TN, the group was critiquing one of my poems. I’d overused the semi-colon. Gulp! Oops! Ben Dugger, our resident poetry expert, from the Masters Program at George Mason University offered to write me out some ‘rules’ . Did I get the university right, Ben? I trust Ben’s opinion, because he helped me tremendously with my senyru submission to the April PST monthly contest and I won first place! Unfortunately, I wasn’t qualified to help him as much, but he still won third place! Look out Memphis the NE branch is doing good.

Ben agreed I could share this information on my blog. His expertise may help other writers as well. These ‘rules’ are not only for poetry, but are useful for prose. So here is a reprint of his message to me on semi-colons.

Ben Dugger wrote -

“I am attaching the semicolon rules to this e-mail.  I wrote the examples this morning (examples always assist me in understanding a concept), and I hope they are sufficiently clear.  As I state in the last paragraph of my “rule sheet,” the most important ingredients in this “semisalad” are TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES!    

There are five basic uses of a semicolon in American English:

- use a semicolon between independent clauses NOT joined by a coordinating conjunction  (and, but, or, etc.).

Example: 

Some authors may worry about correct punctuation; others won’t give it a second   thought.

- use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb (however, indeed, nevertheless, etc.).

Example:

Some authors may worry about correct punctuation; however, others won’t give it a second thought.

 - use a semicolon between independent clauses of a compound sentence if the clauses are extremely long OR are themselves subdivided by commas, OR if writer desires a more definitive break than that marked by a comma.

Examples:

Only a free human being can make an absolute choice; but the human being who is free can never be forced to make such a choice; otherwise, he is not truly free.

The first and third lines of the poem are composed in iambic tetrameter; the second line contains a troche and an amphibrach; and the fourth line an iamb and an anapest, with alternate rhyming.

- use a semicolon after expressions such as HE SAID and SHE REPLIED if said expression comes between two independent clauses.

Example:

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy the play,” he said; “just get dressed and go.”

(Note: the writer may use a period after HE SAID in the above example, but a comma is never used,)

- use a semicolon to replace commas in separating elements in a series IF the elements themselves contain commas.

Example:

The award-winning cities were Johnson City, Tennessee; Falls Church, Virginia; and Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The phrase “independent clauses” is stated in all rules of usage for the semicolon, save the last.  In most cases, therefore, if one wishes to use a semicolon, at least two independent clauses must be present.”

                                                   End of Ben’s quote.

My Gregg Reference Manual (Ninth Edition) also has eleven sections which state semi-colon use. They all seem to agree with Ben’s ‘rules’. I only quote the following from the Gregg book which I thought was important for me to know.

The Semicolon – Between Independent Clauses – And, But, Or, or Nor Omitted. However, if the clauses are not closely related, treat them as separate sentences.

The omission of but between two independent clauses requires, strictly speaking, the use of a semicolon between the two clauses. However, when the clauses are short, a comma is commonly used to preserve the flow of the sentence.  Example: Not only was the food bad, the portions were minuscule.

                                        End of excerpt from the Gregg book.

So, now I will determine which (probably all) semi-colons must go away in my poem.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Rose Klix

My website is at http://www.roseklix.com

Computer-less

What will I do for a couple of days without my desktop computer during our move?!?

I’m already having withdrawals. I keep promising myself to buy a new laptop – maybe this month? My Windows XP is getting way too slow. I don’t want to learn new stuff. I’m starting to sound like an old woman.

Any suggestions on the best one to last me forever so I don’t have to stress over this decision again or at least for another five years? 

 I’m so far behind on technology, it isn’t funny. But what’s a writer without her computer?

Happy computing.

Rose

Poetry Judging Critique Checklist

I found an old (1988) poetry judging critique checklist used to evaluate some poems I sent to the SD State Fair. Let me know, if you think this is still a good checklist for poetry in this century. Be specific about what you think should be included or eliminated or clarified. Thanks.

Judge’s critique sheet

Poetry checklist:

Significance and originality – 25 points

 _____ Is an honest attempt to express a thought, belief or felling effectively.

_____Is a patterned unit of experience

_____Shows evidence of knowledge of subject.

Concreteness, Exactness, Intensity – 25 points

_____Concreteness controlled by good use of imagery, detail, and comparison.

_____Exactness controlled by truthful interpretation (Free of over exaggeration, etc.)

_____Achieves intensity through careful selection of details and compactness.

Use of Symbols – 15 points

_____Symbols show some indication of literal meaning of poem

_____Symbols are easily understood

Sound and rhythm – 15 points

_____Doesn’t let rhyme determine content

_____Follows an organized stanza rhyme pattern

_____Shows a fairly steady recurring rhythm.

Form – 15 points

_____Is a correct interpretation of category entered

_____Shows good use of mechanics

Miscellaneous – 5 points

_____No Errors

Total Points _______

Forms (Senyru)

For March 2010 Tom McDaniel of our Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) sponsored a monthlycontest  (PST members only) with the form senyru (Human nature and its problems, 5-7-5).

The members of the newly formed northeastern branch of this chapter (in the Tri-Cities of TN and surrounding area) searched the internet and poetry forms books to determine advice on writing the senyru. They found varying interpretations and samples – some of which contradicted each other.

Thinking that there may be a clue in the sponsor’s available poetry, I found a November 2008 PST newsletter (Tennessee Voices Bulletin) which listed Thomas McDaniel as the Poet of the Month for December 2008. In citing his accomplishments, it also stated “Tom is very knowledgeable about Oriental verse forms, and he has spoken to the Society on several occasions about haiku and other such poetry forms. Halloween was upon us when he submitted his material; hence, he elected to send this senryu in honor of the season.  (Titled: Masquerade).”

Since I do not have permission from Tom, I did not reprint his poem here.

Some members pointed out that generally oriental forms are untitled and they didn’t see the human nature and its problems in this sample. I thought perhaps the human element was a reference to a werewolf.I also stated that the newsletter publication was in 2008 and the poet’s experiences and training may have changed since that time.  

Unfortunately, the contest deadline loomed and there was not enough time to consult the sponsor/judge. I expect Tom would have provided us more guidance, if time was not a factor.

So all this begs the questions: Is it a hard and fast rule that oriental forms are not titled? Is there one source which could be used when deciding how to write a specific form? Is there a recommended website or book on forms in general and specific to the senyru form? Should the judge provide the title of the poetry form book or Internet site which is used for his/her judging criteria?

What do you think?

Writer’s Block

What exactly is writer’s block?

I used to think that writer’s block was when the writer faces a blank white page and can’t think what to write.

I put off writing full-time for so long that I had too many projects backed up. I have tons of slips of paper of ideas, phrases, snippets of imagined conversations, etc.  Now I have the time, I find I don’t know which one to work on next. I think that is a writer’s block of a different color.

Adda Leah Davis recently shared with me, that she doesn’t experience writers’ block. She works on one project and when it starts to flounder, she moves to the next project. Since she’s published several books, this seems to work well for her.

I picture my writing experience is like my mother with her quilt projects. She always had several projects in the works at any one time.

Mom used to tell a story of a woman who had so many unfinished quilting projects that her friends asked her when she would ever finish them. The woman’s reply was that she would take them to heaven with her and finish them there.

One day she died and was sitting at the pearly gates. She had boxes of her unfinished projects nested at her feet. St. Peter asked her about them and she explained about her plans. His reply was, “No, no, no. You can’t bring those things in here to clutter up heaven. I won’t let you in with your boxes.”

The woman cried, because she didn’t want to let go of her unfinished projects. The devil was hiding behind a cloud snickering. He beckoned to the woman and told her she was welcome to bring her projects to hell with him.

She agreed and settled into her extremely warm place in hell. She searched through all her boxes and looked distressed. The devil asked her what was the matter. Her reply was, “I can’t find my needle.”

He laughed and said, “That’s the hell of it!”

I’m afraid I may have too many unfinished projects. I’ve worked out a schedule to work on them a little at a time. I’m trying to avoid my own writers’ block of not knowing which way to go next. I’m also continuing to write new works. I’m hoping I won’t have a whole collection of unfinished projects I am loath to leave behind. Because I probably will forget to my pen!

What writer’s block have you experienced? What do you do to remedy it.? 

Happy Writing,

Rose

http://www.RoseKlix.com

Pen Names

A pen name, nom de plume, is an alternative name an author uses as a byline for publications.

Do you use a pen name? Are you considering a pen name? Please comment and let me know about your experiences. Below are my thoughts on the subject.

Why use a pen name?

Reason 1: To hide the author’s gender or identity.

For instance some men write romance novels. They are more accepted if the reader thinks a woman wrote them.

Authors may feel they don’t want friends,  family, co-workers, etc. to know they are a published author.

Or they want to keep their fans away from their private life. This could be shyness or another need for privacy or because they don’t want to be identified with the work for whatever reason.

Reason 2: To separate the author’s different published genres 

Readers expect an author to write in the same genre so they know what to expect when buying a book. When a writer crosses into other genres, then he/she may decide to use different pen names to separate the genres of those published works.

Reason 3: To give the writer a distinctive name

If the writer’s name is very common then a writer may use a pen name so the reader can distinguish those works from the crowd.

Reason 4: To make the writer’s name easier to remember or pronounce.

Perhaps the author’s name is too unique, too hard to spell, or difficult for the reader to pronounce or remember. 

What do agents think about pen names?

An agent asked me, “Why?” I had less than five minutes to explain my complicated reasons. This time took away from our discussion of my manuscript. So I felt the pen name issue was too big of a distraction.

Other feedback I’ve had from agents on pen names at two different writers’ workshops is that they don’t like the author to use initials. Of course, there are many exceptions. I wonder if J. K. Rowling has a problem with this.

My experience:

I’ve recently stopped using my pen name. I abbreviated my maiden name – C. A. Rose. If pronounced correctly, it sounded like ‘see a rose’. I thought it was cute and memorable. But it became too cute-sy. The domain name for C. A. Rose was not available and when I used it to search for my website (then petalsandthorns), the search engines would go to flower related sites first.

I also chose this pen name, because I’ve been married before and changed my name. So whatever I published at the time under one name was not connected to another name of mine. I thought I could unify my works under this one name for all present and future publishing. That didn’t work out. If I’d thought it through from the beginning, I may have successfully stuck with C. A. Rose. Hindsight is twenty-twenty!

Now I write as Rose Klix. This has been fairly recent, so my pen name C. A. Rose is also referenced on my website.  http://www.RoseKlix.com

My advice:

Think this through very carefully before you find yourself in a muddle. You may be disappointed you didn’t use your favorite and enduring pen name when your work was first published.

Happy Writing!

Rose