how to write speech poem

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6 Tips for Using Poetry in a Speech

The term “public speaking” may be defined as relaying information to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. People may choose to give a speech in order to transmit information, motivate people to act, or simply to tell a story. A good orator should be able to change the emotions of their listener and not just inform them. Hey, we get it. Writing a speech on top of actually performing it in public can be super scary and intimidating, but it gets easier once you think of a speech as an epic spoken word poem. Check out our tip guide for getting over some of those spoken word nerves. Most speeches actually use the same literary devices you already use in tons of your poetry. Think of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” (why hello there, chiasmus). Now, don’t you feel better? By using the boss poet skills you already have, you can create a speech with descriptive and moving language that really entices your listeners. Keep on reading to find out how to write a speech that grabs your listeners and holds their attention.

Why Do I Have to Write This Thing Anyway? Think about the atmosphere of the occasion at which you’ll present your speech. This will affect the style and tone of your words, just like in a poem (example: a political poem would use a much more serious tone than a poem about a funny memory between you and your best friend). Also pay attention to your audience. For example, a wedding is an event that occurs frequently but no two weddings are exactly alike. This is because different guests with varying personalities attend each one. So, if you were to write a wedding speech, you’d tailor it to match the specific personalities of the couple as well as the guests. Use your poet’s intuition to choose which literacy devices you think everyone will best respond to.
Use Metaphors and Similes. Ah, oldies but goodies. A metaphor is a stylistic device that assigns the characteristics of one thing to another. For example, in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, when Martin Luther King described Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as, "a great beacon light of hope for millions of Negro slaves," he used a metaphor to imply that the Emancipation Proclamation had the attributes of a shining beacon light. A simile is a literary device that compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” If King had said the Emancipation Proclamation was " like a great beacon light of hope," he would have been using a simile. Metaphors and similes are elegant ways of saying something-- and listeners respond well to this type of fancy language that’s also easy to understand.
Describe, Describe, Describe! Appeal to your listeners' senses by using concrete, vividly descriptive language. Let’s look at this in action. In a famous nineteenth-century murder case, the senator and powerful orator Daniel Webster recreated the murder scene in the minds of the jurors with expressive descriptions: "The room is uncommonly open to the admission of light. The face of the innocent sleeper is turned from the murderer, and the beams of the moon, resting on the gray locks of his aged temple, show him where to strike. The fatal blow is given!" By honing your ability to create intense imagery, you can entice your listeners to use all five of their senses and make your speech that much more impressive .
This Isn’t an Essay for School-- Go Ahead and Repeat Yourself . Repetition is when a word or phrase is used more than once. In a speech, repetition forces the attention of your audience, quickens the pace of your words, and creates an insistent rhythm. Consider this famous example uttered by Winston Churchill during World War Two: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills." Bet’cha the next thought in your head is “we shall…” See, it totally works! Repetition helps to drill key words and ideas into your listeners’ minds so that they remember the most important sections of your speech.
Practice your Delivery and Be CONFIDENT . If you’re confident when speaking and passionate about your speech topic, it will definitely come across as powerful in your delivery. Read your speech quietly aloud to yourself, listening for its musicality or beat. Then, start over again but a little louder. Each time you read your speech out loud, increase your volume. It might sound silly screaming your speech, but it’ll definitely help with your confidence and once it’s time to perform it for real, speaking at a normal yet assertive register will be a piece of cake. Familiarize yourself with the core ideas and images in your speech. The more you understand the speech, the more likely your audience will understand it and respond to the points you are trying to get across. The more strongly you identify with your work the easier it will be for your audience to follow.
Power Poetry . Now that you’re more familiar with how to write a speech using poetic elements, it’s time to test it out. The ability to read your written work aloud is a gift of immense value because it expresses with grace and clarity thoughts and feelings that are often difficult to find appropriate words for in ordinary prose. Share your poetic speech with Power Poetry and better yet, record yourself so that you can see how much your hard work paid off!

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To learn how to write a poem step-by-step, let’s start where all poets start: the basics.

This article is an in-depth introduction to how to write a poem. We first answer the question, “What is poetry?” We then discuss the literary elements of poetry, and showcase some different approaches to the writing process—including our own seven-step process on how to write a poem step by step.

So, how do you write a poem? Let’s start with what poetry is.

What Poetry Is

It’s important to know what poetry is—and isn’t—before we discuss how to write a poem. The following quote defines poetry nicely:

“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.” —Former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove

Poetry Conveys Feeling

People sometimes imagine poetry as stuffy, abstract, and difficult to understand. Some poetry may be this way, but in reality poetry isn’t about being obscure or confusing. Poetry is a lyrical, emotive method of self-expression, using the elements of poetry to highlight feelings and ideas.

A poem should make the reader feel something.

In other words, a poem should make the reader feel something—not by telling them what to feel, but by evoking feeling directly.

Here’s a contemporary poem that, despite its simplicity (or perhaps because of its simplicity), conveys heartfelt emotion.

Poem by Langston Hughes

I loved my friend. He went away from me. There’s nothing more to say. The poem ends, Soft as it began— I loved my friend.

Poetry is Language at its Richest and Most Condensed

Unlike longer prose writing (such as a short story, memoir, or novel), poetry needs to impact the reader in the richest and most condensed way possible. Here’s a famous quote that enforces that distinction:

“Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

So poetry isn’t the place to be filling in long backstories or doing leisurely scene-setting. In poetry, every single word carries maximum impact.

Poetry Uses Unique Elements

Poetry is not like other kinds of writing: it has its own unique forms, tools, and principles. Together, these elements of poetry help it to powerfully impact the reader in only a few words.

The elements of poetry help it to powerfully impact the reader in only a few words.

Most poetry is written in verse , rather than prose . This means that it uses line breaks, alongside rhythm or meter, to convey something to the reader. Rather than letting the text break at the end of the page (as prose does), verse emphasizes language through line breaks.

Poetry further accentuates its use of language through rhyme and meter. Poetry has a heightened emphasis on the musicality of language itself: its sounds and rhythms, and the feelings they carry.

These devices—rhyme, meter, and line breaks—are just a few of the essential elements of poetry, which we’ll explore in more depth now.

Understanding the Elements of Poetry

As we explore how to write a poem step by step, these three major literary elements of poetry should sit in the back of your mind:

Rhythm (Sound, Rhyme, and Meter)
Literary Devices

1. Elements of Poetry: Rhythm

“Rhythm” refers to the lyrical, sonic qualities of the poem. How does the poem move and breathe; how does it feel on the tongue?

Traditionally, poets relied on rhyme and meter to accomplish a rhythmically sound poem. Free verse poems—which are poems that don’t require a specific length, rhyme scheme, or meter—only became popular in the West in the 20th century, so while rhyme and meter aren’t requirements of modern poetry, they are required of certain poetry forms.

Poetry is capable of evoking certain emotions based solely on the sounds it uses. Words can sound sinister, percussive, fluid, cheerful, dour, or any other noise/emotion in the complex tapestry of human feeling.

Take, for example, this excerpt from the poem “Beat! Beat! Drums!” by Walt Whitman:

Red — “b” sounds

Blue — “th” sounds

Green — “w” and “ew” sounds

Purple — “s” sounds

Orange — “d” and “t” sounds

This poem has a lot of percussive, disruptive sounds that reinforce the beating of the drums. The “b,” “d,” “w,” and “t” sounds resemble these drum beats, while the “th” and “s” sounds are sneakier, penetrating a deeper part of the ear. The cacophony of this excerpt might not sound “lyrical,” but it does manage to command your attention, much like drums beating through a city might sound.

To learn more about consonance and assonance, euphony and cacophony, and the other uses of sound, take a look at our article “12 Literary Devices in Poetry.”

https://writers.com/literary-devices-in-poetry

It would be a crime if you weren’t primed on the ins and outs of rhymes. “Rhyme” refers to words that have similar pronunciations, like this set of words: sound, hound, browned, pound, found, around.

Many poets assume that their poetry has to rhyme, and it’s true that some poems require a complex rhyme scheme. However, rhyme isn’t nearly as important to poetry as it used to be. Most traditional poetry forms—sonnets, villanelles , rimes royal, etc.—rely on rhyme, but contemporary poetry has largely strayed from the strict rhyme schemes of yesterday.

There are three types of rhymes:

Homophony: Homophones are words that are spelled differently but sound the same, like “tail” and “tale.” Homophones often lead to commonly misspelled words .
Perfect Rhyme: Perfect rhymes are word pairs that are identical in sound except for one minor difference. Examples include “slant and pant,” “great and fate,” and “shower and power.”
Slant Rhyme: Slant rhymes are word pairs that use the same sounds, but their final vowels have different pronunciations. For example, “abut” and “about” are nearly-identical in sound, but are pronounced differently enough that they don’t completely rhyme. This is also known as an oblique rhyme or imperfect rhyme.

Meter refers to the stress patterns of words. Certain poetry forms require that the words in the poem follow a certain stress pattern, meaning some syllables are stressed and others are unstressed.

What is “stressed” and “unstressed”? A stressed syllable is the sound that you emphasize in a word. The bolded syllables in the following words are stressed, and the unbolded syllables are unstressed:

Un• stressed
Plat• i• tud• i•nous
De •act•i• vate
Con• sti •tu• tion•al

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables is important to traditional poetry forms. This chart, copied from our article on form in poetry , summarizes the different stress patterns of poetry.

2. Elements of Poetry: Form

“Form” refers to the structure of the poem. Is the poem a sonnet, a villanelle, a free verse piece, a slam poem, a contrapuntal, a ghazal , a blackout poem , or something new and experimental?

Form also refers to the line breaks and stanza breaks in a poem. Unlike prose, where the end of the page decides the line breaks, poets have control over when one line ends and a new one begins. The words that begin and end each line will emphasize the sounds, images, and ideas that are important to the poet.

To learn more about rhyme, meter, and poetry forms, read our full article on the topic:

https://writers.com/what-is-form-in-poetry

3. Elements of Poetry: Literary Devices

“Poetry: the best words in the best order.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

How does poetry express complex ideas in concise, lyrical language? Literary devices—like metaphor, symbolism, juxtaposition, irony, and hyperbole—help make poetry possible. Learn how to write and master these devices here:

https://writers.com/common-literary-devices

How to Write a Poem, in 7 Steps

To condense the elements of poetry into an actual poem, we’re going to follow a seven-step approach. However, it’s important to know that every poet’s process is different. While the steps presented here are a logical path to get from idea to finished poem, they’re not the only tried-and-true method of poetry writing. Poets can—and should!—modify these steps and generate their own writing process.

Nonetheless, if you’re new to writing poetry or want to explore a different writing process, try your hand at our approach. Here’s how to write a poem step by step!

1. Devise a Topic

The easiest way to start writing a poem is to begin with a topic.

However, devising a topic is often the hardest part. What should your poem be about? And where can you find ideas?

Here are a few places to search for inspiration:

Other Works of Literature: Poetry doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it’s part of a larger literary tapestry, and can absolutely be influenced by other works. For example, read “The Golden Shovel” by Terrance Hayes , a poem that was inspired by Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool.”
Real-World Events: Poetry, especially contemporary poetry, has the power to convey new and transformative ideas about the world. Take the poem “A Cigarette” by Ilya Kaminsky , which finds community in a warzone like the eye of a hurricane.
Your Life: What would poetry be if not a form of memoir? Many contemporary poets have documented their lives in verse. Take Sylvia Plath’s poem “Full Fathom Five” —a daring poem for its time, as few writers so boldly criticized their family as Plath did.
The Everyday and Mundane: Poetry isn’t just about big, earth-shattering events: much can be said about mundane events, too. Take “Ode to Shea Butter” by Angel Nafis , a poem that celebrates the beautiful “everydayness” of moisturizing.
Nature: The Earth has always been a source of inspiration for poets, both today and in antiquity. Take “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver , which finds meaning in nature’s quiet rituals.
Writing Exercises: Prompts and exercises can help spark your creativity, even if the poem you write has nothing to do with the prompt! Here’s 24 writing exercises to get you started.

At this point, you’ve got a topic for your poem. Maybe it’s a topic you’re passionate about, and the words pour from your pen and align themselves into a perfect sonnet! It’s not impossible—most poets have a couple of poems that seemed to write themselves.

However, it’s far more likely you’re searching for the words to talk about this topic. This is where journaling comes in.

Sit in front of a blank piece of paper, with nothing but the topic written on the top. Set a timer for 15-30 minutes and put down all of your thoughts related to the topic. Don’t stop and think for too long, and try not to obsess over finding the right words: what matters here is emotion, the way your subconscious grapples with the topic.

At the end of this journaling session, go back through everything you wrote, and highlight whatever seems important to you: well-written phrases, poignant moments of emotion, even specific words that you want to use in your poem.

Journaling is a low-risk way of exploring your topic without feeling pressured to make it sound poetic. “Sounding poetic” will only leave you with empty language: your journal allows you to speak from the heart. Everything you need for your poem is already inside of you, the journaling process just helps bring it out!

Learn more about keeping a daily journal here:

How to Start Journaling: Practical Advice on How to Journal Daily

3. Think About Form

As one of the elements of poetry, form plays a crucial role in how the poem is both written and read. Have you ever wanted to write a sestina ? How about a contrapuntal, or a double cinquain, or a series of tanka? Your poem can take a multitude of forms, including the beautifully unstructured free verse form; while form can be decided in the editing process, it doesn’t hurt to think about it now.

4. Write the First Line

After a productive journaling session, you’ll be much more acquainted with the state of your heart. You might have a line in your journal that you really want to begin with, or you might want to start fresh and refer back to your journal when you need to! Either way, it’s time to begin.

What should the first line of your poem be? There’s no strict rule here—you don’t have to start your poem with a certain image or literary device. However, here’s a few ways that poets often begin their work:

Set the Scene: Poetry can tell stories just like prose does. Anne Carson does just this in her poem “Lines,” situating the scene in a conversation with the speaker’s mother.
Start at the Conflict: Right away, tell the reader where it hurts most. Margaret Atwood does this in “Ghost Cat,” a poem about aging.
Start With a Contradiction: Juxtaposition and contrast are two powerful tools in the poet’s toolkit. Joan Larkin’s poem “Want” begins and ends with these devices. Carlos Gimenez Smith also begins his poem “Entanglement” with a juxtaposition.
Start With Your Title: Some poets will use the title as their first line, like Ron Padgett’s poem “Ladies and Gentlemen in Outer Space.”

There are many other ways to begin poems, so play around with different literary devices, and when you’re stuck, turn to other poetry for inspiration.

5. Develop Ideas and Devices

You might not know where your poem is going until you finish writing it. In the meantime, stick to your literary devices. Avoid using too many abstract nouns, develop striking images, use metaphors and similes to strike interesting comparisons, and above all, speak from the heart.

6. Write the Closing Line

Some poems end “full circle,” meaning that the images the poet used in the beginning are reintroduced at the end. Gwendolyn Brooks does this in her poem “my dreams, my work, must wait till after hell.”

Yet, many poets don’t realize what their poems are about until they write the ending line . Poetry is a search for truth, especially the hard truths that aren’t easily explained in casual speech. Your poem, too, might not be finished until it comes across a necessary truth, so write until you strike the heart of what you feel, and the poem will come to its own conclusion.

7. Edit, Edit, Edit!

Do you have a working first draft of your poem? Congratulations! Getting your feelings onto the page is a feat in itself.

Yet, no guide on how to write a poem is complete without a note on editing. If you plan on sharing or publishing your work, or if you simply want to edit your poem to near-perfection, keep these tips in mind.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Use these parts of speech sparingly. Most imagery shouldn’t rely on adjectives and adverbs, because the image should be striking and vivid on its own, without too much help from excess language.
Concrete Line Breaks: Line breaks help emphasize important words, making certain images and ideas clearer to the reader. As a general rule, most of your lines should start and end with concrete words—nouns and verbs especially.
Stanza Breaks: Stanzas are like paragraphs to poetry. A stanza can develop a new idea, contrast an existing idea, or signal a transition in the poem’s tone. Make sure each stanza clearly stands for something as a unit of the poem.
Mixed Metaphors: A mixed metaphor is when two metaphors occupy the same idea, making the poem unnecessarily difficult to understand. Here’s an example of a mixed metaphor: “a watched clock never boils.” The meaning can be discerned, but the image remains unclear. Be wary of mixed metaphors—though some poets (like Shakespeare) make them work, they’re tricky and often disruptive.
Abstractions: Above all, avoid using excessively abstract language. It’s fine to use the word “love” 2 or 3 times in a poem, but don’t use it twice in every stanza. Let the imagery in your poem express your feelings and ideas, and only use abstractions as brief connective tissue in otherwise-concrete writing.

Lastly, don’t feel pressured to “do something” with your poem. Not all poems need to be shared and edited. Poetry doesn’t have to be “good,” either—it can simply be a statement of emotions by the poet, for the poet. Publishing is an admirable goal, but also, give yourself permission to write bad poems, unedited poems, abstract poems, and poems with an audience of one. Write for yourself—editing is for the other readers.

How to Write a Poem: Different Approaches and Philosophies

Poetry is the oldest literary form, pre-dating prose, theater, and the written word itself. As such, there are many different schools of thought when it comes to writing poetry. You might be wondering how to write a poem through different methods and approaches: here’s four philosophies to get you started.

How to Write a Poem: Poetry as Emotion

If you asked a Romantic Poet “what is poetry?”, they would tell you that poetry is the spontaneous emotion of the soul.

The Romantic Era viewed poetry as an extension of human emotion—a way of perceiving the world through unbridled creativity, centered around the human soul. While many Romantic poets used traditional forms in their poetry, the Romantics weren’t afraid to break from tradition, either.

To write like a Romantic, feel—and feel intensely. The words will follow the emotions, as long as a blank page sits in front of you.

How to Write a Poem: Poetry as Stream of Consciousness

If you asked a Modernist poet, “What is poetry?” they would tell you that poetry is the search for complex truths.

Modernist Poets were keen on the use of poetry as a window into the mind. A common technique of the time was “Stream of Consciousness,” which is unfiltered writing that flows directly from the poet’s inner dialogue. By tapping into one’s subconscious, the poet might uncover deeper truths and emotions they were initially unaware of.

Depending on who you are as a writer, Stream of Consciousness can be tricky to master, but this guide covers the basics of how to write using this technique.

How to Write a Poem: Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice of documenting the mind, rather than trying to control or edit what it produces. This practice was popularized by the Beat Poets , who in turn were inspired by Eastern philosophies and Buddhist teachings. If you asked a Beat Poet “what is poetry?”, they would tell you that poetry is the human consciousness, unadulterated.

To learn more about the art of leaving your mind alone , take a look at our guide on Mindfulness, from instructor Marc Olmsted.

https://writers.com/mindful-writing

How to Write a Poem: Poem as Camera Lens

Many contemporary poets use poetry as a camera lens, documenting global events and commenting on both politics and injustice. If you find yourself itching to write poetry about the modern day, press your thumb against the pulse of the world and write what you feel.

Additionally, check out these two essays by Electric Literature on the politics of poetry:

What Can Poetry Do That Politics Can’t?
Why All Poems Are Political (TL;DR: Poetry is an urgent expression of freedom).

Okay, I Know How to Write a Good Poem. What Next?

Poetry, like all art forms, takes practice and dedication. You might write a poem you enjoy now, and think it’s awfully written 3 years from now; you might also write some of your best work after reading this guide. Poetry is fickle, but the pen lasts forever, so write poems as long as you can!

Once you understand how to write a poem, and after you’ve drafted some pieces that you’re proud of and ready to share, here are some next steps you can take.

Publish in Literary Journals

Want to see your name in print? These literary journals house some of the best poetry being published today.

https://writers.com/best-places-submit-poetry-online

Assemble and Publish a Manuscript

A poem can tell a story. So can a collection of poems. If you’re interested in publishing a poetry book, learn how to compose and format one here:

https://writers.com/poetry-manuscript-format

Join a Writing Community

writers.com is an online community of writers, and we’d love it if you shared your poetry with us! Join us on Facebook and check out our upcoming poetry courses .

Poetry doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it exists to educate and uplift society. The world is waiting for your voice, so find a group and share your work!

Sean Glatch

27 comments.

super useful! love these articles 💕

Indeed, very helpful, consize. I could not say more than thank you.

I’ve never read a better guide on how to write poetry step by step. Not only does it give great tips, but it also provides helpful links! Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Hamna! I’m so glad this guide was helpful for you.

Best guide so far

Very inspirational and marvelous tips

Thank you super tips very helpful.

I have never gone through the steps of writing poetry like this, I will take a closer look at your post.

Beautiful! Thank you! I’m really excited to try journaling as a starter step x

[…] How to Write a Poem, Step-by-Step […]

This is really helpful, thanks so much

Extremely thorough! Nice job.

Thank you so much for sharing your awesome tips for beginner writers!

People must reboot this and bookmark it. Your writing and explanation is detailed to the core. Thanks for helping me understand different poetic elements. While reading, actually, I start thinking about how my husband construct his songs and why other artists lack that organization (or desire to be better). Anyway, this gave me clarity.

I’m starting to use poetry as an outlet for my blogs, but I also have to keep in mind I’m transitioning from a blogger to a poetic sweet kitty potato (ha). It’s a unique transition, but I’m so used to writing a lot, it’s strange to see an open blog post with a lot of lines and few paragraphs.

Anyway, thanks again!

I’m happy this article was so helpful, Eternity! Thanks for commenting, and best of luck with your poetry blog.

Yours in verse, Sean

One of the best articles I read on how to write poems. And it is totally step by step process which is easy to read and understand.

Thanks for the step step explanation in how to write poems it’s a very helpful to me and also for everyone one. THANKYOU

Totally detailed and in a simple language told the best way how to write poems. It is a guide that one should read and follow. It gives the detailed guidance about how to write poems. One of the best articles written on how to write poems.

what a guidance thank you so much now i can write a poem thank you again again and again

The most inspirational and informative article I have ever read in the 21st century.It gives the most relevent,practical, comprehensive and effective insights and guides to aspiring writers.

Thank you so much. This is so useful to me a poetry

[…] Write a short story/poem (Here are some tips) […]

It was very helpful and am willing to try it out for my writing Thanks ❤️

Thank you so much. This is so helpful to me, and am willing to try it out for my writing .

Absolutely constructive, direct, and so useful as I’m striving to develop a recent piece. Thank you!

thank you for your explanation……,love it

Really great. Nothing less.

The Power of Poetry in Speeches

As a poetry lover, I’m sure you understand how influential poetry can be. Throughout history, many great leaders, activists, politicians have brought poetry into their speeches, crafting powerful messages that can (and did) change the world.

In today’s article, we’re going to look at poetry in speeches , why you should use poetry in your next speech, how to go about doing so, and of course, the famous poetic speeches across eras. Let’s dive in!

Why Use Poetry in a Public Speech

Poetry is powerful. That’s why there are many benefits to using poetry in a public speech. What benefits, you ask?

Well, for starter, a poem can really serve as a highlight of a speech, breaking the usual monotony. It adds a fresher element to the speech, and helps to capture the audience’s attention better.

Poetry can also be a very good reference point in your speech. By adding a familiar poem to the audience, the speaker can help the audience understand the subject that he or she is trying to convey better.

A good poem can really add an additional depth to your speech, if you know how to use it right. The audience can’t help but feel a strong influence, and the speaker has a much better chance of leaving an impact.

I think all of us can agree that poetry has an air of literary elegance to it. By adding poetry to your speech, you also bring that elegance and a lot of class into your presentation.

Finally, sometimes, poetry can say a lot more with less. Adding a poem at the right moment of the talk can help you being more concise and establish a deep connection with the audience.

So I hope by now I’ve convinced you that it’s a good idea to try adding poetry into your speech. In the next section, we’re going to talk about how to do it.

How to Use Poetry in A Public Speech

It’s pretty clear that poetry can enhance a speech greatly if done right. But it can be tricky if you’re not a poet nor a student of poetry yourself. Here are something to keep in mind if you want to use poetry in your next speech:

1. Choose the right poem

This should go without saying, but if you’re going to use poetry in your speech, make sure that the poem you choose fit within the context of what you’re trying to say. A poem should help you get your point across and make an impression on the audience, not making them confused or worse, zone out. So do your homework.

2. Have a plan

Most people don’t read poetry on a daily basis. This means that you can’t just bring a poem out of nowhere into your speech. You need to provide some introduction to the poem, why do you chose the poem, what’s the background story, etc. Prepare the audience so that they can listen to the poem from the best position possible.

3. Speak like a poet

Ever seen a spoken-word poet perform on stage? If you haven’t, then you should do it because you will learn a lot from them. Writing poetry is an art, but not many people think the same about delivering a poem to an audience that way. You’ll need to learn how to project from the diaphragm, posturing, pacing, etc. Watch a poet perform and try to practice your delivery as best as you can.

4. Don’t think too much

The last tip is kind of counter intuitive, but after all the preparing and practicing, you should not think when you go and perform. Thinking is great when you’re trying to practice, but once on stage, it will likely hinder your performance. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. After all, that’s how you get better.

5 Famous Poetic Speeches in History

1. i have a dream by martin luther king jr..

This is probably one of the most inspiring speeches of all time. Delivered on the 28th of August, 1963 by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream” was a defining speech of the civil rights movement.

In the speech, King used anaphora, a poetic device in which the author repeats an expression at the beginning of a number of sentences. With a single phrase “I have a dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. joined ranks with the men who shaped modern America.

2. We shall fight on the beaches by Winston Churchill

“We shall fight on the beaches” is one of the three major speeches by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This speech was delivered to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the 4th of June, 1940, warning about a possible invasion attempt by Nazi Germany.

Churchill is known for spending hours working on every minute of his speech. He wrote every word, and carefully crafting them so that the final draft “looks like a draft of a poem,” according to many critics.

3. Ain’t I a Woman? by Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was a well known anti-slavery speaker and one of the most revolutionary advocates for women’s human rights in the 1800s. The speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” was delivered at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio, addressing the discrimination of woman and African Americans in the post-Civil War era.

It is a poetic speech that many people have adapted it into a poem itself. Here’s the speech, delivered by Nkechi at a TEDx event in 2013.

4. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

This one is a legit poem as a speech. “Still I Rise” is a poem written by Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She is well-known for uplifting fellow African American women through her work.

“Still I Rise” is one of Angelou’s most popular poems, inspiring black women everywhere to keep good faith and striving for equality and peace.

Final thoughts

By now, I’m sure we all can understand how much weight that poetry, or even just a poetic device, can bring into a speech. I hope that you’ve learned something new and useful, maybe even some inspirations to incorporate poetry into the next chance you have to deliver a public speech.

This article was co-authored by Alicia Cook . Alicia Cook is a Professional Writer based in Newark, New Jersey. With over 12 years of experience, Alicia specializes in poetry and uses her platform to advocate for families affected by addiction and to fight for breaking the stigma against addiction and mental illness. She holds a BA in English and Journalism from Georgian Court University and an MBA from Saint Peter’s University. Alicia is a bestselling poet with Andrews McMeel Publishing and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including the NY Post, CNN, USA Today, the HuffPost, the LA Times, American Songwriter Magazine, and Bustle. She was named by Teen Vogue as one of the 10 social media poets to know and her poetry mixtape, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately” was a finalist in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 7,073,142 times.

Writing a poem is about observing the world within or around you. A poem can be about anything, from love to loss to the rusty gate at the old farm. Writing poetry can seem daunting, especially if you do not feel you are naturally bursting with poetic ideas. With the right inspiration and approach, you can write a poem that you can be proud to share with others in the class or with your friends.

How to Start Writing Poetry

Pick a topic or theme that interests you, or brainstorm ideas by writing to a prompt like “what water feels like” or “how it feels to get bad news.”
Read famous poems and choose a poem format that you like. For example, you could try a playful structure like a limerick or a romantic one like a sonnet.
Write lines for your poem with sound in mind. Read your poem out loud and consider the way the words in your poems flow together. Make any necessary edits.

Sample Poems

Starting the Poem

Brainstorming for Ideas Try a free write. Grab a notebook or your computer and just start writing—about your day, your feelings, or how you don’t know what to write about. Let your mind wander for 5-10 minutes and see what you can come up with. Write to a prompt. Look up poem prompts online or come up with your own, like “what water feels like” or “how it feels to get bad news.” Write down whatever comes to mind and see where it takes you. Make a list or mind map of images. Think about a situation that’s full of emotion for you and write down a list of images or ideas that you associate with it. You could also write about something you see right in front of you, or take a walk and note down things you see.

Step 2 Get inspired by your environment and those close to you.

Finding a Topic Go for a walk. Head to your favorite park or spot in the city, or just take a walk through your neighborhood. Use the people you see and nature and buildings you pass as inspiration for a poem. Write about someone you care about. Think about someone who is really important to you, like a parent or your best friend. Recall a special moment you shared with them and use it to form a poem that shows that you care about them. Pick a memory you have strong feelings about. Close your eyes, clear your head, and see what memories come to the forefront of your mind. Pay attention to what emotions they bring up for you—positive or negative—and probe into those. Strong emotional moments make for beautiful, interesting poems.

For example, you may decide to write a poem around the theme of “love and friendship.” You may then think about specific moments in your life where you experienced love and friendship as well as how you would characterize love and friendship based on your relationships with others.
Try to be specific when you choose a theme or idea, as this can help your poem feel less vague or unclear. For example, rather than choosing the general theme of “loss,” you may choose a more specific theme, such as “loss of a child” or “loss of a best friend.”

You may decide to try a short poetic form, such as the haiku , the cinquain , or the shape poem. You could then play around with the poetic form and have fun with the challenges of a particular form. Try rearranging words to make your poem sound interesting.
You may opt for a form that is more funny and playful, such as the limerick form if you are trying to write a funny poem. Or you may go for a more lyrical form like the sonnet , the ballad , or the rhyming couplet for a poem that is more dramatic and romantic.

“Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge [4] X Research source
“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman [5] X Research source
“I measure every Grief I meet” by Emily Dickinson [6] X Research source
“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare [7] X Research source
“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop [8] X Research source
“Night Funeral in Harlem” by Langston Hughes [9] X Research source
“The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams [10] X Research source

Writing the Poem

For example, rather than try to describe a feeling or image with abstract words, use concrete words instead. Rather than write, “I felt happy,” you may use concrete words to create a concrete image, such as, “My smile lit up the room like wildfire.”

Try a New Literary Device Metaphor: This device compares one thing to another in a surprising way. A metaphor is a great way to add unique imagery and create an interesting tone. Example: “I was a bird on a wire, trying not to look down.” Simile: Similes compare two things using “like” or “as.” They might seem interchangeable with metaphors, but both create a different flow and rhythm you can play with. Example: “She was as alone as a crow in a field,” or “My heart is like an empty stage.” Personification: If you personify an object or idea, you’re describing it by using human qualities or attributes. This can clear up abstract ideas or images that are hard to visualize. Example: “The wind breathed in the night.” Alliteration: Alliteration occurs when you use words in quick succession that begin with the same letter. This is a great tool if you want to play with the way your poem sounds. Example: “Lucy let her luck linger.”

For example, you may notice how the word “glow” sounds compared to the word “glitter.” “Glow” has an “ow” sound, which conjures an image of warmth and softness to the listener. The word “glitter” is two syllables and has a more pronounced “tt” sound. This word creates a sharper, more rhythmic sound for the listener.

For example, you may notice you have used the cliche, “she was as busy as a bee” to describe a person in your poem. You may replace this cliche with a more unique phrase, such as “her hands were always occupied” or “she moved through the kitchen at a frantic pace.”

Polishing the Poem

You may also read the poem out loud to others, such as friends, family, or a partner. Have them respond to the poem on the initial listen and notice if they seem confused or unclear about certain phrases or lines.

You may go over the poem with a fine-tooth comb and remove any cliches or familiar phrases. You should also make sure spelling and grammar in the poem are correct.

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

Brainstorm big things in your life and how they have impacted you. For example, if you write about how someone you know died, the tone of the poem could be the great sadness and loss you feel deep down and how it feels like a piece of you is missing. Thanks Helpful 17 Not Helpful 1
Think about what matters in your life. It can give you ideas when you think about the people and places you love. You can write a poem in the form of the struggles in your life or the dangers you have had to face. You can also write a poem about the happiness someone or something has brought to your life. Remember, what you write about should set the mood of your poem. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

Poems are written mainly to touch the heart. Write a poem on something that's emotionally dear to you or that evokes some other feeling.
There's no real rules around poetry. Write something that you enjoy writing and reading and don't worry about the rest!
If you need inspiration, look at photos online or in a magazine or go for a long walk around your neighborhood.
Try writing a poem based on a memorable dream you had the night before (or whenever!).

↑ https://www.edutopia.org/article/every-student-can-be-poet/
↑ https://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/poetry-writing-tips-h
↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201604/the-secret-writing-transformative-poetry
↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/readingpoetry/
↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version
↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-measure-every-grief-i-meet-561
↑ https://poets.org/poem/shall-i-compare-thee-summers-day-sonnet-18
↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art
↑ https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/night-funeral-harlem
↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45502/the-red-wheelbarrow
↑ https://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/poetry-writing-tips-how-to-write-a-poem/
↑ https://www.literacymn.org/sites/default/files/learning_center_docs/metaphors_and_similes.pdf
↑ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1266002.pdf
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/poetry-explications/
↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5709796/
↑ https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/naming-the-unnameable/chapter/chapter-eight-revision/

About This Article

Writing a poem can seem intimidating at first, but with a little patience and inspiration, you can produce a beautiful work of written art. If you’re not sure what to write about, spend a few minutes jotting down whatever thoughts come into your head. Think about your feelings, your experiences and memories, people in your life, or things that you sense in your environment and see if any of those things inspire you. You can also try working from writing prompts. Once you’ve done some free writing, look for themes and ideas in what you’ve written, and choose one that feels inspiring to you. Common themes include things like love, loss, family, or nature. After you choose a theme, think about how you’d like to structure the poem. For example, you might stick to a traditional format, such as a limerick, haiku, or quatrain. If you’d rather not feel constrained by rhymes or meter, consider writing a free verse poem and simply let the words flow in whatever way feels right. You can also read poems by other authors to get ideas and inspiration. When you’re writing the poem, look for ways to express your thoughts using powerful, sensory language. For example, instead of saying something like “I felt happy,” try using a colorful simile, like “My heart soared like a bird set free.” As you’re writing, also think about how the poem will sound when read out loud. Try reading it to yourself or a friend to see if it’s pleasing to the ear. If a word or phrase doesn’t flow the way you like, replace it with something else that has a similar meaning. You might not be satisfied with the first draft of your poem, and that’s totally okay. Read it to yourself, get feedback from friends, teachers, or other people you trust, and keep revising until you feel like you’ve created a poem that really captures the feelings you’re trying to convey. For help choosing a structure for your poem, like a haiku, limerick, or sonnet, read the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Poem: A Simple Guide for Beginners

How to write a Poem! To write a poem is to express oneself through the art of words. It is a beautiful form of creative writing that allows you to convey emotions, thoughts, and ideas in a unique and artistic way. Whether you are a seasoned poet or a beginner, learning how to write a poem can be a rewarding experience that allows you to explore your creativity and imagination.

In this article, you will learn the basics of how to write a poem. You will discover the different types of poetry, including sonnets, haikus, and free verse, and learn how to choose the type that best fits your message. You will also learn about the elements of poetry, such as rhyme, rhythm, and meter, and how to use them to create a powerful and memorable poem.

How to Write a Poem

Understanding Poetry

When it comes to understanding poetry, there are a few key elements you should be aware of. Forms of poetry, themes in poetry, and rhythm and rhyme are all important aspects to consider.

Forms of Poetry

Poetry comes in many different forms, each with its own unique structure and rules. Some of the most common forms of poetry include sonnets, haikus, and free verse. Understanding the structure and rules of each form can help you to better craft your own poetry.

For example, a sonnet typically consists of 14 lines, with a specific rhyme scheme and meter. Haikus, on the other hand, are three-line poems with a specific syllable count for each line. Free verse, as the name suggests, is poetry without any specific structure or rules.

Themes in Poetry

Themes in poetry can range from love and nature to politics and social issues. Understanding the themes that are common in poetry can help you to better appreciate and analyze the works of others, as well as inspire your own writing.

Some common themes in poetry include:

Love and relationships
Nature and the environment
Death and mortality
Politics and social issues
Identity and self-discovery

Rhythm and Rhyme

Rhythm and rhyme are important elements in poetry that can help to create a sense of musicality and flow. Understanding the different types of rhyme and meter can help you to craft poems that are both pleasing to the ear and meaningful.

Some common types of rhyme include:

End rhyme: when the last words of two or more lines rhyme
Internal rhyme: when words within a line rhyme with each other
Slant rhyme: when words have similar but not identical sounds
Eye rhyme: when words look like they should rhyme, but do not

Meter refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem. Common meters include iambic pentameter and trochaic tetrameter.

Getting Started

Writing poetry can be a daunting task, especially if you’re new to it. But with a little guidance, you can unleash your creativity and start writing beautiful, meaningful poems. Here are some tips on how to get started.

Choosing a Theme

Before you start writing your poem, it’s important to choose a theme. A theme is the main idea or message that you want to convey through your poem. It can be anything from love, loss, nature, or even a specific event or memory. Choosing a theme will help you focus your thoughts and give your poem direction.

To choose a theme, think about what inspires you or what you’re passionate about. You can also draw inspiration from your own experiences or observations of the world around you. Once you have a theme in mind, jot down some ideas or phrases that relate to it. This will help you develop your poem further.

Finding Inspiration

Now that you have a theme, it’s time to find inspiration. Inspiration can come from anywhere – a beautiful sunset, a meaningful conversation, or even a random thought. The key is to be open to it and to pay attention to the world around you.

To find inspiration, try some of the following:

Take a walk in nature and observe your surroundings
Listen to music or read poetry for inspiration
Keep a journal and jot down your thoughts and observations
Attend a poetry reading or open mic night for inspiration and community

Remember, inspiration can come from anywhere, so be open to new experiences and ideas.

Writing the Poem

Creating the first draft.

The first draft of a poem is often the most difficult to write. It’s important to remember that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it’s often better to write freely without worrying too much about structure or rhyme.

When you’re writing the first draft, try to focus on the emotion or message you want to convey. You can worry about structure and rhyme later on. It’s also helpful to read your work out loud as you go along. This can help you identify areas that need improvement.

Using Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes are great tools for adding depth and meaning to your poetry. A metaphor is a comparison between two things that are not alike but share something in common. For example, “life is a journey” is a metaphor that compares life to a journey.

A simile is similar to a metaphor but uses “like” or “as” to make the comparison. For example, “her eyes were like the ocean” is a simile that compares someone’s eyes to the ocean.

When using metaphors and similes in your poetry, try to choose ones that are original and unexpected. This will help your poetry stand out and make a lasting impression on your readers.

Creating Imagery

Imagery is another important element of poetry. It helps create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind and can make your poetry more engaging and powerful.

When creating imagery in your poetry, try to use all five senses. This will help your readers feel like they are experiencing the scene or emotion you are describing. For example, if you’re writing about a sunset, you might describe the colors of the sky, the warmth of the sun on your skin, and the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

Revising the Poem

As a poet, you know that writing the first draft of a poem can be a liberating and purposeful feeling. However, the real work begins when you start revising your poem. Revising your poem is an art and can be more creative than writing the first draft. In this section, we will discuss the two essential sub-sections of revising your poem: reviewing and editing, and getting feedback.

Reviewing and Editing

Reviewing and editing your poem is an essential part of the revision process. It involves reading your poem carefully and making changes to improve its overall quality. Here are some tips to help you review and edit your poem:

Read your poem aloud: Reading your poem aloud helps you hear the rhythm and flow of your words. It also helps you identify awkward phrasing, repetition, and other issues that might not be apparent when you read silently.
Check for grammar and punctuation errors: Make sure your poem is free of grammar and punctuation errors. Use a grammar checker or proofreading tool to help you identify any mistakes.
Simplify your language: Use simple and clear language to convey your message. Avoid using jargon or complex words that might confuse your readers.
Cut unnecessary words: Remove any unnecessary words or phrases that do not add value to your poem. This will help you keep your poem concise and to the point.

Getting Feedback

Getting feedback is an essential part of the revision process. It helps you identify areas that need improvement and provides you with fresh perspectives on your work. Here are some tips to help you get feedback on your poem:

Share your poem with trusted readers: Share your poem with friends, family, or fellow poets who can provide you with honest and constructive feedback.
Join a writing group: Joining a writing group can help you get feedback from a diverse group of writers. It also provides you with an opportunity to learn from others and improve your writing skills.
Attend poetry workshops: Attending poetry workshops can help you get feedback from professional poets and learn new techniques to improve your writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some tips for starting a poem?

Starting a poem can be challenging, but there are several ways to get started. You can begin by brainstorming ideas or topics that inspire you. You can also start by writing down a single word or phrase that captures your attention and build from there. Another technique is to use a prompt or writing exercise to jumpstart your creativity.

How do you structure a poem?

The structure of a poem can vary depending on the type of poem you are writing. Some common structures include sonnets, haikus, and free verse. When structuring your poem, consider the length, rhythm, and rhyme scheme. You can also experiment with line breaks, stanzas, and other poetic devices to create a unique structure.

Are there any rules to follow when writing poetry?

While there are no strict rules for writing poetry, there are some guidelines to keep in mind. For example, poems are typically written in stanzas and use poetic devices such as rhyme, alliteration, and imagery. It’s also important to pay attention to the rhythm and flow of your poem. However, these guidelines are not set in stone and can be broken for creative effect.

What are some examples of good poetry?

There are many examples of great poetry, ranging from classic works by Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson to contemporary poets like Maya Angelou and Billy Collins. Reading widely and studying different styles and forms can help you develop your own voice and style.

How do you write a poem for children?

When writing poetry for children, it’s important to use simple language and vivid imagery. Consider using repetition, rhyme, and other poetic devices to engage young readers. You can also incorporate themes and topics that are relevant to children, such as animals, nature, and friendship.

What are some creative writing techniques for poetry?

There are many creative writing techniques that can be used in poetry, such as metaphor, simile, personification, and onomatopoeia. You can also experiment with different forms and structures, such as found poetry or blackout poetry. It’s important to stay open to new ideas and approaches and to keep practicing and refining your craft.

Last Updated on August 30, 2023

Poetry at Harvard

Guide to Prosody

Terms for Describing Prosody

There are many different ways of describing the spoken cadences of verse. Various languages and poetic traditions listen for stress, vowel length, syllable count, or some combination of these three, and poets experiment with all of them. What follows below is an outline of the basics. The following terms describe the generally agreed-upon system for approximating, in writing, our speech rhythms. It is a reasonably efficient system, but it's important to remember that it's not perfect: there are far more subtle variations in speech rhythms than the simple binary of "stressed" and "unstressed" (or, in quantitative meters, "long" and "short") can register.

Some general terms:

Terms that describe the number of lines in a stanza. Note: a stanza need not have lines of uniform length or rhythm. Click here for a glossary of common poetic forms.

Terms that describe the number of feet in a line. Note: while most meters are composed in just one kind of foot per line, poets frequently vary the prescribed rhythm. For English prosody, a good rule of thumb is to count the number of beats (stresses) per line.

Key to Poetic Forms
Guide to Poetic Terms
Glossary of Poetic Genres

Poetry Out Loud

How To Write a Poem

By Laura Hershey

Don't be brilliant. Don't use words for their own sake, or to show how clever you are, how thoroughly you have subjugated them to your will, the words.

Don't try to write a poem as good as your favorite poet. Don't even try to write a good poem.

Just peel back the folds over your heart and shine into it the strongest light that streams from your eyes, or somewhere else.

Whatever begins bubbling forth from there, whatever sound or smell or color swells up, makes your throat fill with unsaid tears,

whatever threatens to ignite your hair, your eyelashes, if you get too close—

write that. Suck it in and quickly shape it with your tongue before you grow too afraid of it and it gets away.

Don't think about writing a good poem, or a great poem, or the poem to end all poems.

Write the poem, you need to hear; write the poem you need.

Source: Laura Hershey: On the Life & Work of an American Master (Unsung Masters Series, 2019)

Arts & Sciences

More By This Poet

We are taught not to gamble. Perhaps it is thought we have lost enough already—legs, vision, speech, the typical use of our bodies. Others' fears would teach us to cringe at any thought of any risk. Disability and risk don't mix. Risk is something we are supposed to be protected from— by agencies,...

Social Commentaries

More Poems about Activities

Golden hour.

When you caught one to keep, we took it home and I asked you to teach me. You showed me how to spike the brain— I thanked the fish, looked away, pressed down. We bled it, shaved away the scales, severed meat from bone. I’m afraid...

By Kimberly Casey

A Wing and a Prayer

We thought the birds were singing louder. We were almost certain they were. We spoke of this, when we spoke, if we spoke, on our zoom screens or in the backyard with our podfolk. Dang, you hear those birds? Don’t they sound loud?...

By Beth Ann Fennelly

More Poems about Arts & Sciences

Listening in deep space.

We've always been out looking for answers, telling stories about ourselves, searching for connection, choosing to send out Stravinsky and whale song, which, in translation, might very well be our undoing instead of a welcome. We launch satellites, probes, telescopes unfolding like origami, navigating geomagnetic storms, major disruptions. Rovers...

By Diane Thiel

Self-Portrait with Sylvia Plath’s Braid

Some women make a pilgrimage to visit it in the Indiana library charged to keep it safe. I didn’t drive to it; I dreamed it, the thick braid roped over my hands, heavier than lead. My own hair was long for years. Then I became...

By Diane Seuss

How To Write A Poem: Comprehensive Guide For Beginners

Tips on how to write a poem.

Ever wondered how to write a poem but felt overwhelmed by where to start?

Crafting a compelling poem often begins with identifying a poignant moment or stirring emotion that resonates.

This guide will walk you through the basics, from choosing your subject to refining your verses, ensuring that poetry doesn’t have to be perplexing for beginners.

Dive in – poetic expression awaits!

Key Takeaways

Start by picking a topic that touches your heart, then play with words and sounds to express it.
Use literary devices like similes and metaphors to add depth to your poem.
Try different forms like sonnets or free verse to find what best suits your message.
Edit your work by reading aloud and changing words for the strongest impact.
Join a writing community , seek mentorship from published poets , and keep practicing .

Understanding the elements of poetry.

Before diving into the creative current of poetry, it’s essential to grasp its foundational elements — these are the building blocks that give your verses structure and depth.

From the subtle dance of assonance to the precise architecture of stanzas, each aspect works in harmony to transform a mere string of words into an evocative literary masterpiece.

Sound in poetry

They use sounds to support their themes and messages.

Rhymes give poems a catchy beat and can make them fun to say out loud. Learning about syllables helps you see patterns in stress and rhythm.

Mastering rhyme boosts your creativity everywhere – not just in writing poems!

Sound devices are your secret tools for making each poem unique and powerful .

Use them wisely to create special effects that stick with the reader long after they’ve finished reading.

Moving beyond sound, we find that rhythm truly breathes life into a poem. It creates a beat, much like the heartbeat of your piece.

Picture rhythm as the drum you tap to while reading your poem out loud—it shapes how fast or slow, smooth or choppy the words flow from one line to another.

Think of stressed and unstressed syllables as the building blocks of rhythm; they help you decide where emphasis falls in each line.

Rhythm can stir emotions and reinforce your message. Use it skillfully to make readers feel the excitement, calmness, or tension with every verse they read.

Consider how sometimes repeating certain sounds at regular intervals can add power to an idea or emotion you want to express.

Mastering this musical element will set your poetry apart, turning simple words into an experience that resonates deeply with those who hear them .

Rhythm sets the beat, but rhyme brings harmony to your poem. A good rhyme can make your lines sing.

Think of it as a pattern where sounds match at the end of each line or in the middle.

These matching sounds are part of what’s called a “ rhyme scheme .” Poets craft these schemes to give their work structure and flow.

You don’t need every line to rhyme, but when they do, it creates melody and rhythm that stick with readers long after they’ve read your poem.

Explore different types of rhymes, like slant rhymes or eye rhymes , to add variety.

Use rhyme scheme wisely – it guides listeners through your poetry, making each verse memorable. Sound matters in poetry; let’s use it well!

Literary devices

Literary devices are like secret tools poets use to make their writing stand out. Think of them as spices in cooking—they add flavor and depth.

Poets sprinkle these devices throughout their work to stir up emotions and thoughts in the reader’s mind.

For example, similes compare two things using “like” or “as,” making images more vivid.

Metaphors do a similar job but without the comparison words, creating solid connections directly.

Analogies extend those comparisons even further, often across several lines or an entire poem, building complex relationships between ideas.

Sound devices like alliteration repeat consonant sounds at the beginning of words close together—it can make a line hum!

Personification gives human traits to non-human things; it makes everything feel alive and relatable.

Using these literary tools well takes practice. Begin by playing with them in your writing exercises—see how they change your poem’s sound when read out loud or alter its meaning line by line.

Let’s dive into how you can start your journey step-by-step by choosing a topic for your poem next!

Just as literary devices add depth to your words, form gives shape to your poem.

Many types of poetry have specific structures , like a sonnet with its 14 lines and strict rhyme scheme.

Choose a free verse that flows without set rules. Each form comes with its rhythm and flow.

Trying out different poetic forms can be an exciting way to find the one that resonates with you.

Explore traditional forms such as haikus or limericks if you’re looking for clear rules to guide you.

For more freedom, consider a free verse where line breaks and stanza divisions are up to you.

The important thing is how the structure reflects what you want to say—whether it’s controlling pace through quatrains or building intensity with couplets.

Whatever form catches your eye, give it a shot! Experimenting is part of discovering your unique voice in poetry .

How to Write a Poem, Step-by-Step

Diving into the world of poetry can be exhilarating yet intimidating, but with a solid step-by-step approach, crafting your verses becomes an attainable adventure.

This section is where creativity meets methodology; it’s about transforming that spark of inspiration into lines that resonate and stir emotions — let’s get those words flowing!

Choosing a topic

Picking a subject for your poem is like choosing the heart of your message. Look for ideas that stir your emotions, things you feel deeply about.

This connection makes your words more powerful and can touch others, too. Use images and experiences from life to bring richness to the theme.

Brainstorming helps you explore different angles of the topic before starting your poem. Jot down single words, phrases, or even feelings related to the idea.

These notes will be valuable in crafting lines that resonate with readers later on.

Think about what kind of poem celebrates or reflects upon these thoughts—this sets the tone for writing something significant.

Consideration of form

Poems come in shapes and sizes. Some are long; others are just a few words.

There’s free verse , which doesn’t follow rules, and then there’s sonnets with 14 lines that often tell about love.

Haikus from Japan have three lines with a pattern of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

Think about the form before you start writing your poem. Want to share a story? Try a ballad ! They’re like songs telling tales.

Or pick cinquains if you want something short but mighty – they’ve got five lines that paint a vivid picture.

Make sure your choice suits the mood and message of your poem – it helps bring your words to life!

Word exploration

Pick each word carefully, like choosing a color for a painting. Think about how they sound and feel. Some words can make your poem soft or loud, fast or slow.

Play with language to find the perfect match for your ideas.

Look at different words until you find ones that fit just right. Try synonyms to see if they add something new to your lines.

Use strong verbs to give power to what you write and paint clear pictures in the reader’s mind.

Word choice is critical – it can turn a simple message into something beautiful and full of life!

Writing process

Let your ideas flow onto the page without worrying about perfection. Start with brainstorming and free-writing in prose to get your thoughts out.

This technique helps tap into emotions and can spark creativity for your poem. Try to include feelings and consider using nature as an inspiration source.

Once you’ve got a bunch of ideas, shape them into a first draft of your poem. Don’t fret over misspelled words or misplaced commas; write something down!

Exploring different words, rhythms, and rhymes will refine your vision. As you write, pause often to feel the beat of each line —this is where rhythm comes alive.

After finishing this step, you’ll be ready to edit your poem —a crucial part that polishes rough edges and tightens up language.

Now, let’s move on to reshaping with editing .

Once your poem is on paper, it’s time to fine-tune it. Dive into the editing process with fresh eyes and a sharp mind.

Look for lines that could be clearer or stronger. Swap out any weak words for ones that pack more punch.

Listen to how each line sounds; cut out extra words that drag down your rhythm.

Editing is about polishing your work until it shines. Read your poem aloud—does anything sound off? Fix those spots!

Changes might include cutting lines, adding imagery, or playing with the order of words.

Even minor tweaks can make a big difference in how your poem flows and feels to readers.

Keep shaping and refining because every edit gets you closer to a poem you’ll be proud to share!

Different Approaches and Philosophies for Writing Poetry

Exploring the vast landscape of poetry can be as diverse as the poets who pen it—each with a unique approach to uncovering the heart’s musings.

Whether you’re capturing fleeting emotions or painting with words in a stream-of-consciousness style, your philosophy shapes every stanza; it’s about finding that resonance within and letting it ripple through your verses.

Emotion-driven

Poems can make hearts race or bring tears to the eyes. They reach deep into feelings, sometimes in ways that stories and songs cannot touch.

The secret? Poets pour their own emotions onto the page.

When you try your hand at writing poetry with emotion , let your heart lead. Think about what stirs you up inside—joy, anger, sadness—and write it down.

Use words like a painter uses colors; mix and match till they feel just right. You don’t need fancy tricks or rigid rules to convey raw emotions .

If a line of your poem makes you laugh or cry when you read it back, chances are it will move someone else, too.

Poetry isn’t just about form and technique—it’s also writing from the soul for an audience of one or many .

Let each word take its reader on a journey through sensations, guiding them to taste, smell, see, and feel everything you pour into your lines.

Stream of consciousness

Stream of consciousness lets you capture every twist and turn of your thoughts.

This style can feel like a wild river of ideas , jumping from one to another without strict rules. Think of it as a direct line from your brain to the page.

Your readers get to ride the rapids of emotions and images just as they come. This powerful technique is not just for stories or novels; poets use it, too.

It can add depth to your poetry by showing how feelings and thoughts connect in real time. Don’t worry about making perfect sense at first.

Let your mind wander and spill those raw, unedited thoughts onto paper. Use specific words that pop into your head—no matter how strange or disconnected they may seem.

Feel free to mix memories, hopes, fears, and dreams all in one poem. Permit yourself to break traditional poetic structures with this method!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness brings a special touch to poetry writing . As you focus on the present moment , each word flows with purpose and intention.

It’s like using poetry to capture snapshots of life’s experiences.

Whether observing the rustle of leaves or the rush of emotions, mindfulness in writing helps explore personal insights deeply.

Writing mindfully also offers peace and clarity for both the poet and the reader.

A poem becomes more than just words; it transforms into a journey through sights, sounds, and sensations .

Embracing this practice enriches your craft as every line reflects a clear, tranquil state of being.

Use mindfulness to write poetry that speaks from the soul —simple yet profound.

Poem as a camera lens

Shifting our focus from mindfulness, let’s explore how a poem can act like a camera lens.

Just as a lens captures fleeting moments , poetry seizes emotions and ideas in words. A poet’s job is to observe closely and snap verbal pictures of life.

They might zoom in on a single emotion or pan out to catch the sweep of an experience.

Like photographers choose their frame and focus, poets pick every word with care.

They play with light and shadow through poetic devices to bring depth to their work—every stanza crafted for impact, just as photographers compose each shot for maximum effect.

Poets use literary devices skillfully, making sure imagery jumps off the page ; it’s all about creating that vivid picture readers will carry with them long after they’ve finished reading your poem.

Tips for Furthering Your Poetry Writing Journey

As you embark on the path to poetic prowess, delving deeper into your craft through a range of enriching strategies can transform the way you think about and create poetry—discover more, write with passion, and see where your words can take you.

Publishing in literary journals

Getting your poetry published in literary journals is a big step for any poet. Start by exploring different magazines and websites to find the right fit for your work.

Look at what they publish and read their submission guidelines carefully. Please pay attention to whether they want poems about specific topics or themes.

Send your best work to these places after you revise, revise, revise! Please make sure each word in your poem matters before you share it with editors.

They see a lot of submissions, so give them something unique that stands out from the rest.

Remember, rejection is part of the process . Keep trying even if you get no’s at first.

Every poet starts somewhere, and many famous writers faced rejection too before their poems saw print.

Keep writing, keep revising, and stay persistent in sending out your poetry – publication could be just around the corner!

Assembling and publishing a manuscript

Pulling together a poetry manuscript takes time and attention. You’ll want your poems to fit well together, like telling a story or taking readers on a journey through your thoughts and emotions.

Once you’ve selected the poems, arrange them in an order that flows smoothly. Think about how each poem interacts with the next.

Publishing your collection is the next exciting step. Start by researching publishers who are interested in the type of poetry you write.

Make sure to follow their submission guidelines carefully—this can make or break your chance of getting published.

Self-publishing is also an option if you want more control over the process. It lets you design, market, and sell your book on your terms.

Use social media platforms like Instagram to share snippets of your work and grow an audience for it.

Joining a writing community

Now that you’ve put together your manuscript consider taking the next step by joining a writing community .

This move will connect you with other poets who are eager to share their experiences and writing pieces.

Together, you can give and receive feedback , making each poem stronger and more vibrant.

Becoming part of a poetry group offers more than just critiques; it’s a chance to find your tribe .

You’ll be inspired by different styles and techniques that can broaden your poetic horizon.

A community provides support as you voice your work aloud, helping to build confidence in your craft.

Plus, learning from seasoned poets can propel your journey forward as they share insights only gained through practice and dedication.

Seeking guidance from published poets

Talking to published poets opens doors you didn’t know existed. They’ve walked the path and can share shortcuts and pitfalls.

Picture a mentor shedding light on the mysteries of poetry—this could be that poet for you. Their experience is like a treasure map to better writing .

Join a workshop or reach out online , but get their insights! Learn how they craft words into emotion and thought .

Listen closely as they talk about rhythm, sound, and the dance of verses on paper.

Their advice might make your following poem something people want to read again and again.

Continuously practicing and refining your craft.

Keep writing and revising your poem to get better. This will sharpen your skills and help you grow as a poet.

Use every chance to play with words, rhythms, and forms . Try out new styles and tones in your poems.

Share your work with others, too. You’ll learn from their feedback. Join a group where poets talk about writing together.

This is a great way to improve. Always look for ways to write more muscular lines and express ideas more clearly.

Don’t just write; read lots of poetry ! Seeing how different poets use language can open up new ways for you to write a good poem, too.

Learning doesn’t stop, so keep exploring the vast world of poetry with an open mind and heart.

Concluding Thoughts on How To Write A Poem

Now, you’ve got the basics to start your poem! Remember, poems come from your heart.

Share your story , feelings, or ideas in a way that’s true to you . Writing poetry is a journey — one where each word can paint a picture or sing a song.

Write, share, and, most of all, enjoy the magic of creating something only you can make . Your voice matters ; let it shine through your poetry!

FAQs About How To Write A Poem

1. how do i start writing a poem if i’ve never written one before.

To start your poem, let your emotions and ideas lead the way. Read a lot of poetry to find inspiration—listen to music, think about people in your life, or try capturing abstract imagery in words. Just grab a pen and express yourself!

2. What should I do after I write my first draft?

After you write your poem, take a break then read it again. Revise your poem by looking for parts you can improve—maybe make lines rhyme or change the rhythm. Keep tweaking it until it feels just right.

3. Do all poems have to rhyme?

Nope, poetry doesn’t always require rhyming! Poems often use rhythmic patterns or poetic elements without sticking to rules like rhymes—it’s more important that you convey feelings or images as you see fit.

4. Can anyone learn how to write poetry?

Absolutely! Anyone can learn how to write poems with some practice and guidance. Know that writing tips are just starting points—you’re creating art that reflects who you are, so trust your unique voice!

5. How can I get better at writing poems?

To improve at writing poetry—and enjoy poetry even more—join a writing group where you can share and discuss poetry together; also write regularly and don’t be afraid of rewriting parts until they shine!

6. Should I try publishing my poem once it’s done?

Yes—if sharing is what you want! when ready, research places that publish poems like magazines or online platforms; send them out there for others to appreciate the beauty of what you’ve created.

References:

https://www.matrix.edu.au/beginners-guide-poetry/ultimate-list-of-poetic-techniques
https://poemanalysis.com/poetry-explained/elements-of-poetry
https://blog.shurley.com/blog/2018/11/14/poetry-exploring-sound-devices-with-couplets
https://literacyideas.com/elements-of-poetry
https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-poem-step-by-step
https://study.com/academy/lesson/elements-of-poetry-rhymes-sounds.html
https://blog.daisie.com/understanding-rhyme-a-comprehensive-guide

r. A. bentinck

Bentinck is a bestselling author in Caribbean and Latin American Poetry, he is a multifaceted individual who excels as both an artist and educator.

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4.17: Lesson 12: Figures of Speech in Poetry

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The meaning of language can be literal or figurative. Literal language states exactly what something is. On the other hand, figurative language creates meaning by comparing one thing to another thing. Poets use figures of speech in their poems. Several types of figures of speech exist for them to choose from. Five common ones are simile, metaphor, personification, hypberbole, and understatement.

Simile

A simile compares one thing to another by using the words like or as. Read Shakespeare’s poem “Sonnet 130.”

Sonnet 130 Author : William Shakespeare © 1598

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red, than her lips red: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound: I grant I never saw a goddess go,— My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare.

In this sonnet, Shakespeare’s simile in the first line is a contrast where one thing is not like or as something else. He wrote, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.”

A metaphor compares one to another by saying one thing is another. Read Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers.”

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers Author : Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all

And sweetest in the Gale is heard And sore must be the storm — That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm —

I’ve heard it in the chillest land — And on the strangest Sea — Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb — of Me.

Notice that Emily Dickinson compared hope to a bird–the thing with feathers. Because there are bird images throughout the poem, it is called an extended metaphor poem.

Personification

A personification involves giving a non-human, inanimate object the qualities of a person. Robert Frost did that in his poem “Storm Fear.”

When the wind works against us in the dark, And pelts with snow The lower chamber window on the east, And whispers with a sort of stifled bark, The beast, ‘Come out! Come out!— It costs no inward struggle not to go, Ah, no! I count our strength, Two and a child, Those of us not asleep subdued to mark How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length,— How drifts are piled, Dooryard and road ungraded, Till even the comforting barn grows far away And my heart owns a doubt Whether ’tis in us to arise with day And save ourselves unaided.

Look specifically at the strong action verbs to find the human traits that are attributed to the wind and storm.

A hyperbole is an exaggeration of the truth in order to create an effect. Sometimes that’s done in a single statement. Other times it can happen with repetition like in Robert Frost’s famous poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Read the poem aloud. Notice the effect of the last two lines. The reader feels the tiredness of the weary traveler.

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Understatement

Understatement is the exact opposite of a hyperbole. The writer deliberately chooses to downplay the significance or seriousness of a situation or an event. This is evident in Mary Howitt’s Poem ” The Spider and the Fly.”

The Spider and the Fly Author : Mary Howitt ©1853

Will you walk into my parlour, said a Spider to a Fly; ‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy. The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I have many pretty things to shew when you get there. Oh, no, no! said the little Fly; to ask me is in vain: For who goes up that winding stair shall ne’er come down again.

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, Dear friend, what can I do To prove the warm affection I have ever felt tor you? I have within my parlour great store of all that’s nice: I’m sure you’re very welcome; will you please to take a slice! Oh, no, no! said the little Fly; kind sir, that cannot be; For I know what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see.

Sweet creature, said the Spider, you’re witty and you’re wise; How handsome are your gaudy wings, how brilliant are your eyes! I have a little looking-glass upon my parlour-shelf; If you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself. Oh, thank you, gentle sir, she said, for what you’re pleased to say; And wishing you good morning now, I’ll call another day.

The Spider turn’d him round again, and went into his den, For well he knew that silly Fly would soon come back again. And then he wore a tiny web, in a little corner sly, And set his table ready for to dine upon the Fly; And went out to his door again, and merrily did sing, Come hither, pretty little Fly, with the gold and silver wing.

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly, Hearing his wily flattering words, came slowly fluttering by. With humming wings she hung aloft, then nearer and nearer drew. Thinking only of her crested head and gold and purple hue: Thinking only of her brilliant wings, poor silly thing! at last, Up jump’d the cruel Spider, and firmly held her fast!

He dragg’d her up his winding stair, into his dismal den, Within his little parlour; but she ne’er came down again. And now, my pretty maidens, who may this story hear, To silly, idle, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give ear; Unto an evil counsellor close heart, and ear, and eye, And learn a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.

Lesson 12: Figures of Speech in Poetry. Authored by : Linda Frances Lein, M.F.A. License : CC BY: Attribution
Sonnet 130. Authored by : William Shakespeare. Provided by : Wikisource. Located at : https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sonnet_130_(Shakespeare) . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers. Authored by : Emily Dickinson. Provided by : Wikisource. Located at : https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/%22Hope%22_is_the_thing_with_feathers_u2014 . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Storm Fear. Authored by : Robert Frost. Provided by : Wikisource. Located at : https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Boy%27s_Will/Storm_Fear . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Authored by : Robert Frost. Provided by : Wikisource. Located at : https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Stopping_by_Woods_on_a_Snowy_Evening . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
The Spider and the Fly. Authored by : Mary Howitt. Provided by : Wikisource. Located at : https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_First_Series_of_Hymns_and_Songs/Descriptive_Songs/The_Spider_and_the_Fly . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Pasco-Hernando State College

Poetry - Figures of Speech
The Writing Process
Paragraphs and Essays
Unity and Coherence in Essays
Proving the Thesis/Critical Thinking
Appropriate Language
Glossary of Literary Terms
History of Literature
How to Read Literature
Appropriate Language - Literature
Poetry - Definition
Poetry - Types of Poetry
Poetry - Point of View
Poetry - Symbol and Allegory
Poetry - Imagery
Poetry - Sound and Rhythm

Terms Related to Poetry - Figures of Speech

Figurative language –.

language that is used to mean some other or something more than it says; language that is used in a non-literal way

figures of speech –

various ways speech is used figuratively

a comparison using the word like or as

metaphor –

a direct comparison or equivalence

extended simile –

comparison using the word like or as which is repeated in the poem; more commonly used in an epic poem where the same comparison is used throughout

extended metaphor –

direct comparison which is repeated in the poem; more commonly used in an epic poem where the same comparison is used throughout

personification –

attributing human qualities to a non-human or non-living object

hyperbole –

saying more than what is meant; exaggeration

understatement –

saying less than what is meant

metonymy –

referring to one thing by something else it is associated with: the crown to refer to the king

synecdoche –

use of a part of a person to object to refer to the person or the object: the hand that rocked the cradle to refer to the person rocking the cradle

apostrophe –

where the speaker speaks to a dead or non-present person

a reference to an historical event, aspect of culture, character or content in a piece of literature, or other widely known type of information to convey a feeling, idea, or image; serves to convey information using few words

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Guides • Understanding Publishing

Last updated on Oct 13, 2023

12 Elements of Poetry Every Poet Needs to Know

Much like any other type of literature, poetry can be broken down into various different devices. Rhyme is the most well-known, but there are dozens of elements that can be used to construct a poem. While poets may employ many of these devices subconsciously (having long since added them to their toolkit), most of them will be able to identify these elements and understand how they help their craft.

In this post, let’s explore 12 of the most common poetic devices and what they add to a poem.

1. Rhyme and rhyme scheme

When we think of poetry, rhyme is probably the first poetic device that comes to mind. From the tales of Mother Goose to the works of the greats, it’s one of the defining characteristics of poetry. Modern poets may not use rhyme as often as their predecessors, but it remains an important part of what makes poetry poetry.

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What is rhyme in poetry?

It’s the repetition of syllables or similar sounds, typically at the end of a verse. A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes in a poem or, in other words, which lines rhyme with each other.

Some common rhyme schemes you might see are AAAA, ABAB, ABBA, where two matching letters indicate that those lines rhyme with each other. However, there are many more to be found among the different forms and structures of poetry .

There are also many different ways in which two words might rhyme. While everyone can detect a full rhyme (e.g., might and light ), you might also find half rhymes or slant rhymes (e.g., bog and bug ) that sound just enough like one another to work.

There’s also a range of places where you can rhyme within lines or stanzas. End rhyme — the rhyming of the last syllables in two or more lines — is the most common. But there’s also internal rhyme, which occurs when two or more words rhyme within a singular line (e.g., there’s double trouble at the Hubble lab).

Example: “Neither Out Far Nor In Deep” by Robert Frost

Robert Frost’s poem follows a simple ABAB rhyme scheme (italics and bold text added for emphasis).

The people along the sand

All turn and look one way .

They turn their back on the land .

They look at the sea all day .

Of course, a collection of rhymes does not a poem make. While some poems don’t use any rhyme at all, almost every piece of verse has a keen sense of rhythm.

Meter is the basic structure of a line of poetry, whereby stressed and unstressed syllables are used in a predetermined way to create rhythm. In a sense, it’s the heartbeat of a poem.

How is meter created?

When considering a poem’s rhythm, you can break a line of poetry into multiple “feet.” These are individual units within a line that have a specific number of syllables with specific emphasis placed on those syllables.

Metrical feet are usually only two or three syllables long. One of the most common kinds of feet in English is an iamb , which consists of two syllables: one stressed and one unstressed. For example, you would always stress the first syllable of the word “poem” but never the second. (Only a maniac would pronounce it “ po-EM ” instead of “ PO-em .”)

Each line has a set number of feet. For example, in iambic pentameter, which we often see in Shakespeare’s works, there are five iambs per line — this gives us a total of ten syllables per line (e.g., “ A gainst my love shall be as I am now ”).

A chart laying out the different types of metrical feet

There are many different types of feet and meters that you can mix and match to create rhythm. Some regularly used ones include iambic pentameter, trochaic octameter, and anapestic tetrameter. Below, you'll find examples of the most common types of poetic feet.

Example: “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare

Who better to demonstrate the uses of meter than Shakespeare himself? His sonnets are arguably the popular examples of iambic pentameter in the English language.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Notice how the number of syllables in each line remains consistent, creating a regular beat that propels the sonnet forward. You might also detect that the flow of the words builds up in the first line, then falls in the second line — a pattern that repeats throughout the piece, creating a sense of ebb and flow. That’s iambic pentameter in action.

In Shakespeare’s plays, he often switches between using iambic pentameter and a more prosaic style. In a very similar way, not all forms of poetry require a standard use of meter.

3. Lineation

Also known as layout, lineation is about how words and sentences are physically arranged on the page. While poetry is often best enjoyed when spoken aloud, it can also be a visual medium — and lineation is a large part of that. How a poet decides to break up a sentence on the page can create pauses that alter its mood, meaning, or rhythm.

With certain forms like concrete poetry, poets may take full advantage of this visual aspect and arrange the lines in such a way that they form an image on the page.

Example: “Crepuscule” by E.E. Cummings

A reddish crescent moon against a black night sky

E.E. Cummings was well-known for experimenting with different elements of poetry, including lineation. In this piece from 1917, he conjured up an image of twilight that jars the reader with its unusual line breaks.

I will wade out

till my thighs are steeped in burn-

ing flowers

I will take the sun in my mouth

and leap into the ripe air

Alive

with closed eyes

to dash against darkness

in the sleeping curves of my

Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery

with chasteness of sea-girls

Will I complete the mystery

of my flesh

I will rise

After a thousand years

And set my teeth in the silver of the moon

Here, Cummings breaks up the verses and arranges them on the page so that certain words and phrases stand out, like “alive.” The pauses these breaks create add a specific rhythm that would be difficult to achieve with regular enjambment.

Pulling back for a second, let’s take a wider look at poetry in general and talk about form. Form is the actual structure of a poem and consists of three parts: rhyme scheme, meter, and lineation.

As previously mentioned, rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes while meter is about the use of stressed and unstressed syllables. Meanwhile, lineation refers to the way line breaks and stanzas are arranged — how many lines there are per stanza, for example. Taken together, the variations of these three elements lead to many types of poetry forms , from odes and ballads to villanelles and limericks.

Each form of poetry has its own specific lineation, rhyme scheme, and meter as part of its structure. A sonnet wouldn’t be a sonnet if it wasn’t written in iambic pentameter, nor would a haiku be a haiku if it didn’t follow the 5-7-5 syllable structure. Form makes a poem recognizable, and poets can use rhythms to elicit a particular emotion or reaction from their readers. Certain structures also lend themselves well to particular topics — the ode and the elegy, for example, praise and eulogize their subjects, respectively.

While all the rules imposed by poetic forms might make poetry seem restrictive, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Many modern poets write in free verse, constructing their own meters and rhyme schemes. Many don’t rhyme at all, relying purely on meter and lineation. Once you know what the rules are, you can break them to make something entirely new.

Example: “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats

Based on his observations of ancient artifacts he saw at the British Museum, John Keats wrote this poem, dispensing with the odes made popular by Horace and Pindar in favor of a form he developed himself. Keats starts describing a particular Grecian urn with a quatrain (four lines with an ABAB rhyme scheme) that leads to a sestet (six lines with a CDECDE rhyme scheme). Each line of Keats’ poem is rendered in iambic pentameter. The following is the poem’s first stanza:

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

While form is a foundational part of poetry, don’t let it be a constraint. Like Keats, you don’t have to stick to tradition and can always make up your own form to suit your needs. If you find certain forms too restrictive or can’t get your rhyme scheme to work, always feel free to experiment.

Now that we have some of the basics down, let's look at some other elements poets take into consideration when creating new works.

5. Point of View

Much like in prose, poems are also told from a specific point of view . In other words, who is the speaker of the poem? Is it the poet themselves, a character, or an omniscient narrator? Is the poem written in first, second, or third person?

Who tells the story is just as important as how it's told. No two people have the same outlook, so a poem’s point of view will affect its overall meaning. If an old woman and a young boy examined the same event, emotion, or theme, they would likely come to a different conclusion.

Example: “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Shelley uses an interesting framing device for this poem, where the bulk is told from the viewpoint of a traveler the narrator once met.

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Rather than telling us about the statue himself, Shelley writes about a story a traveler once told him — or, more likely, a fictional narrator. This story within a story further removes us from this “King of Kings,” reminding us that even the greatest deeds eventually become half-forgotten tales. And this, of course, is the central theme of the poem.

Speaking of themes, you can’t have a poem without one! Whether you’re writing about what you had for breakfast or the love of your life, poetry thrives on deeper meaning. In other words, a poem’s theme is the message it’s trying to get across.

Poetry can be about anything: love, death, war, aging, growing up, nature, justice, and so much more. Any possible human experience you can think of has probably been written about in poetic form — even if that experience is just one’s love for breakfast food.

Example: “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson

Not all poems state their meaning so obviously, but this one by Emily Dickinson states its theme in its opening line. Many poets and scholars consider it to be a powerful poem about life due to how Dickinson describes hope in it.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

Dickinson uses an extended metaphor — that of hope as a feather — to underscore her theme. As the poem progresses, we see the many different faces of hope. By the end, we can imagine hope as a creature that is both delicate and robust, confident and constantly besieged. It’s an incredible metaphor that’s hard to shake once you’ve encountered it — and speaking of metaphors….

7. Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which two objects or ideas are compared without using “like” or “as” — and relating them directly to each other instead. For example, “hope is a thing with feathers” as opposed to “hope is like a thing with feathers.”

This poetic Swiss Army Knife can be found in just about every corner of the poetry world and can serve many purposes. A good metaphor shows (not tells) an idea without having to explicitly spell it out — plus, it creates imagery and action in the reader’s mind, adding to the mood or atmosphere of a piece. It's also efficient: you could spend pages describing isolation and sadness, or you could find the perfect metaphor like Carson McCullers did for the title of her debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Example: “Heart” by Dorianne Laux

A person holding a large neon red heart in front of herself

Speaking of hearts, poets such as Dorianne Laux have imagined the heart as a shapeshifter that morphs to encompass the many emotions a person can experience. Take a look at the following excerpt of her poem, “Heart”:

The heart shifts shape of its own accord—

from bird to ax, from pinwheel

to budded branch. It rolls over in the chest,

a brown bear groggy with winter, skips

like a child at the fair, stopping in the shade

of the fireworks booth, the fat lady's tent,

the corn dog stand. Or the heart

is an empty room where the ghosts of the dead

wait, paging through magazines, licking

their skinless thumbs. One gets up, walks

through a door into a maze of hallways.

Behind one door a roomful of orchids,

behind another, the smell of burned toast.

The rooms go on and on: sewing room

with its squeaky treadle, its bright needles,

room full of file cabinets and torn curtains,

room buzzing with a thousand black flies.

The dizzying amount of imagery in this poem underscores just how changeable a heart, and a person’s emotions, can be. The shift from joyous images of children and birds to the darkness of ghosts and flies allows the reader to experience different moods without ever being told outright what emotions to feel.

A well-used metaphor will often be repeated throughout a poem, and as we’ll soon discover, repetition is a technique that will pop up time and again in many different ways.

8. Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words (e.g., Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers ). Remember that this literary device is about the repetition of a specific sound, so watch out — just because two words might start with the same letter doesn't mean they’re alliterative.

A carefully crafted alliterative phrase can affect the beat or rhythm of a poem, slowing its pace down as the reader carefully navigates any tricky repeating consonants.

Example: “The Tyger” by William Blake

Blake’s oft-quoted poem opens with a verse brimming with alliteration (bold type added for emphasis):

T yger T yger, b urning b right,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could f rame thy f earful symmetry?

The repetition here evokes the feeling of a chant, setting the tone for the rest of the piece as the poet regards his subject with the awe and reverence usually reserved for the sublime.

9. Assonance

Remember how we said that rhymes can occur within a line as well as between them? Assonance is a close cousin of those rhymes, where vowel sounds are repeated within a line of poetry. Although it’s often called a rhyme, assonance is more similar to alliteration since it’s about the repetition of a specific sound. The words in a line must be located fairly close together for the repetition of vowels to count as assonance (e.g., The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain ).

Often, assonance is used to invoke a specific mood as specific kinds of vowel sounds can affect how we perceive a poem’s tone. For example, you’ll typically find long vowel sounds in more serious pieces as they slow down the poem, making it more somber.

Example: “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe

Poe opens the second stanza of “The Bells” with a few lines of assonance, using it to set the tone.

Hear the mellow wedding bells,

Golden bells!

What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!

Through the balmy air of night

How they ring out their delight!

From the molten-golden notes,

And all in tune,

What a liquid ditty floats

To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats

On the moon!

Pay attention to the assonance here in the short “e” sounds in “mellow wedding bells.” This gives the beginning of the stanza a light, joyous tone, before shifting to something darker later on in the poem, where you’ll start to see the repetition of longer vowel sounds.

Tone, which is also known as the “mood” of a poem, refers to the poet's attitude toward their subject. Just like human emotions, poems can be happy, sad, regretful, nostalgic, angry, and so much more. How tone is expressed in a poem is varied and depends on the wants of the poet. Elements like rhyme, figurative language, meter, and syntax, just to name a few, can all be used to create a specific tone.

Example: “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti

Through repetition and the inclusion of pastoral images, Christina Rossetti creates a joyful tone in this love poem .

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these

Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;

Hang it with vair and purple dyes;

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;

Work it in gold and silver grapes,

In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;

Because the birthday of my life

Is come, my love is come to me.

Images of rainbow shells, singing birds, and endless bounties underscore the narrator’s happiness and excitement now that their love has come to them. Specifically, the way nature is invoked — full of action, not just description — makes it feel like something new and wonderful is blossoming, which adds to the sense that the narrator is professing their love from a mountaintop (or somewhere less clichéd).

11. Enjambment

You’ve probably noticed that poetry doesn’t strictly follow the rules of grammar. Sometimes, a sentence will continue past the end of a line without any punctuation marks. This is known

as enjambment.

This changes how we would naturally read a line, allowing the poet to manipulate rhythm. Sometimes, enjambment can be used to create emphasis or drama — cutting off a thought in a strategic place. These pauses and moments of silence might otherwise be difficult to achieve with standard punctuation, so think of enjambment as the poet’s secret semicolon.

Example: “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks

This classic example of enjambment is short but impactful. Gwendolyn Brooks uses it both to create rhythm and emphasize her point.

We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We

The enjambment after each “We” creates a pause that puts emphasis on the first words of the next line, suggesting that the narrator is hesitating or perhaps coming up with the next words on the fly. The pauses also create a syncopated rhythm, giving the piece an unusual musicality.

12. Consonance

Similar to assonance, there is also consonance. But instead of repeating vowel sounds, it’s all about the repetition of consonant sounds within a line of poetry. This can happen at the beginning, middle, or end of the words. Similar to assonance, something can be considered consonance if the repeated syllables are located fairly close to each other.

Much like the other devices we’ve examined here, consonance adds rhythm to a poem and, through the right collection of sounds, can also evoke a specific emotion.

Example: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

The consonance in this section of T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” lends a lyrical quality that matches and accentuates the poem’s whimsical mermaid imagery.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?

I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves

Combing the white hair of the waves blown back

When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Note that in the final stanza, the repetition of the aspirated “w” sounds in “white,” “waves,” “wind,” and “water” mimic the rise and fall of ocean waves. And there you have it! Some of the most common elements of poetry.

With the basics down, you can do anything, including writing your own poem . Which is exactly what we'll cover in the next part of this guide.

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How to Write Spoken Word

by Guest Blogger | 118 comments

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“Respect the poet!” the crowd shouts at a couple at the bar oblivious to what’s going on.

Slowly, alliterative spoken word sends chills across my neck, down my arm, and into my chest.

I’m feeling words as my eyes stare rapt at the stage.

Literary devices fly with syllables punctuated by inflection. Poetry one line, prose the next. The performer pauses. It’s 2008, and I’m hooked.

I was first introduced to spoken word while taking a creative writing class in college. I then got involved with a local spoken word community in Bryan, Texas called Mic Check , where the scene above happens weekly.

And today, I’m showing you how to craft your own powerful spoken word piece.

How to Speak Spit Spoken Word

You mean you weren’t born with an innate ability to write poetry, combine it with performing arts techniques, and rhythmically deliver a piece with clever intonation?

Performance poets weren’t either. Even if their names are Sarah Kay or Madi Mae .

Do you have feelings?

Do you wish you could let them go out, terrorize the neighborhood for a bit, and then come home to you without doing any damage (the kind that costs you money)?

Let’s do this. Here are four steps to writing spoken word:

1. Tell a Story

If you’ve never written spoken word before, you might feel overwhelmed, unsure where to start. But this type of writing isn’t as foreign as you might think. It can follow the same pattern as a conventional story : exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

First, pick a theme you’re passionate about. Putting something down on paper knowing that you’re going to read it out loud later is terrifying, but having passion from the start will help carry you through. And if you’re a writer, you need practice putting fear down anyways!

While there are as many ways to begin writing as there are poets, a way that I have found particularly effective is to start with a “gateway line,” a single line that captures your theme. For example:

“Do not keep the silence golden.”
“Looking past Earth.”
“Life is not ajar.”

To demonstrate this, I'll write a (short) piece around the following line:

“Practice is failing on purpose.”

Now that I have my gateway line, I’m ready to revisit my dramatic structure: what can I surround my line with? At this point I might make a list of a few plot options:

A little boy learning to ride a bike
A guy practicing how he’s going to start a conversation with the girl of his dreams
A girl exploring the definition of true beauty

I fully intend to reveal something about practice that applies to craft development, but I’m going to do it by juxtaposing it with something wildly different. This will show the audience something about practicing their craft, as well as the subject of the plot .

Spoken word lets you do that. How cool is that!?

2. Flesh It Out

Now that you've chosen your plot, it's time to flesh it out into a story illustrating your theme. This is where you, as the writer, get to shine! How compact can you make it?

At this point you might be thinking that this is remarkably similar to writing anything else. You’re exactly right — it is. That’s why I’m writing this out, to show you that you can do it!

I’ve decided to write a piece about an eight-year-old boy who decides to try to ride his bike sans training wheels. Now, I ask questions to flesh that concept out:

What does he look like? Where is this? How long as he been trying to do this? Why is this important?

Most importantly, why should my audience care about him?

First draft:

Age eight with skinned knees bleeding from the last attempt he pushes two blue wheels uphill. This time. Salt touches his tongue as he tilts his face towards the summit. This was his Everest. He was done training. The two wheels sat lifeless in the garage watching him from a distance. He believed that with enough speed he could roll forever. The extra weight only slowed him down. He fought to push the past crashes from his mind as he trudged up Mount Failure. This was his practice.

3. Read It Out Loud

Once you have something down, read it out loud to evaluate how it sounds . Do you like what you hear?

Spoken word fills the gap between predictable patterns found in traditional forms of poetry and the art of prose. Every literary device , every poetic device, and anything clever you can think of to do while you’re on stage is all fair game. For now, let’s revisit the first draft, tighten the diction, and spice things up with a bit of poetry.

Second draft:

Age eight, and skinned knees pleading he pushes two blue wheels uphill. This time. Salt touches tongue as dirt-faced determination drives him to the summit. His Everest. Two training wheels cry abandoned. Concrete floors and walls lined with tools can get so lonely. He believed that with enough speed he could roll forever. Long enough to run the errands that his mother couldn’t. He fought to push past crashes and knee slashes from his mind as he scaled Mount Failure. This was his practice.

Now that you like what you’re hearing, start asking performance related questions. This could include questions related to theatre, music, or even dance .

Do you want a part of it to read faster to give it more of a hip-hop sound? Or slower to make it more dramatic? Either way, it’s up to you to figure out how you’re going to read it.

And there you have it — four steps to writing your first spoken word.

Do you write spoken word poetry? What do you find most challenging about it? Let me know in the comments .

Take fifteen minutes to create a gateway line and draft your own short spoken word. Your gateway line doesn’t necessarily have to appear verbatim in the piece.

Post your gateway line and your spoken word in the comments ! And if you share, remember to leave feedback for your fellow writers.

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118 Comments

Great article, but I must admit I have a prejudice about spoken word (or “slam poetry,” as we call it at my school.) Often people write about the same tired topics: since I’m at an all girls’ school, they bash men, there are terribly homophobic comments (it was meant to be Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve) and just hate speech in general. For the record, it’s not “feminist” to say that all men suck. That’s insulting to wonderful men out there. Writing with emotion is great, but some people abuse it. Having an opinion about a certain group of people can’t justify horrible comments about them. This is why I prefer longer narratives where you can introduce contrast: happiness with sadness, darkness and light. Life is a huge jumble, not just a huge mass of hatred.

“Life is a huge jumble” is a great gateway line 🙂

I hear ya rosie. I’ve heard tons of erotic, rape, suicide, breakup, love-hating work all in the name of “art”. It’s true: performance poetry is often used as an outlet for pain. I think LeCrae said in an interview with ESPN recently that hip-hop was created in the streets of New York by people to express the emotions of a marginalized and disenfranchised group of people. I think performance poetry is used in much the same way.

I agree that it’s sad whenever art is abused – hateful commentary might be necessary within the privacy of a journal, but I don’t think ‘going public’ has honestly helped anyone encounter real change, overcome differences, or experience freedom. I usually see the same people able to recite the same poem in the exact same way the following week: nothing changed for them having said it the first time.

What I would like to see are people using this art form to promote solidarity, kindness, respect, honor, and truth. What if performance poetry had the same ‘punch’ as that scene in the action movie where the hero chooses to rise up instead of stay beaten? What if our stories said something about encouraging us to BE better people rather than commentary on what we are not?

That’s the heart behind thirdpersoncreative – telling stories that challenge prejudice.

I think the only thing in your comment that I disagree with is the notion that you can’t have contrast in performance poetry. I believe you can, as I think that’s necessary to tell a good story (it’s also a good litmus test to see which poets are crafting their pieces, and which one’s are just railing). But you brings up a stellar point: Most of the time people see ‘slam’ as another word for ‘opportunity to rail against something’…and I think that’s incorrect. I believe spoken word is a largely untapped art form, and would even go so far as to say that the term ‘slam’ is limiting in and of itself.

Great thoughts!

I really appreciated your comment. It made me think things differently. Thanks (truly) for posting it.

My life is not my own: I rent my hours for a living; I whore my body to feed it; I sell my mind to free my soul (or is it the other way around?). I spend my time building lies, confabulations to appease the growing unease, the dissonance between my needs and my wants, between expectations and commitments. Past decisions have left me disowned, owner of my cat’s life, of garden-grown produce and growing debt, but my home, like my life, is not my own.

Now a post on my blog 🙂 — http://wp.me/p3VSF5-1i

I love this Alexandre – I think it resonates with the idea that so much of industry is about trading our time for money rather than valuing our contribution to it. I think I was first introduced to that idea by Bryan Harris – that we are more than that time!

I like the rhyme you’ve got going here as they makes it highly conducive to the stage. The callback “is not my own” at the end is a cool trick that’s in a lot of poetry, and instantly adds effectiveness to the piece. Nicely done 🙂

Thanks for the feedback Avery! Glad you liked it 🙂

Really enjoyed this piece. Felt it in my bones. Uncannily uncomfortable. Thanks 🙂

This is very good.

I liked this piece very much. I did wonder on reading it if it has a little more of a poetic construct than spoken word poetry. I am not very familiar with the spoken word poetry and could be way off the mark -it’s the feel of it when read. The first three lines are great; they hook you in.

They feed me candy but I want more. Lies make more lies and breed tumors in the spine. I listen to your politics and want to dive in the ocean to get away. I doubt you are truthful so I spit. I would rather go away. Far away. You are a breeder of man. A dog, a liar, and a cheat. Your candy chokes me and I am not alone. Hatefilled orgasms lead to punishment by Cupid’s arrows. I am tired of your political stance and I would rather eat bonbons on Saturdays. My wounds fester because you lie beyond the stars. I promise better healthcare, economics 101, and let welfare extend to the suburbs. Lies, lies, more lies lead to a soul full of hate and loose phlegm from my throat. I would shake a wiener at you but I ain’t got none. Go back to the shady palm tree you came from, Mr. or Mrs. President. I will dwell in the shadows with my people, the undecided and the strong.

Oh man – I’m digging the opening line as it instantly adds depth to the piece. I think your portrayal of the antagonist’s words as cancerous makes the reaction immediately accessible “I doubt you are truthful so I spit.” Nice!

If you’ll notice, you lose a bit of tightness after the ‘Cupid’s arrows” line, and you risk losing your audience there – if it helps, feel free to let the sentences flow together rather than making them each one-liners (I wouldn’t recommend changing anything in the first half – as I think that’s a stylistic choice). It looks like you’re trying to nail home the ‘why’ in the second half, and I think toning down the poetry and turning up the prose and making it more of a narrative there might be more effective. Play with it, and see what you get – would someone from your audience be more likely to see your angle after listening to your piece?

The important thing here is that it’s obvious you’re speaking something that you feel matters. And for that passion, I applaud you, not everyone has the courage to speak up. Way to go!

Thanks. This is my first time writing this type of piece. It was fun. I know I should tighten up my stuff that is usually my downfall.

Oh boy, where to start. This piece is crammed with ideas voiced really well. I feel, because there are so many points covered, this piece could be split into more than one. Less wordy and more deliberation given to each concept. What I am trying to day, very badly, you could take much more from this piece. Tighten it up and write another one with what is not used definitely from the second half. Great stuff

Words Condemn me with their contempt Or is it indifference? To my trials, my failures, my pain

Lashing me with their savage tongues Pinching me till drawing blood From reopened scars I whimper in protest Yet sigh in Comfort

Scathing words for my own reflection Hiding behind fear Cosseted by insecurity Easier than action

Nikita – not sure if you did this on purpose…but you stumbled across something INSANELY helpful to performing artists: you made it clear where you need to breathe.

Each stanza of your piece marks a natural break point to take a pause to breathe. I like the story here – you do a great job of writing a tight poetic narrative that’s accessible to your audience. I also like the subtle ‘page’ (versus ‘stage’) element in the capitalization of ‘Comfort’ that hints at finding refuge in God. Not sure if you meant that or not, but I thought that was pretty cool.

This is great – I think if you were going to expand it you could do so in between the lines ending in ‘protest’ and ‘Comfort’ by providing a gritty example of when this happened. Not saying you should, or that you have to, just a simple insertion point if you wanted to make the piece a bit longer (it’s fine as it is – this would make this a great 1 minute poem at a slam).

The line at the end…’Easier than action’. You’d probably be getting some snaps where I come from (and that’s a good thing).

…and +1 for using ‘cosseted’ – I had to look that up!

Avery-I have returned to this page and it has now clicked in my pea brain the pieces of great spoken poetry posted here was for your critique not mine. Apologies to the two writers. I feel such a prune.

No worries! Every critique gets the writing one step closer to the story it was meant to be 🙂

And besides, if I had written something here, I’d LOVE the extra attention 🙂

…and you do NOT have a ‘pea brain’.

Hi Nikita I love this piece. Savage in it’s imagery – biting and pinching – I felt it all. Economy of words paint a full and rich picture. Thanks for the powerful words 🙂

Thank you so much Nathy,

In my view (and I think in most if not everyone’s), additional feedback and perspective are welcome! No one wants to post to have the words sit there alone as they do on our computer screen at home. The writer can agree or disagree, but you’re providing perspective from one audience member who is willing to speak up.

To Susan- I completely agree with you. It is lovely, of course, when people say you are brilliant and love your work but it Is not useful. I do try to encourage different aspects when looking at others work and I hope I do it tactfully.

Thank you so much for your kind words and constructive feedback. First time post so I was really nervous. This is a wonderful community that i have been stalking for a while now. Glad I made the leap.

That first leap is a hard one, but you clearly made it across the chasm nimbly. Welcome!

Absolutely! I completely agree. This is my first time to guest post here, and the experience has been nothing short of phenomenal. Great people with loads of humility and who are incredibly serious about perfecting their craft. TOO FUN!~ 🙂 🙂

This is powerful! You have a lot of great images (each line!) which build the tension, and call for reflection turning into action. I feel my internal dialogue.

Writing it’s my pathway to hair-splitting persnickety literalism you know the thing great authors are made of sophisticated words not the dribble of pre-published authors `who don’t know their way around a show no tell. Listen up! Please remember;

authors and poets and artists kill your darlings don’t use 20 words when 10 will do.

never forget; spit the spoken word.

(Thanks, Avery for allowing me to use your spitingly flowing phrase.)

Ha! For sure 🙂 This feels like a word-transformer…and right now it’s in ‘page’ mode. In spoken word communities we talk about ‘page’ and ‘stage’ poems. I think this one can cross-pollinate 🙂

…excuse me while I pick on you to demonstrate something devilish that a performer has to think about:

don’t use 20 words when 10 will do. never forget; spit the spoken word.

************** Ah, formatting has been slain on the altar that is the stage…translation: I formatted enough so you know what parts to break at for emphasis (or to breathe), but not so much as to make it difficult to read in front of 50 people from a phone screen.

So the way you’ve written it would be what would go in a chapbook (‘page’), but the way I’ve written it would be how I’d read it from a stage. Admittedly, I’m picking on you since your piece had so many line breaks as it’s great for demonstrating the different mindsets in formatting. Great piece – loved the brevity!

Avery, you can use me any time. *scratches alligator skin* 🙂 All kidding aside, I see what you’re demonstrating. I enjoy being picked on when I can pick something up. I guess we all learned some things today. You rock. Thanks, bunches.

Haha 🙂 Wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to write out a piece. It takes effort to craft something under tight poetic constraints. I’m honored! And again, you did great!

‘Spit the spoken word’ you say. It has tremendous impact. Thanks for sharing your poem.

Lilian, thank you for this. You made my heart smile.

I don’t think I have ever does this before! I am getting nervous already! I think I will pass. Too scared. Sorry.

No worries!

I love that you wrote this (and that Avery totally supported you).

Actually, it seems to me you DID do the post … a short version, but it tells a story with lots of feeling that makes your reader identify with what you have to say and feel empowered by observing someone taking the chance of admitting trepidation and being supported in your honesty.

You could have easily just not posted anything, but I’m glad you decided to share this. I’m sure it helped others.

Oh no…here goes my attempt at spoken word ( sigh) currently passionate about Lexa’s death and Clexa from the 100

Stop Killing Off The Queer

Heartbreak comes again I’m in tears

You killed her Yet again I shouldn’t be surprised

She chose love She was brave Even in her small stature No one could deny she was fierce

And then… This strange girl caused her tears But her cold heart had started to beat again

She told herself no Too many times before She kissed her She loved her

And moments after You gave her a bullet through the chest The stomach Her love’s departure

And now her brave soul is dead

Why am i not surprised showrunner This is your version of how Queerwomen end

“The stomach Her love’s departure”

*snaps* Brilliant!

Be careful with using too many short lines else you run the risk of making your poem difficult to read from a stage (i.e. you’ll always be scrolling down if you were to read it from your phone). Still…this piece was absolutely…shall I say, killer?

You got it. 🙂

Absolutely! And the idea of a response piece to a showrunner out of feelings of betrayal is super interesting – Way to go! 🙂

Here’s the opening paragraph to my rather long piece about Call Centre frustration, entitled Tirade:

I’m sick Sick to my stomach sick Of being messed about and dicked around By money-grabbing arseholes Who continually fail Who repeatedly manage to Let me down and won’t relent I understand Is not their fault They’re totally incompetent

Roberta this definitely has a great hip-hop feel to it because it flows so so well! I dig!

Would you opt to say the title or not before you delivered the piece on stage? I’m just curious as that decision will have a tremendous impact on how your audience thinks about your piece as they listen to it.

This is true feeling.

This is exactly the frustration I feel while waiting endlessely for my turn, at whatever, and those seemingly ‘incompetent’ staff who just don’t see me/us. We could be furniture, floor tiles or ghosts. The worst part is having to swalllow the frustration and smile, smile, smile. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Lillian. It came off an emptiness afternoon dealing with a telecom supplier. ..I’m sure you can sympathise!

I shall post the original full piece in my blog robertaleesmat.wordpress.com

I’m looking forward to reading the full piece. I do indeed sympathise. xo

I’m not sure I’ve got the right idea, but I tried to write without judging or censoring myself and this came out, so here goes.

Gateway Line: “Concealed behind my curtain, I’m certain I won’t be seen”

Peering from behind the black velvet curtain I spy on her. Her coffee is hot, not warm. How can I tell? Wisps of steam rise up, from beneath the rim of her cup.

And she gently blows, pursing her cushion lips. Her breath causes the steam to dance, interrupting its steady ascent Making it twist and turn. She gazes through the dancing steam, willing the coffee to cool And yet content in her waiting.

I’m secure here, concealed behind my curtain. I’m certain I won’t be seen. Heavy breathing roars in my ears. The noise in the coffee shop seems dim and distant Compared to the raging storm of my breath And the thumping of my pulse inside my head.

Suddenly her eyes lift They meet mine. My chest tightens, my breathing halts How can she see me? I’m hidden. And yet, there can be no mistake. Her eyes have sought out mine. They have found me, revealed me in my hiding place.

I feel exposed, naked, vulnerable. “Stop!” I scream at her from inside my shroud. “No” I bleat weakly. But it’s too late. She’s on the move.

I hear chair legs scrape across the floor, as she pushes back from the table. She glides silently toward me. I can’t look at her. I’m still trying desperately to conceal myself, but it’s too late.

She stops. Inches away from my hiding place. I feel her warm breath as she smiles and the black drapes part and fall away. “Are you okay?” she says. Soft brown eyes dive into mine and I am found. The veil lifts. Conversation begins.

I really liked it. Very well done. I could see it play out in my mind’s eye. “How can she see me? I’m hidden” is my favorite line

Thanks so much! It feels so good to get stuff out of me. I’m gaining courage from this forum. 🙂

You’re welcome. So am I.

Yes! So glad to hear that from both of you. This is the place to be your writing self.

I’ve been a long-time academic writer, but only more recently have I worked on more creative writing. I still only write very short pieces (and still compare myself to others who post), but I know now that “I am a writer” because that message is loud and clear at TWP. I was welcomed from day one when I posted a haiku that I wrote in high school and actually got positive feedback on it!

This is definitely the place for novice and more skilled alike. So much to learn from the bloggers and fellow post-ers.

Moreover, I’m so glad you both are contributing your great work and comments!

(see my comments below Member of the Tribe’s reply).

I love your work and learn from it!

Pieces like this are wonderful on stage because they take time for world building. By the time I realized I was going to have to click the ‘Show More’ button, I simultaneously realized that I didn’t care how long it was! I was going to finish it!

I felt like I was at another table watching the whole scene unfold – and I’m pretty darn sure I can blame your killer imagery and appeal to my senses.

(Personal) Favorite adjectives: “Wisps of steam”, “cushion lips”, “dancing steam”,”Chair legs scrape across the floor” (ah my ears!), “she glides silently toward me” (is this sounds like a sashaying sundress), “eyes dive”…boom.

(Personal) Favorite moments when I tried reading this out loud: “…willing the coffee to cool and yet content…”

“…concealed behind my curtain. I’m certain I won’t be seen.” (these are just plain fun to read on stage)

“Suddenly her eyes lift They meet mine. My chest tightens, my breathing halts”

…makes when you said “m not sure I’ve got the right idea” the funniest part 😉

OKAY so enough bragging on ya…you DID use the word ‘steam’ three times within the first two stanzas – word frequency will be picked up on by your listeners since everything you say will be out loud.

The “I feel exposed, naked, vulnerable.” line is a good one, but I felt the interior conversation detracted from it. The reason is because you already communicated what you were going for cleanly; but then said something less with less impact, but in more words.

The last thing I can find (and, again, you made it hard) – was the “I am found” line at the end – I think you can milk this a bit more (or not, I’m just offering ideas at this point).

You killed it (and I mean that like a room full of snaps at a slam competition).

I felt this all the way through … the long-held habit of hiding, the anticipation, and then “…and I am found. The veil lifts.”

Your details feel subtle, and by that I mean your message and images and story are allowed to come front and center while your words take a back seat. Again, not sure if that’s clear. I’m trying to say that sometimes we realize we’re READING something, but you put us in the narrator’s seat to EXPERIENCE it.

Alright, here’s goes nothing

Gateway line: “What if the third time isn’t the charm?”

—————————————————– They told him that failing wasn’t a big deal. All the big kids do it. It’s all the rage.

But he knew inside they were just being nice. He saw them look away when he told his story of past failures. It’s too sad for eye contact while he moans about a feat they’ve all accomplished so easily. So long ago.

So today, in his third attempt at the feat, he’s alone. He’s prayed, and practiced, yet personally proved nothing to himself. He still felt as he did before numbers 1 and 2 – unprepared.

Pencils Up!

The superheroes in his mind that were supposed to keep him safe faded away. TRAITORS!

Scratching, erasing, coughing, sneezing. Even the clock’s tick is stronger than normal. IT’S SO LOUD IN HERE!

Deep breathe – nothing.

Deeper breathe – nothing.

Come on, DEEEEPPP breathe……cough. Figures.

He picks up his stones and stares down at his Goliath. He’ll laugh about this one day. He’s sure he will.

This was cute, it had me starting my day with a laugh,,, nicely done.

Thank you! I actually started intending it to be more serious than it turned out. Funny how that happens

“It’s too sad for eye contact” — *snap* *snap* *snap* “…so easily. So long ago. So today,…” — nice!

“he’s prayed, and practiced, yet personally proved…” – I’m a sucker for alliteration! “Scratching, erasing, coughing, sneezing. Even the clock’s tick is stronger than normal.”

— This took me to a moment in college when I was taking a Calculus 2 exam. I was a terrible math student (should have asked for wayy more help than I ever did) and flat out didn’t know the material. I was nervous so I tried downing orange juice and coffee right before the test thinking it would help me be as alert as possible. Bad idea. It just rocketed my test anxiety through the roof. By the time college was over I attempted (and, thankfully passed) 22 hours worth of JUST calculus. That’s more credit hours than what you need for a minor. I just didn’t quit. No matter what. I was going to graduate with an engineering degree. Period. And I did. And I look back and laugh now…but those moments of terrified hopeless failure leave real scars – and the words that you write here really do relate with audiences – they matter Member of the Tribe. The practice will be worth it the moment you speak or say the thing that echoes in the soul of someone else so loud all they can hear is “I am not alone – I am understood”…and that makes writing immortal, practice worth it, and all the time grinding pencils to charcoal dust priceless.

Thank you 🙂

Thank you Avery. I really appreciate that. I’m a big fan of alliteration too. I have to hold myself back sometimes.

Test taking anxiety is so strong. I’ve personally not had to deal with it to much in my life until yesterday when I took a licensing exam for work for the third time (which led me to writing this). Your story is crazy. I would never willing take that much calculus. You were on a mission! Ha

Definitely man – I feel ya 🙂

For sure I was. It’s funny, I think that the determination I developed in school for engineering is proving itself an invaluable asset in this world of writing.

OK, Avery, your comments are the earmark of why we MUST share our words: “The practice will be worth it the moment you speak or say the thing that echoes in the soul of someone else so loud all they can hear is “I am not alone – I am understood” .. and that makes writing immortal, practice worth it, and all the time grinding pencils to charcoal dust priceless.”

breathtaking words which now reside in my writer’s chest

[side note on choice of word: I was going to use the word ‘heart’ instead of chest, but I overuse that at times. Didn’t want to use “bosom”. I had in mind the sternum area, and ‘chest’ at first seemed too bland, but then it sparked an image of a treasure chest, so I like the double meaning.]

SO thankful for your comment and kindness Susan 🙂 Glad I wrote something that resonated, motivated, and encouraged you!

[…and THAT side note is why you’re a writer 🙂 Thank you for choosing your words with care!]

Avery, I wish this Discus had the same “Like” function as FaceBook. I find myself reflexively looking for the like button on your posts/replies. I appreciate the time you take to reply to people who respond to your article. I really enjoyed your article and have been mulling over stuff to put in my notebook … writing spoken word. Thank you.

Sincerely – thank you for your tender kindness. That’s encouraging to me 🙂

I’m so thankful that these words of mine, even sitting in Joe’s living room as a guest myself, have proven both their utility and inspiration to you. You are absolutely welcome!

So glad that I have such encouraging friends along this journey of learning what it means to be a soul-speaker!

…indeed it does 🙂

Ah – this hurt me to read it. I kind of giggled the first time through, but then I spoke your words out loud and they jarred and rankled me. I have a son at high school taking exams at the moment, and I’m really empathising with the pressures, so this piece really hit home. Lovely 🙂

I’m glad and sad that it hit home. The pressure is insane. The best thing is having someone in your corner to always keep things in perspective for you and help you laugh off the missteps.

Yes … so telling!

“ … about a feat they’ve all accomplished so easily. So long ago.” “ he’s alone. He’s prayed, and practiced, yet personally proved nothing to himself. He still felt as he did before numbers 1 and 2 – unprepared.” “The superheroes in his mind that were supposed to keep him safe faded away.” “He picks up his stones and stares down at his Goliath.”

This is a story of anyone who hopes for change and growth, who looks at others and thinks, “How come they can accomplish that and I can’t? I know they’re no better than I am.” Practice and preparation, yet the change longed for doesn’t come … until one day the stone hits Goliath in just the right place, and what you knew you should have been able to do before, falls into place. And yes, the prospect of future perspective, “He’ll laugh about this one day. He’s sure he will.”

Thanks for your story, Member of the Tribe.

Thank you Susan. I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂

I had a slightly different perspective with your very interesting piece… yes, so telling! I can see this as the way a very high functioning autistic or developmentally challenged kid might think. As a nurse I could see this happen in real life: exactly.

“But he knew inside they were just being nice. He saw them look away when he told his story of past failures. It’s too sad for eye contact while he moans about a feat they’ve all accomplished so easily. So long ago.” “So today, in his third attempt at the feat, he’s alone. He’s prayed, and practiced, yet personally proved nothing to himself. He still felt as he did before numbers 1 and 2 – unprepared.”

Superheros failing him and Clock’s tick with time pressure, all painfully too much for the child who is comparing himself to abled children. I hesitate to use “normal” for who among us is normal?

It is a blessing when extremely challenged is also child-like in mental acquity, There is less disappointment and tender aged joy at accomplishment, lots of clapping and less frustration.

All of us can identify with some area of life we are just not as good at as other areas of life, and probably never will be. This speaks so evocatively of this emotion. I think the key is to find where you are great and expand outward there, at least it works with my clients. As writers we may need to challenge ourselves more and in different ways, but that is also a way of expanding on the skills we do have, yes?

Nice job, Member of the Tribe. Let me tell you this much, I identify more with this than ever, the older I get. I think you wrote this beautifully. Kudos

Wow. Thank you so much for the kind words Luanna. I truly appreciate that. I can see the connection you made with challenged children. And I definitely agree that as writers we need to challenge ourselves in many different ways. We can expand on what we are already great at and possibly become great in something we thought to be a weakness before.

Again, I thank you

I really appreciated your making the struggle that we all face so clear and letting it be known that we are all in this learning together. Your story, thinking about it later, spoke to me also in things I am facing in life, myself, and I thank you for that clarity it brought me, packaged in tears as it was. The universe used you. I love it when the universe uses me to touch the lives of others. It turns the phrase “being used” on its ear and gives it hugs. OK, that sounded weird, I know. LOL , I just mean it feels good to be used by the universe. I hope you get a sense of feeling good for helping me. Expanding on what we are already great at, and what we are good at and what we do okay at, that is what we are meant to do here. Learning new skills to build on others. SO much time we spend comparing ourselves to others, beating ourselves up. IF our neighbors or our friends treated us the way we treat ourselves we would have restraining orders taken out on them for harassment at the very least. Forgiving ourselves for perceived weaknesses and faults as well as perhaps abuses of our good qualities and learning to love ourselves with kindness, is bonus. Acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness, kindness, sweetness, loving ourselves. They are thoughts we can choose to use in many situations. I am reminded of teaching I have learned and taught: You are the only one with authority over your thoughts. Even with a gun to your head no one has any real control or power over your thoughts. You can choose to think differently than the way you were perhaps taught or programmed to think. You can choose to think supportive thoughts. Praise yourself for every little thing. For one hour try praising yourself for just everything you do even okay.” Great job oversharing Luanna!” ,for instance. It’s a thing. Only a thing. I can change it or not. Funny thing is, often, in places like this, where people are really working on being better writers and improving themselves and their lives thereby; in those environs, the universe uses over sharing quite a bit. So, instead of deleting a good bit, I will post this extraordinarily long reply to you thanking me for my perception of your writing, and thank you once again for your post. Thank you, fellow Member of the Tribe!

I just started reading this. …. and I cannot wait to try it! Thank you so much, Avery White! Write Practice.. can we hear more from this guy?? Please? I will come back with what I come up with after I wrestle a bit with it. OH this could be fun….

Have a blast! And thanks for the kind words 🙂

Loser, Loser, Lost

Candy feed through clean veins I am ready for the lies Your politics make me want to jump Higher, Higher, gone into the ocean I doubt I would rather be away, far away You are a breeder of man Dogs, liars, cheats, scum Your candy chokes me Hatefilled orgasms surprise me I am tired My wounds fester because you lie Field of dreams Field of lies Healthcare for all, healthcare for some, healthcare for no one Lies turn my love to hate Raw like a egg running on a hot sidewalk Lying bitch, lying scum, liar I would shake a weiner at ya but I ain’t got none Back off, Mrs. or Mr. President I am a loser, loser, lost My vote is with the majority The undecided and the strong

Diamond – I’m definitely digging the re-write! Clean and swift like a hilt sword to through the scapula. How’d this version feel compared to the first one?

I read this out loud and noticed something that I thought would be killer: 1) “My wounds fester because you lie” – replace ‘lie’ with ‘fired’ (so it flows into field when you say it) 2) “Lies turn my love to hate” – add the word ‘Sick” before ‘lies’ (to contrast with healthcare)

…what do you think?

I like everything I write but the new version felt better.

I feel ya there 🙂 And I think anyone who’s had to deal with people estranged from the product they allegedly support will absolutely be able to relate.

Thanks, Dina!

Lovely advise on writing.

The older man wiped away his tear and replied, “Oh, grasshopper, try to remember that if you do not succeed then you MUST try again.” He stood up to go, then said, “However, if you fail again? Then quit. After all, there’s no use being a damn fool about it!”

What? what? I cannot take this in. Oh, cmon, I knew there were problems, but this? Where is this coming from. He’s gay? This is not true, we have a daughter asleep in the other room. He has to be bi-sexual, omg is he crying? OK,ok ,tissues, where are the tissues?

Theme: Gratitude for mentors Avery teaches then Writer reaches … new heights … their potential … for more words swirl into a pearl … of wisdom something that catches something that matches something that hatches into change … an idea … a mind … a life White spits out words We put up blurbs his suggestion revises our confidence rises Not only guidance guidance to and fro guidance 2.0 Avery sets the tone you’re not alone No one is This is our biz for one another to alleviate to elevate to create … opportunity … connection … change Not strange … words move people move mountains Grateful for the TWP and 3rd person creative Two sites so educative They show us how to write proud and live out loud.

*** *** *** *** *** My heart, mind and creative soul send gratitude. /…admire…aspire…climb higher/ [swa] © a colored envelope …ellipsis poetry division… 14 May 2016 Comments on my own piece: I like some of the rhythms, rhyme and word combinations. Some ways I feel I could improve it include: use some richer vocabulary, metaphors, and create a smoother transition between “move mountains” and “Grateful for…”

After reading your responses again, Avery, to some of the other postings, I see that, among other things, I should combine some of these lines. Although in my voice, the flow is still created.

WOW! #blownaway

I was cruising through the comments, smiling to myself with an ear bud in my ear…and then I saw this piece – took out my headphones, let my jaw slacken a bit, and now I’m struggling through a response….

I mean…”I just wanted to send my thanks at this point” – mission overwhelmingly accomplished.

YOU WROTE ME A RESPONSE POEM!!!?? HOW COOL IS THAT??

I’m tempted to delete some of the all caps first draft commenting that I’ve done in the past few sentences…but I won’t. I want you to know that, as a person, I’m profoundly affected by these comments and I’m STOKED that you found what I wrote so incredibly helpful that it moved you to write a response piece. Blown. Away.

My heart really is to help, and I’m so grateful to TWP for letting me have a platform to do that. And that you would take the time to visit Third Person Creative, and give a shout out to that as well? I’m just blessed. That’s all. Just blessed. Thank you 🙂

And who am I to criticize gratitude? Never. I will only offer my own in return on this one.

Warmest regards!

OK … THAT response was FUN to read (and re-read and re-read)! Nothing like a little POSITIVE reinforcement. : ) I’m really glad you enjoyed it, Avery. I sure appreciate your DETAILED enthusiasm. Your words are happily residing in their new home in my heart.

Wow! Susan. I enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, Lillian!

-Brokenness is the great healer…

Winds whip through the day’s clock hands. Reminding us of our lack of control.

Pulling Pushing

Pulling us up to mountain peaks, and pulling us into depths.

I never really believed in Rock Bottom and assumed the population was zero.

Rock Bottom, population one.

Feeling broken yet vulnerable and ready for mending.

It’s in my brokenness, that I found hope.

Rock Bottom, population zero.

This is very cool. Powerful.

1. I apologize that it’s taken me so long to get you some feedback! 2. At a poetry slam poets are usually tasked with delivering a single 1 minute poem, and then any number of 3 minute poems. For me, the 1 minute poem has always been the hardest to write.

This covered the distance normally *attempted* by a 1 minute poem in just a touch over 30 seconds (I read it out loud). Killer!

…and I don’t want to touch it because the fact that you can get an audience there in 30 seconds is pretty sweet. Way to go!

I really appreciate you still taking the time to give me feedback. I have always loved poetry and really doubt my ability to write myself. I took a risk and tried it. This was encouraging. Full disclosure, I think this is the second “poem” I’ve ever dared to write. Yikes! I have realized I have a misconception of what I need to know about the skill of poetry before I write, which leads to my insecurity.

Absolutely! Great job 🙂 Yeah, what we believe is a powerful thing. It’s rough when it works against us in the form of misconceptions.

—- —– —– Heartbreak is a serious condition. You’re heart is a vital organ. Seek help when it is damaged.

I miss the dawn. Another day. I find my way to coffee. Through the mess I left. Yesterday. I find a cup. In the sink. In the mess. I wear these clothes again. I don’t like me. I’ll change. Tomorrow. It will be different. Tomorrow. I’m too tired to sleep. And then I wake. In another day. —— —- —–

I….think I’ve been depressed. What do you guys think?

I can’t quite write spoken word poetry. It’s a style that has always alluded me, though I consider it the purest form of art in writing. Interestingly, when I was young I….oh, here it comes….

When I was young I knew I was meant to write. I was meant to write poetry that would touch hearts just as deeply as mine had been touched by various lines over the years. Poetry had a way of letting me feel truly like myself, more than anything else. The dew on morning leaves. The wisp of a cloud across the sunrise. The pink undersides of cumulonimbus as the sun set. The peaceful soul of the ocean. Poetry was one of the few places that someone else could express those moments to me. But I couldn’t write poetry. I tried. I tried. I tried. The feeling, the emotion I needed would build up inside me until I would run to get a pencil and paper and scribble now a line as fast as I could. And I would scribble some more. Then curl my lip in disgust. I was no poet. My words had none of the grandeur I wished for. None of the wisdom or brilliance I wish for. They did not move me. They would no move anyone. I struggled for my words to mean something. I struggled to express those moments as there were but also as I saw them. I wanted the mountains to soar above your head and for you to feel the earth breathing beneath your feet as it spat it’s glowing lifeblood at the stars. That is what I wanted. But I could not communicate myself. I felt that my talent should come naturally, with ease, if it was meant to be. But it did not come. My life had been changed so many times by two or three lines but I could never hold so much truth in my own words. I wrote in other ways, but with poetry I could only ever manage my second best. It would have to do.

So I’m just going to click the post button and go to sleep. 🙂 Any thoughts anyone?

Yes. A few.

1. I’m sorry that it took me so long to reply to this!

2. “But I couldn’t write poetry.” – I hope that you aren’t believing this anymore because what you opened with makes for a fantastically honest page poem…

3. This comment: “My words had none of the grandeur I wished for. None of the wisdom or brilliance I wish for.”

…reminded me a talk I heard by Dan Santat at a conference last year. He’s a pretty spectacular illustrator for children’s books, turned down an equally spectacular job offer from Google, and a great speaker…anyways, his talk was about ‘taste’. He talked about how the telltale sign of the artist is that they create, but recognize their own inadequacy so they keep working. It’s that internal sense of ‘taste’ that drives them to keep making the soup over and over again until they get it right.

I think that your comment is an indicator of that taste.

And I would go even farther and submit to you that that taste wasn’t given to you by accident. Not everyone is dissatisfied with a sentence, or shard of poetry – that’s a gift, but perhaps I’ve overstepped my bounds there a bit.

Finally…

You might be a lot closer to spoken word than you think: 1. Take the text beginning with “When I was young” through “It would have to do”. 2. Restructure your piece so it looks like this:

When I was young I knew I was meant to write.

I was meant to write poetry that would touch hearts just as deeply as mine had been touched by various lines over the years. Poetry had a way of letting me feel truly like myself, more than anything else. The dew on morning leaves. The wisp of a cloud across the sunrise. The pink undersides of cumulonimbus as the sun set. The peaceful soul of the ocean. Poetry was one of the few places that someone else could express those moments to me.

But I couldn’t write poetry. I tried. I tried. I tried. The feeling, the emotion I needed would build up inside me until I would run to get a pencil and paper and scribble now a line as fast as I could. And I would scribble some more. Then curl my lip in disgust. I was no poet. My words had none of the grandeur I wished for. None of the wisdom or brilliance I wish for. They did not move me. They would no(t) move anyone. I struggled for my words to mean something. I struggled to express those moments as there were but also as I saw them. I wanted the mountains to soar above your head and for you to feel the earth breathing beneath your feet as it spat it’s glowing lifeblood at the stars.

That is what I wanted. But I could not communicate myself. I felt that my talent should come naturally, with ease, if it was meant to be. But it did not come. My life had been changed so many times by two or three lines but I could never hold so much truth in my own words.

I wrote in other ways, but with poetry I could only ever manage my second best.

It would have to do.

3. Read it out loud. 4. Realize that this style hasn’t eluded you…it’s just been following so close you mistook it for your shadow 😉

Those are my thoughts. And you win the award for the most effortless spoken word piece I’ve ever seen written in a public forum. Nicely done 🙂

WOW, to both Zerelda for the incredible post and follow up, the submission here, and to Avery for your reply: “Realize that this style hasn’t eluded you…it’s just been following so close you mistook it for your shadow ;)”

Awesome. Awesome stuff. Thank you so much. Both of you.

Absolutely! I hope Zerelda is okay with me reformatting her comment 🙂

Whoa. Thank you. And thank you for taking the time to reply. 🙂

I could ramble (believe me, I’ve edited a few paragraphs out already) but I’ll try to be readable brief and still cover everything.

2. 🙂 Honesty is my writing creed. (I write fiction.)

3.I am irritatingly familiar with that “taste” (it’s what gives writing it’s flavor). Now that you’ve put it that way, I wonder if I spend so much time outsourcing to sites like this because I’m just looking for more ingredients, not because I’m lacking in creativity (confidence boost!). And I’ve always thought (well, for a while now) that part of creativity is taking things that already exist and putting them together in a new way (oh ho ho, just like our cooking metaphor). Spoken word poetry is a new recipe for me.

Am I meant to write? Do I, me specifically, enjoy mixing the ingredients so much for a reason? One day, I gave up on writing. I quit. I said, “I don’t want to do this anymore unless I know you want me to,” to God. And the second I made that decision the lyrics in the song I was listening to said, “Don’t give up. Keep on going.” That’s clear enough for me.

Thank you for the formula. Now I know how to write this type of poetry and your comments have reassured me that I can. (The way you wrote no. 4 was beautiful.)

Again, thank you.

P.S. “I wanted the mountains to soar above your head and for you to feel the earth breathing beneath your feet as it spat it’s glowing lifeblood at the stars.” ….What was I talking about? What does that mean?…..Oh! It’s a volcano!

You’re absolutely welcome! This has been a total blast – start to finish. This community has been incredible, fun, and profoundly encouraging. It’s awesome.

– Are you meant to write? Yeah, I’d say that’s a credible endorsement!

– Spoken word is a fun recipe – especially if you have other cooks in the kitchen 🙂 Finding an open-mic community is pretty UHmazing! I’m always humbled whenever I visit Mic Check.

Thank you for the dialogue – this has encouraged me so so much!!

P.S. Your P.S. was hilarious!!

I’m heading over to your site…I’m gonna have to learn roman numerals. I have some reading to do.

OK here I go:

Gateway line: “Mama said there’d be days like this.” alternately “Justifiable homicide?”

Little sleep, new baby, bundle of joy, sucking sore nipples, twenty minutes, every three hours,

LONG day with fussy toddler, Baby down for third nap, None for Mom, over tired. laundry over due.

Washer clunky, shouting “unbalanced!!” Dish slipping from soapy hands, dishwater in hair, and left eye, bubbles dripping as

HACK glack gutteral noises, Side stepping where floor holds Fido’s vomit, now deposited, grass poking out. Washer clunking alarmingly attempting a two step out of the laundry

Hop over the next little hill of laundry to go in to washer, banging knee into washer clanging slapping button to make it STOP.

Blessed relative quiet. only music from the TV… for toddler

Balancing washing load on sore knee, Hitting head against front loading washer, with startle as Toddler screaming,(–tooth growing-in pain–) Iced chew ring thrown, landing in vomit.

Cleaning up dog puke, washing hands Back up ice ring to toddler Now audible, tv music and Water for pasta boiling in pan, hissing, spewing all over the sauce splattered stove top.

“Honey! I’m home, what’s for dinner? Did you get my dry cleaning?! ” Baby monitor coming alive with infant cries, Smoke alarm screams “there’s steam!!”

I think what stands out to me about this piece is how well it tells the story of what’s going on. You demonstrate an extraordinary economy of language as you take the listener (I did read this out loud to myself – this piece just ‘works’ great!) through a play-by-play without spending too much time in any one place. Aside from that, it’s pretty darn hilarious!

This is great for the stage because the audience is there for entertainment, and anyone with a kiddo or two faced with a similar circus of activity will instantly relate – well done 🙂

I especially liked the way you used ‘over’ in the “Baby down for third nap,…” stanza.

If you were going to perform this you could either:

A) leave it as is with an understanding that it’s going to sound pretty rappy (I know that isn’t a word…but I love using it anyways), and the piece will lend itself to being read quickly.

B) Insert a paragraph of interior monologue between “bubbles dripping as” and “HACK”, and another in between “vomit.” and “Cleaning” (or “for toddler” and “Balance” – your choice). Something out of cadence with the rest of the piece to allow yourself to breathe, let the audience inside your head, and make the overall delivery more dynamic.

Great stuff!

Frist and foremost: Thank you, Avery, for directing me where to find what I had written, I am new to this format. Not sure how it got scrolled down past Member of the Tribe’s post, when it was written after his post. I suppose this is not listed in order of being written. Excited to have gotten a reply! Raising hand and saying Korsach like .. OOO OO PICK ME! fashion I get what you mean! I did have something like what you were suggesting with :

I took it out precisely because it was out of cadence and a bit dark (and I thought, perhaps, superfluous.) Something like:

Bubbles dripping, OH SHIT, Squinting keeping soap out as much as possible Swiping of eye making it worse don’t step on the dog, clanging washer urgency? pipes bursting? don’t wake the baby! is it supposed to be this hard? I did four years of college for THIS?? Gotta get supper done too He’ll be home soon I swear if he’s doing that new breezy life as usual sweetie pie shit, I will… Divorce, no, murder maybe.

It was a stream of consciousness thing, out of cadence, and it seemed petty as if I was making some coping mechanism on the father’s part trivialized more than “life happening”. On the other hand, it was honest to the character and a tie in to the justifiable homicide alternative title. I am so new to this. It might have been better had I posted after the story, what I did here, explaining what I took out and why.

The first run at “a peek inside her head” was a bit smoother even though it was jarring in cadence. I would have used that first run to show you what I did have originally, in this reply but I didn’t save it. I think I was opting for brevity cadence and it might have felt too jarring to post her inner monologue. That is where, I got the “Mama said there’d be days like this.” with the ” its not supposed to be this hard” being too negative, and wanting to edit the honesty with some humor. ( as we adults sometimes too in life)

I really appreciated the A. ) the “Rappy” quality comments as well as the B.) section I replied to. Of course ” Great Stuff” brought a smile. Thank you again, Avery.

PS. Thanks for this comment: “A) leave it as is with an understanding that it’s going to sound pretty rappy (I know that isn’t a word…but I love using it anyways), and the piece will lend itself to being read quickly.” Actually, That is what I was modeling this after, the spoken word I saw on TV with a POETRY SHOUT OUT . type of program.. different artists with props orating their original work. I found the mix of writing and performance fascinating. A window into their worlds. So cool to have you bring that tie in in reviewing this.

PPS.. this is not exactly entirely autobiographical, I only had one colicky kid, and was going through nursing school with her in a snugli walking the floor. I remember sleeping, patting her butt, swaying and seeing muscle groups and bone diagrams in my dreams. Once I woke leaning up against the wall like a broken robot still swaying patting patting, because the notebook dropped and woke me. Mama said there’d be days like this.

Thanks again, Avery for ” great stuff ” .. it was encouraging. Lol, what do I hear “Oh for God’s sake don’t encourage her” … as an off stage voice.. LOL.

what happened to my post MAMA SAID THERE”D BE DAYS LIKE THIS… alternatively justifiable homicide? was it deleted??

No…you have to scroll down a bit to see it. It’s there! I just finished the feedback for it 🙂

Look for rosie’s comment, your post appears just below hers.

Them poor Why dontthey work harder? Them rich Why dontthey quit showin off?

Them foreigners Why dontthey learnta speak English? Them locals Why dontthey learnta speak English ta tourists?

Them Christians Why dontthey stop tellin people whatta believe? Them atheists Why dontthey believe in anythin?

This world, I don’t know what it’s comin to. Why dontthey do somethin about it?

My gateway line was ‘people are people too’. Made me think of all the things that keep us from seeing that. Confess I stopped at step two, ‘fleshing it out’. Didn’t move on to reading it out or editing for sound. It was unexpectedly fun though. Being a prose person, I’ve never written a spoken word poem before – thanks for pushing me to write my first!

‘I look for the landing’

Stargazer now starship trooper, gliding across galaxies, sifting through sand. stardust. Falling through space my ship burns nitrogen as it pummels the skies. as I Fall back, fall down, fall through.

They say I’ll die, say the crash will kill me, say it’ll end my life But I’m a phoenix. My ashes rise from my urn, and so I look for the burn. Look for the fire of my fall,

Look to smash feetfirst after floating in the skyhigh Look to stay grounded after flights of fancy, of fantasy, of the fantastic.

As I careen back to earth, thrust through the stars, rush back to the world, I know. I know I’ll fly again. Know I’ll rise again, know these ashes will get wings again.

Stargazer now starship trooper, gliding through galaxies, sifting through sand. stardust. Falling through space, my ship. Burns nitrogen as it pummels the skies. as I… Fall back, fall down, fall through. They say I’ll die, say the crash will kill me, say it’ll end my life But I’m a phoenix. My ashes rise from my urn, and so I look for the burn. Look for the fire of my fall, Look to smash feetfirst after floating skyhigh Look to stay grounded after flights of fancy, of fantasy, of the fantastic. As I careen back to earth, thrust through the stars, rush back to the world, I know. I know I’ll fly again. Know I’ll rise again, know these ashes will get wings again. But right now I look for the landing.

Chibuzo, I think you demonstrate a captivating use of imagery here as each ‘scene’ of the piece affects your diction. In the beginning, when the speaker is drifting, words are connected through commas and alliteration allowing the sentence to flow with ease. Later, after the ship explodes, the lines are separated by line breaks and peppered with a repetition of the word ‘fall’ — all while staying within a reasonable amount of words to say in a single breath (this is what made it fun to read out loud). These are some of the reasons as to *why* I think your piece is particularly effective. I’m left wondering what the metaphor is getting at. Well done!!

Thanks a lot for the feedback

Hi everyone, I’m new in writing spoken words. I think I need helping hands. Thanks.

“It goes around but won’t come around”

A fat pointing stomach with fluent touching speeches, I’m sent by God to bless the land with riches, the time is now to gather the pieces, the first of chances, he stole our peace.

He raped our freedom, the speech is now limited, He shamed the kingdom, ethics are now discarded, Regalia flowing, man handsome, criticism is now like hatred, Holding all to Ransome, flying high like a kite and that’s all he ever wanted.

Until the people all rise to repel the delegate of the devil, yes, the one he gave his duties, Until the masses see the reason to wake to civic responsibilities, Until the people tell their stories, the governed must be the one to tell the stories of governance. Hence, the story of governance will always idolize he government.

The taxes, labour, revenue, donations and supports, recovered loots, have always had to go around, If the world is sane enough to bring around whatever has to go around, Here might just be her corridor where nothing has to come around once its allow to go around.

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How to write a poem: 11 prompts to get you into Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department'

Will Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album “The Tortured Poets Department” usher in a new era of poetry appreciation ?

Delaney Atkins, a part-time instructor at Austin Peay State University who teaches a class exploring Swift’s music's connection to Romanticism , hopes this album will help people realize the power of poetry as “one of the purest forms of human expression.”

“Poetry is not a scary thing,” she says. “If it’s something that (Swift) reads and leans into, I’m hopeful that other people will take it as an opportunity to do the same and not be afraid of feeling like they aren’t smart enough or it’s not accessible enough.”

How to write a poem

Ever heard the saying “the best writers are readers”? The first step to writing a poem is figuring out what you like about poetry.

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

Is it imagery? Format? Rhyme? Start by sampling a few poets. Maya Angelou, William Wordsworth, Frank O’Hara, Sylvia Plath and Amanda Gorman are among the greats. Look to your favorite songwriters and ask yourself, "What do I admire about their craft?" Atkins also recommends looking for a poem about a subject you're passionate about.

“I promise you, there’s a poem for everyone,” she says.

Next, decide what you want to write about. Simple as it sounds, this can often be the hardest step for writers. What do you want to say?

Finally, decide how you’re going to write it.

Atkins recommends starting with metaphors and similes , which Swift often employs. Some metaphors are more obvious, like in “Red,” when she sings “Losing him was blue, like I’d never known/Missing him was dark gray, all alone.” She uses a simile when she says “Loving him was like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street.”

If you’re writing about a relationship, ask yourself what it felt like. “This relationship feels like … a burning bridge,” is Atkins's example. You can stick to a single line or make it an extended metaphor with an entire poem about that bridge.

Use imagery, or visually descriptive language, to help tell the story. Look around the room and describe the setting using lofty prose or personify the objects around you. Or create a character and tell their story – think of Swift’s love triangle in the “Betty,” “Cardigan” and “August” trilogy or “No Body, No Crime,” in which she slips into the skin of a vengeance-seeking best friend.

Do poems have to rhyme?

While many of Swift's songs rhyme, it’s not required in poetry.

“There are no rules and that’s a good thing, it’s a freeing thing,” Atkins says. “Take that and run with it – be as creative as possible.”

Review: Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' is hauntingly brilliant

Taylor Swift has always been a member of 'The Tortured Poets Department'

In Atkins’ class, Swift's 10 previous albums are on the syllabus. Some connections to poetry are more overt, like Swift’s reference to English poet William Wordsworth in “The Lakes.”

But Atkins also teaches the motifs and literary devices that Swift uses throughout her discography, like the repetition of rain . In “Fearless” Swift alludes to naively running and dancing in the rain. Later in “Clean” from “1989,” rain is a baptismal metaphor for washing away the addiction of a past relationship. On “Peace,” off of “Folklore,” Swift sings about rain as a manifestation of her anxieties.

She uses the extended metaphor of death and dying in several songs. Atkins points to “dying in secret” in 2009’s “Cold As You” as representative of shame (“And I know you wouldn’t have told nobody if I died, died for you”). In 2020’s “peace” death is a symbol of unconditional love (“All these people think love’s for show/But I would die for you in secret”). She also repeatedly references her death throughout “My Tears Ricochet” – “And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?”

Poem ideas inspired by Taylor Swift

Want to become a “Tortured Poet” yourself? Here are some prompts to kickstart your poetry era.

Use a five-dollar word: Who else could fit “clandestine” and “mercurial” in a song? Use an unexpected word from Swift's work, like “elegies,” “unmoored,” “calamitous,” “ingenue” or “gauche” as a jumping-off point.
Write a poem based on one of the “eras” : Tell a girl-next-door love story based on “Taylor Swift,” a bitter heartbreak for “Red” or the tale of your slandered character for “Reputation.”
Write about your “invisible strings”: The “invisible string theory” hypothesizes that there’s some larger force at work laying the groundwork to lead us to our destinies. In “invisible string,” Swift writes about the path that led her to a romantic partner. Write about your own.
Paint the image of a season: It's tempting to break out your flannels and drive to go leaf-peeping after listening to "All Too Well." In literature, fall often represents change. Pick a season and describe it using imagery – how does that season represent what your poem is about?
Use rain as a metaphor: Take inspiration from Swift's many uses of rain, which sometimes symbolizes losing yourself in a passionate moment but other times indicates a cleansing or sadness.
Take a spin on a classic: Swift invokes classic literature in “Love Story” when she sings “You were Romeo I was a scarlet letter.” How can you put a modern take on classic tropes ?
Retell history: This is precisely what Swift does in “The Last Great American Dynasty” when she tells the story of Rebekah Harkness , a socialite who lived in the Rhode Island house Swift bought in 2013. Who can you use as a muse?
Play with color: A whole essay could be written about Swift's use of the color “blue.” Try out a common color symbol (like blue for sadness, red for passion, green for envy) or flip it on its head entirely and have it represent a new emotion.
Use the year you were born: Swift's “1989” symbolizes her artistic rebirth . Title your poem the year you were born. How can you emerge as a poet reborn?
Random lyric generator: Still stumped? Use this random lyric generator and use that phrase as the theme or first line of your poem. Just make sure to credit Swift if you post it anywhere online.
Write about “The Tortured Poets Department”: What would it look like if it was a real place? Assume the role of Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department and craft your world of punished poets.

Tortured poets: Is Taylor Swift related to Emily Dickinson?

Just Curious for more? We've got you covered.

USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "How to get on BookTok" to "What does 'era' mean?" to "Where to buy cheap books?" – we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you.

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How to Introduce a Poem, Speech & Debate

While poetry, speeches and debates differ greatly in terms of their style and effects, they are all types of verbal expression that are meant to be spoken or performed aloud in front of an audience. Due to this factor, it is essential that you know how to introduce each of them effectively so that your listeners are on the same page as you, and so that they are interested and looking forward to what you will say.

Think of an anecdote or situation from which your poem, speech or debate arises. Think of the details from that story or scenario that are most relevant to the work you will present, and write them down as reminders on the top of your printed speech, poem or debate introduction.

Address your audience immediately and on a personal level when you stand in front of them. Begin with the story or scenario that you have made notes about, and try to tell it in the most compressed and precise way possible so that they understand the ground situation you are working from in your piece or argument. Look at your notes only when and if necessary, and attempt to maintain eye contact with your audience members whenever possible.

State next exactly how this scenario connects to your poem, speech or debate position. For example, if I told a story about a woman I saw once in the grocery store who was denied service because of her elderly age, after telling the story, I would explain to the audience how this connects to what I will present. I might say, "Age discrimination is a huge problem in our current society, and I would like to address this issue further in my speech."

Make your introduction no more than two to three minutes long in order to maintain your audience's attention. Launch as quickly as possible afterward into the body of what you will present.

Things You'll Need

The Introduction Of The Speech

Simone Wood began writing professionally in 2006. Her work has appeared on various websites. She has a Master of Arts in English from the Johns Hopkins University and is pursuing her Ph.D. in literature at the University of North Texas.

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50 Ways to End a Poem

Emily Skaja Has Some Recommendations for Making a Strong Exit

This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter— sign up here .

When T.S. Eliot wrote, “April is the cruelest month,” he was not talking about trying and failing to meet the 30 poems in 30 days National Poetry Month challenge. But you could be forgiven for repeating this phrase ominously to yourself as you start to lose your stride around day 6, staring into your Notes app as you try to decipher what “death as a wall of cornflakes!!!” meant to the 3 AM self who urgently transcribed this line straight from the muse.

As National Poetry Month challenges go, I recommend following Taylor Byas, who publishes a calendar of formal challenges every April. If 30 poems in 30 days still sounds a little daunting, that’s because it is. But to quote Karyna McGlynn in her craft essay from Marbles on the Floor , “You LIKE writing poems, remember??”

As a teacher, I want my students to appreciate that you can find inspiration for a poem anywhere, but giving yourself a few obstacles to work around will help you write this ONE poem rather than every conceivable poem there is. That’s why I created the Poetry Prompt Generator , an online resource for poets that randomizes potential features for a poem. Using a prompt—even if you stray from it—is a great way to kickstart a poem. But how do you finish a poem, especially a problem poem that needs something you can’t yet see?

Ending a poem was something of a mystery to me as an MFA student. My poetic instincts, whatever they were, could not be relied upon to deliver solid gold, and this was distressing to me. I am a Gemini and my rising sign is Scorpio, so I volunteer this as context for my appetite for sustained intensity in poetry. To my dismay, however, I would often start a poem strong and then just peter out at the end, as if awkwardly backing offstage. I remember my former MFA professor Marianne Boruch crossing out the ends of several of my poems and telling me in workshop that I’d overshot my landing. “This part down here is just tacked on, like ‘P.S., Don’t forget the mayonnaise,’” she said.

I became curious about all the possible ways to end a poem. What is the right ending for this particular poem, and how will I know it when I see it? In Adrienne Rich’s tradition of revision as “re-seeing,” I invite the poets I teach to try out as many alternate variations of a poem as possible, to think of revision not as correction but as a remix, a companion to the original.

Presumably, just as there are infinite ways to start a poem, there are infinite ways to finish it and get the hell out of dodge.

These 50 are just the start.

1. End on an image (the classic choice)

2. Use a two-part ending: set yourself up in one line and then kick the door in with the other

3. End with a question, like Hayden : What did I know, what did I know / of love’s austere and lonely offices?

4. End with a dramatic shift in dynamics. Move from run-on to fragment, from concrete to abstract. Turn the volume knob. Introduce yourself to the other margin. Disturb your punctuation. Get breathless or let more air into the poem

5. End with a punchline

6. End with epiphanic closure—suddenly now you see it, lightning strikes the tower of the self, etc.

7. Name something that previously felt difficult to name; call it up out of the darkness

8. End by going back to the beginning (circle back to an image, replicate your syntax, repeat a thesis, return to the start of the story)

9. Leave something out, end mysteriously, or give a little hint and invite the reader to figure it out

10. Find what you said you were looking for, say you’ll keep looking, or announce that you’ve given up looking

11. End with a remix, like the envoi of a sestina —condense and reconfigure your key ideas in a new order

12. End with a reversal: invert the story, flip the power ratio, change the point of view, or literally reverse the poem’s order from the bottom up

13. End with a prophecy or by fulfilling a prophecy

14. Write two endings and let the reader pick their favorite

15. Use a refrain—like the pantoum or duplex , begin and end with the same line

16. End with a non sequitur and make your reader really wonder about you

17. Cut yourself off—perhaps you’ve already written the real ending and it’s a few lines up

18. End with a pattern of three, which makes everything sound lyrical and profound (looking at you, Bob Hass : blackberry, blackberry, blackberry)

19. End in the style of a cento : borrow (but also cite) lines by other poets arranged in a new order

20. Distill your imagery into its essential parts and close out the poem in the compressed style of haiku

21. End with a litany or prayer

22. In a tribute to Márquez , have the last line of the poem carried away by ants

23. Take a look at your first and last lines—are they in the right places? Is your end really your beginning and your beginning really your end (not to get too philosophical or too # Semisonic )?

24. End in the style of a ghazal : refer to yourself by name and end with a patterned rhyme and refrain

25. Try a Hercule Poirot ending: gather all the suspects in the drawing room & rule them out one by one until the least likely ending is left

26. Change the direction of the poem’s gesture—if it’s an internal kind of poem, then gesture outward at the world, or vice versa: go introspective at the end

27. Summarize what has come before, “And so…” or “In short…” or “In other words” or “I said what I said”

28. Change your tone—for example, by making fun of something you may have taken very seriously until now

29. Write an imitation of The Monster at the End of This Book and, like Grover, beg your reader to stop turning pages; promise them they don’t want to know how this ends

30. Let AI, dice, or the n+7 method decide how to end your poem

31. Go ekphrastic —end with the description of a work of art

32. End with the revelation of an important secret

33. End with a pithy piece of wisdom or even (borrowing from Shakespeare) with a smug little proverb in a rhyming couplet

34. Outsource your metaphors and involve dreams, fairy tales, fables, or myths

35. End with an erasure of your own words

36. “Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way”

37. Shape your poem like a monologue in a Shonda Rimes show: first state your metaphor, then fully explain it, then repeat it again vehemently while crying

38. End with existential dread, death, the sun swallowing the earth, other cheerful topics

39. End with a second turn—surprise! Your reader thought they knew where this was going

40. End with rebirth, like Plath’s bees who “ taste the spring ”

41. Disagree with your own conclusions, change your mind, refute what has come before, reject your epiphany

42. Be like Rilke and suddenly confront your reader with “You must change your life”

43. Argue with someone: yourself, someone in the poem already, a new person, a famous person, a secret person, a loved one, a critic, the reader, the world, God, the moon, history

44. Issue an elaborately detailed thousand-year curse upon your enemies

45. Undermine yourself, go Prufrock and say that wasn’t what you meant at all

46. If the poem has been primarily narrative in mode (scene, character, plot, dialogue), end with a lyric strategy (repetition, music, imagery, figurative language)

47. Suggest that your lawyer has redacted your real ending to protect you from going to jail

48. If the poem has been sure of itself up until this point, concede the limits of the speaker and switch it up by introducing the unknown, the unanswerable question or ongoing worry

49. If the poem has been working in unanswerable worries already, switch it up by making the speaker more certain of some insight

50. Refuse to end, resist closure, tell your reader it’s a lifelong poem project and threaten that you’ll see them around

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Figure of Speech

Figure of Speech Definition

What is a figure of speech? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A figure of speech is a literary device in which language is used in an unusual—or "figured"—way in order to produce a stylistic effect. Figures of speech can be broken into two main groups: figures of speech that play with the ordinary meaning of words (such as metaphor , simile , and hyperbole ), and figures of speech that play with the ordinary arrangement or pattern in which words are written (such as alliteration , ellipsis , and antithesis ).

Some additional key details about figures of speech:

The ancient Greeks and Romans exhaustively listed, defined, and categorized figures of speech in order to better understand how to effectively use language. The names of most figures of speech derive from the original Greek or Latin.
Figures of speech that play with the literal meaning of words are called tropes , while figures of speech that play with the order or pattern of words are called schemes .
Figures of speech can take many forms. A figure of speech can involve a single word, a phrase, an omission of a word or phrase, a repetition of words or sounds, or specific sentence structures.

Figure of Speech Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce figure of speech: fig -yer of speech

Figures of Speech vs. Figurative Language

There's a lot of confusion about the difference between the terms "figures of speech" and " figurative language ." Most of the confusion stems from the fact that different people often use "figurative language" to mean slightly different things. The two most common (and most acceptable) definitions of figurative language are:

Figurative language refers to any language that contains figures of speech. According to this definition, figurative language and figures of speech are not quite the same thing, but it's pretty darn close. The only difference is that figures of speech refer to each specific type of a figure of speech, while figurative language refers more generally to any language that contains any kind of figures of speech.
Figurative language refers to words or expressions that have non-literal meanings : This definition associates figurative language only with the category of figures of speech called tropes (which are figures of speech that play with the literal meaning of words). So according to this definition, figurative language would be any language that contains tropes, but not language that contains the figures of speech called schemes.

You might encounter people using figurative speech to mean either of the above, and it's not really possible to say which is correct. But if you know about these two different ways of relating figurative language and figures of speech, you'll be in pretty good shape.

Figures of Speech, Tropes, and Schemes

The oldest and still most common way to organize figures of speech is to split them into two main groups: tropes and schemes.

Tropes are figures of speech that involve a deviation from the expected and literal meaning of words.
Schemes are figures of speech that involve a deviation from the typical mechanics of a sentence, such as the order, pattern, or arrangement of words.

The scheme/trope classification system is by no means the only way to organize figures of speech (if you're interested, you can find all sorts of different categorization methods for figures of speech here ). But it is the most common method, and is both simple and structured enough to help you understand figures of speech.

Generally, a trope uses comparison, association, or wordplay to play with the literal meaning of words or to layer another meaning on top of a word's literal meaning. Some of the most commonly used tropes are explained briefly below, though you can get even more detail on each from its specific LitCharts entry.

Metaphor : A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unrelated things by stating that one thing is another thing, even though this isn't literally true. For example, if someone says "it's raining cats and dogs," this obviously doesn't literally mean what it says—it's a metaphor that makes a comparison between the weight of "cats and dogs" and heavy rain. Metaphors are tropes because their effect relies not on the mechanics of the sentence, but rather on the association created by the use of the phrase "cats and dogs" in a non-literal manner.
Simile : A simile, like a metaphor, makes a comparison between two unrelated things. However, instead of stating that one thing is another thing (as in metaphor), a simile states that one thing is like another thing. To stick with cats and dogs, an example of a simile would be to say "they fought like cats and dogs."
Oxymoron : An oxymoron pairs contradictory words in order to express new or complex meanings. In the phrase "parting is such sweet sorrow" from Romeo and Juliet , "sweet sorrow" is an oxymoron that captures the complex and simultaneous feelings of pain and pleasure associated with passionate love. Oxymorons are tropes because their effect comes from a combination of the two words that goes beyond the literal meanings of those words.
Hyperbole : A hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration of the truth, used to emphasize the importance of something or to create a comic effect. An example of a hyperbole is to say that a backpack "weighs a ton." No backpack literally weighs a ton, but to say "my backpack weighs ten pounds" doesn't effectively communicate how burdensome a heavy backpack feels. Once again, this is a trope because its effect comes from understanding that the words mean something different from what they literally say.

Other Common Tropes

Antanaclasis
Onomatopoeia
Personification
Periphrasis
Rhetorical Question

Schemes are mechanical—they're figures of speech that tinker with words, sounds, and structures (as opposed to meanings) in order to achieve an effect. Schemes can themselves be broken down in helpful ways that define the sort of tinkering they employ.

Repetition: Repeating words, phrases, or even sounds in a particular way.
Omission: Leaving out certain words or punctuation that would normally be expected.
Changes of word order: Shifting around words or phrases in atypical ways.
Balance: Creating sentences or phrases with equal parts, often through the use of identical grammatical structures.

Some of the most commonly used schemes are explained briefly below, though you can get even more detail on each from its specific LitCharts entry.

Alliteration : In alliteration, the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “ B ob b rought the b ox of b ricks to the b asement.” Alliteration uses repetition to create a musical effect that helps phrases to stand out from the language around them.
Assonance : A scheme in which vowel sounds repeat in nearby words, such as the "ee" sound in the proverb: "the squ ea ky wh ee l gets the gr ea se." Like alliteration, assonance uses repeated sounds to create a musical effect in which words echo one another—it's a scheme because this effect is achieved through repetition of words with certain sounds, not by playing with the meaning of words.
Ellipsis : The deliberate omission of one or more words from a sentence because their meaning is already implied. In the example, "Should I call you, or you me?" the second clause uses ellipsis. While its implication is "or should you call me," the context of the sentence allows for the omission of "should" and "call." Ellipsis is a scheme because it involves an uncommon usage of language.
Parallelism : The repetition of sentence structure for emphasis and balance. This can occur in a single sentence, such as "a penny saved is a penny earned," and it can also occur over the course of a speech, poem, or other text. Parallelism is a scheme because it creates emphasis through the mechanics of sentence structure, rather than by playing with the actual meanings of words.

Other Common Schemes

Anadiplosis
Antimetabole
Brachylogia
Epanalepsis
Parenthesis
Polysyndeton

Figure of Speech Examples

Figures of speech can make language more inventive, more beautiful, more rhythmic, more memorable, and more meaningful. It shouldn't be a surprise, then, that figures of speech are plentiful in all sorts of written language. The examples below show a variety of different types of figures of speech. You can see many more examples of each type at their own specific LitChart entries.

Figures of Speech Examples in Literature

Literature is riddled with figures of speech because figures of speech make language colorful and complex.

Metaphor in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca

On and on, now east now west, wound the poor thread that once had been our drive. Sometimes I thought it lost, but it appeared again, beneath a fallen tree perhaps, or struggling on the other side of a muddied ditch created by the winter rains.

In this quote from Rebecca , Daphne du Maurier refers to a washed-out road as "the poor thread." This is a metaphor —and a trope—because the writer indirectly compares the thread to the road and expects that readers will understand that "thread" is not used literally.

Parallelism in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

In the famous opening line of A Tale of Two Cities , Dickens uses parallelism —a scheme in which parts of a sentence repeat—in order to emphasize the contradictions of the time in which the book is set. Dickens has manipulated his sentence structure so that the parallel clauses emphasize the oppositional nature of his words ("it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"). The figure of speech doesn't play with the meaning of words, it emphasizes them through structure and repetition, which is why it is a scheme.

Alliteration in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark"

In this manner, s electing it as the s ymbol of his wife's liability to s in, s orrow, d ecay, and d eath, Aylmer's s ombre imagination was not long in rendering the birthmark a frightful object, causing him more trouble and horror than ever Georgiana's beauty, whether of s oul or s ense, had given him delight.

This passage from " The Birthmark " uses alliteration to tie together all of the things that Georgiana's birthmark is supposed to symbolize. By using words that alliterate—"sin and sorrow" and "decay and death," for example—Hawthorne is making the reader feel that these ideas are connected, rather than simply stating that they are connected. Alliteration is a figure of speech—a scheme—because it uses the mechanics of language to emphasize meaning.

Verbal Irony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men,

This quote from Julius Caesar comes from Marc Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral. Antony needs to hold Brutus and his conspirators accountable for Caesar's death without contradicting the crowd's positive impression of Brutus, so Antony uses verbal irony to simultaneously please and trouble the crowd. On the surface, Antony says what the audience wants to hear (that Brutus is honorable), but it becomes clear over the course of his speech that he means the opposite of what he says (and over time he convinces the audience to believe this opposite meaning as well). This is a figure of speech (a trope) because it's based on a play on the meaning of Antony's words.

Figures of Speech Examples in Music

Figures of speech are also common in music. Schemes fit naturally with songs because both schemes and songs manipulate sound and rhythm to enhance the meanings of words. Music also uses many tropes, because using words that have meanings beyond their literal ones makes language more interesting, and it allows songwriters to create music that uses just a few words to imply a complex meaning.

Assonance and Metaphor in Rihanna's "Diamonds"

So sh ine br igh t ton igh t, you and I We're beautiful l i ke d i amonds in the sk y Eye to eye , so al i ve We're beautiful l i ke d i amonds in the sk y

Rihanna uses assonance when she repeats the " eye " sound throughout the chorus of "Diamonds." This make the words echo one another, which emphasizes the similarity between the singer, the person she's talking about, and the "diamonds in the sky" to which she's comparing them both. Assonance is a scheme because it's using the sound of words—not their meaning—to draw a parallel between different things.

Rihanna also uses the phrase "Diamonds in the sky" as a metaphor for stars. This is a trope—a phrase that means something other than what it literally says—as Rihanna obviously doesn't think that there are actually diamonds in the sky. This verse is a good example of how figures of speech can often work together and overlap. In this case, the metaphor that allows her to use "diamonds" instead of "stars" also fits into her use of assonance (because "stars" lacks the "eye" sound).

Personification in Green Day's "Good Riddance"

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

While the first line of this song uses "a fork stuck in the road" as a metaphor for a choice, the more arresting figure of speech at work here is the personification of time in the second line. By giving "time" human characteristics—the ability to grab a person and tell them where to go—Green Day is helping listeners to make sense of the power that time has over people. This is a trope because the line doesn't mean what it literally says; instead, it's asking listeners to make a comparison between the characteristics of time and the characteristics of a person.

Anastrophe in Public Enemy's "Fight the Power"

Straight up racist that sucker was Simple and plain

In the line "Straight up racist that sucker was," Public Enemy uses anastrophe (which is the inversion of typical word order) to preserve the rhythm of the verse. Instead of saying "That sucker was straight up racist," Public Enemy chooses an odd phrasing that has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables— " ra cist that su cker was/ Sim ple and plain ." This way, the beat falls more regularly across those two lines, which allows the rapper to make his point (that Elvis was racist) without the flow sounding awkward. Since anastrophe manipulates the order of words in order to achieve a rhythmic effect, it's a scheme.

Why Do Writers Use Figures of Speech?

Figures of speech is a category that encompasses a broad variety of literary terms, so it's difficult to give one answer to this question. Writers use different figures of speech to achieve different effects.

Schemes (figures of speech that manipulate sound, syntax, and word order) can make language more beautiful, persuasive, or memorable. Writers can use schemes to draw attention to an important passage, to create a sound that mirrors (or contrasts with) the meaning of words, or to give language a rhythm that draws the reader in. As schemes tend to work through sound and rhythm, they generally produce a visceral effect, or an effect felt in the body—broadly speaking, schemes are more sensory than intellectual.

In contrast, writers use tropes to grab the reader intellectually by adding complexity or ambiguity to an otherwise simple word or phrase. Tropes can ask the reader to make a comparison between two unlike things, they can impose human qualities on nonhumans, and they can mean the opposite of what they say. Tropes engage the intellect because the reader has to be alert to the fact that tropes do not use language at face value—a trope never means what it literally says.

All figures of speech help a writer to communicate ideas that are difficult to say in words or that are more effectively communicated non-verbally. This could be by repeating harsh consonants to create a scary atmosphere, or by using a metaphor to impose the qualities of something concrete (say, a rose) onto something more difficult to define (say, love). In general, figures of speech attempt to bring out a reader's emotion and to capture their attention by making language more colorful, surprising, and complex.

Other Helpful Figure of Speech Resources

Silva Rhetoricae on Figures of Speech : An excellent reference from BYU that explains the various ways that figures of speech have been categorized over history, including into schemes and tropes.
Silva Rhetoricae on schemes and tropes :
The Oxford Reference Page for Figure of Speech : A helpful definition of figures of speech in the context of the ancient study of rhetoric (did you know that the Roman rhetorician Quintillian defined "figure of speech" in 95 AD?)
What Are Tropes in Language? Skip to the "Distinction Between Figures and Tropes" section and read to the end—full of informative and thought-provoking discussion about tropes.
A YouTube video about tropes and schemes with pop culture examples.

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Figure of Speech

PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
Downloads of 1913 LitCharts Lit Guides
Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
Explanations and citation info for 40,305 quotes across 1913 books
Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play
Alliteration
Climax (Figure of Speech)
Figurative Language
Parallelism
Verbal Irony
Climax (Plot)
Internal Rhyme
Falling Action
Characterization
Red Herring
Deus Ex Machina
Blank Verse
Flat Character

Condolences & What To Say

How to Write an Elegy for Beginners: Step-By-Step

Updated 06/7/2022

Published 04/3/2020

Belinda McLeod, BA in Secondary Education

Contributing writer

Follow these easy steps to write an elegy about a loved one, and read some examples for inspiration.

Cake values integrity and transparency. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible. We also may earn commission from purchases made through affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more in our affiliate disclosure .

As you prepare to write an elegy for someone who passed away, stop for a moment and consider if you meant to look up instructions on how to write an elegy or a eulogy . These two words are often confused.

ump ahead to these sections:

Step 1: read some examples of elegies, step 2: choose a format, step 3: brainstorm your message, step 4: write, edit, and rewrite, elegy examples.

An elegy is a sad poem or song about someone who died. A eulogy is a speech that is usually given at someone’s funeral, praising that individual’s life and accomplishments.

Do you still want instructions on how to write an elegy? If so, keep reading and kudos to you. Few people attempt to express their feelings of grief and sorrow creatively. Keep reading to receive some help with your emotional project.

Before you attempt to do something that you have never done before, it’s a good idea to seek advice and examples from a professional. That’s why cooking shows and YouTube “how-to” videos are so popular. It’s easier to do something once you’ve seen it done.

Writing is no different. If you want to write a poem or music to honor someone you lost, read some elegies written by professionals. Here are some to consider.

“On My First Sonne” by Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson wrote at the same time as William Shakespeare. This poem is about the death of Johnson’s eldest son, who died when he was seven. It is incredibly poignant and is an excellent example of someone using poetry to express emotions.

“In Memoriam A.H.H.” by Lord Alfred Tennyson

When you look up this poem, you will see that Tennyson had a lot to say about his dear friend who died.

This poem has the often-quoted line, “tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.”

“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain! My Captain!” upon hearing about the death of Abraham Lincoln. You will notice that he compares Lincoln to the captain of a ship instead of referring to him as president. Feel free to use such imagery in your poem.

“A Part Song” by Denise Riley

We don’t want you to think that elegies are a dying art. They are used by people today to work through difficult emotions. Denise Riley, a modern poet, wrote “A Part Song” after losing her adult son.

Are you a fan of poetry? Do you enjoy poems that have regular rhyme and rhythm, such as Elizabethan sonnets? Or do you prefer narrative poetry that tells a story? Maybe you like Japanese haiku. Some like the free verse associated with Walt Whitman.

An elegy, or any funeral poem , can be written in any format, such as a ballad, ode, or epic. Elegies don’t have to be written in any specific form at all. So how do you choose what type of poem to write?

Think about your personal preference. Before you begin writing your elegy, consider the examples you read and the poetry you prefer. If you like working with a particular rhyme scheme or rhythm, this will give you a place to begin.

Think about your poem’s message. Do you want to tell a story about your loved one who died? Or do you want to express the emotions you’re feeling? Your message may help you choose the right format for your elegy.

Think about the type of relationship you had with the deceased. An elegy written to a grandparent may have a more formal tone and rigid rhyme scheme compared with an elegy written for a spouse.

Think about whether or not you are putting your words to music. If you choose to write a song from your elegy, you may need to work under the rhythm and cadence of the tune.

Are you staring at the flashing cursor on your computer screen or the empty piece of paper in front of you? Some people find it intimidating to write poetry, even if they feel they need the outlet to express pent-up emotions.

If you are suffering from writer’s block, consider going for a walk. Leave your earbuds at home. Think about the person you lost. Let words, phrases, and emotions seep into your subconscious.

As soon as you return to your computer or blank piece of paper, write down some words or phrases that came to you.

Still struggling? Write a list of adjectives that you would use to describe your loved one. Write down snippets of stories that show why those descriptive words were chosen.

You may also consider writing an epitaph for the deceased. Even though your poem may be as long as you wish, thinking about what you would write if you only had a limited amount of space may help you get to the essence of the person faster.

The most important thing in this part of the process is to get words on paper. Don’t worry if they’re perfect.

You’ve chosen your format based on your personal preferences and your poem’s message. You’ve thought about your relationship with the deceased. Now it is time to write.

Tell what was unique about the person you lost. Describe how losing that person makes you feel. Consider adding consoling words, similar to Tennyson’s famous example from above. Most elegies have a sad tone, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share a happy memory.

Once you have a draft of a poem, let it sit awhile. Most professional writers complete a series of rewrites and edits before they’re happy with their work. Take a clue from your high school English teacher: there’s no such thing as writing. There’s only good rewriting.

Have a few people read your work and ask for feedback. You may want to seek advice from online poetry communities. Ask others who knew the person to give feedback as well. Take the advice you like and leave the rest. Even if others have an idea for a stronger verb or another story to include, you’re the poet. You decide how the poem reads in the end.

Don’t feel intimidated about writing an elegy. Anyone can do it. Here are some samples written by amateur poets to get you started.

“To My Dear Angel” by John F. Connor

To my dear angel in heaven, I just want to let you know That you are always in my thoughts And that I love you so.

This poet uses 4-lined stanzas and a specific rhyming pattern. This poet is expressing his emotions without giving any specific details regarding the person who died.

“Our Lives Go On” by Anonymous

Our lives go on without you But nothing is the same. We have to hide our heartache When someone speaks your name.

Here’s another example of a four-stanza poem with a particular rhyme scheme. If you have lost someone close to you, you’re probably familiar with the heartache described in this poem.

“I Am Grateful For You” by Anonymous

I am grateful for the day we met even though you couldn’t stay.

I am grateful for the memories Even when they make me cry.

I am grateful for the loved shared Even though now at a distance.

I am grateful for the time we had Even though it was too short.

This non-rhyming poem is written with two-lined stanzas. Each stanza begins with the words, “I am grateful.” You may consider choosing a similar format for your elegy.

“The Long Lines in the Grain Truck” by Anonymous

When I think of you, I think of white, soft forearms scarred with a vaccine from decades before Those arms controlling several tons of truck and grain. Soft but strong.

This poem is written in free verse. It tells of a specific memory instead of discussing emotions.

“Follow Me” by Anonymous

We couldn’t hear her because of the thunder and the blasting rock rhythms and loud horns. All we could see was her blonde bob as she danced toward the stage. Others had sought shelter from the downpour, but she sought an opportunity to have closer seats. We followed, and we will follow.

This is another poem written in free verse. Elegies don’t have to have a formal, rigid format.

Expressing Your Emotions

You’ve seen some examples of elegies written by published poets and amateurs. You have the steps to write your own elegy. Now, all you need to do is sit down and do it.

Writing can be a cathartic experience. It helps you work through fear, anxiety, sorrow, and loss. You can share your writing with others by speaking at your loved one’s funeral , or you can write something that no one else will ever see.

Take comfort in the process.

35+ Short Poems Fit for Obituaries or Death Announcements

How to Write a Professional Thank You Letter (Examples)

12 Ways to Support a Family in Mourning From a Long Distance

45 Non-Traditional Celebration of Life Readings & Poem Ideas

Virginia Gazette Opinion | Building a bigger table for spoken word poetry

Virginia Gazette

Virginia gazette opinion.

Lacroy Nixon, founder and director of Slam Connection, a spoken word poetry collective based in Williamsburg. Courtesy of Slam Connection

April 16 was B.Y.O.P. night at Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle’s monthly gathering. Everyone was invited to Bring Your Own Poem to observe National Poetry Month, which was established to encourage reading, teaching and writing poetry.

Our special guest was Lacroy Nixon, founder and director of Slam Connection, a relatively new spoken word poetry collective based in Williamsburg.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. The major difference between poetry and spoken word poetry is that spoken word poetry, or “slam poetry,” is meant to be performed, Nixon explained as he began his presentation.

I thought about Amanda Gorman, the young poet laureate who captured the hearts of millions of people when she recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” during President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration. Weeks later, her poem would be published in a book titled “The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country,” followed by a best-selling collection of her poems.

Gorman’s success caused people to look at poetry differently. Spoken word poetry has gained popularity nationwide, particularly in Virginia. Nixon attributes this to several factors, including the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic hits and we can’t go to open mics. Everything came to a standstill. So now people are looking for avenues to come together again. Slam poetry is empowering because it provides a creative way to think and express thoughts and frustrations in a positive way,” said Nixon, who goes by the stage name “Atlas.”

Lacroy Nixon performing. Courtesy of Slam Connection.

Like Gorman, Nixon is 26 years old and a force to be reckoned with. His poetry is reflective and powerfully delivered. A 2015 graduate of Warhill High School, he also graduated from Liberty University with a degree in graphic design in 2020. He had planned to join a creative consulting firm to design logos and brands for major companies. Slam poetry was an accidental profession.

“We started a year ago,” he said. “My team and I were looking for a way to change the community by using spoken word poetry and different forms of verbal art as a means for community action.”

In addition to competing in spoken word competitions, Nixon teaches young people about poetry writing and performance. Through Slam Connection, he has developed a curriculum certified by Writers Guild of Virginia, offers a spoken word poetry program at Warhill High School and hosts workshops and a quarterly open mic series at the Williamsburg Regional Library.

At the Coming to the Table meeting, Nixon was joined by Breanna Dobson, a fellow poet. They treated us to two poems. Nixon’s poem, titled “Spooky Stuff,” had a civil rights theme, while Dobson’s poem, “Barbie,” dealt with perceptions of women’s bodies and role expectations.

After a brief Q&A period, it was time for Coming to the Table leaders and members to share their favorite poems.

I chose a poem by renowned Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. In his famous poem “Mother to Son,” Hughes compares the challenges of life to trudging up a flight of stairs. Written in African American dialect, it depicts a mother describing her journey to overcome life’s obstacles and encouraging her son to persevere.

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor — Bare. But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So, boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps. ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now — For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was noted for referencing themes of “Mother to Son” in his speeches as he inspired our nation to advance forward, rather than backward. Still a timeless message for today.

When we come together to build a more welcoming and inclusive community, we all win!

Laura D. Hill is the executive director of the Virginia Racial Healing Institute, which manages Coming to the Table-Historic Triangle. Learn more about her work at varacialhealinginstitute.org .

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For National Poetry Month, tell NPR about a poem that's changed your life

Suzanne Nuyen

Quill pen and inkwell background concept for literature, writing, author and history

The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996 to celebrate the role of poets and poetry in American culture. Since then, it's become one of the largest literary celebrations in the world.

This year, NPR wants to know about the poems and poets that have shaped your life. Have you read a poet who changed your outlook on life? Has a poem stuck with you over the years, or brought you pure joy? Perhaps you are a poet yourself. Tell us about how poetry has impacted your life, and you could be featured in an upcoming edition of the Up First newsletter.

Subscribe to the newsletter to see your answers and get the news you need to start your day.

With your responses, please tell us your first and last name, age and where you're from. Please share a voice recording of yourself reading a poem if you'd like.

We will be accepting responses until 8 a.m. ET on April 25.

Your submission will be governed by our general Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . As the Privacy Policy says, we want you to be aware that there may be circumstances in which the exemptions provided under law for journalistic activities or freedom of expression may override privacy rights you might otherwise have.

Unknown CS Lewis poem on whisky and warm blankets discovered

The Narnia author wrote the playful 12-line verse to thank friends for their hospitality 60 years ago – and it has only now been published

CS Lewis sitting behind a paper-strewn desk, smiling with a cigarette in hand, wearing a three-piece tweed suit, seen in black and white

A previously-unknown poem by CS Lewis, in which he finds inspiration in whisky, warm blankets and the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, has been discovered.

The Chronicles of Narnia author wrote the 12-line alliterative poem in 1935, on notepaper from Magdalen College, Oxford, where he taught.

His passionate interest in Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is reflected in the title, Mód Þrýþe Ne Wæg, the pen name he used, Nat Whilk, and the word “Þrýþ” in the second line.

It was a thank-you poem from one medievalist to another who would have understood the language and the allusions to Beowulf, through the style in which the verse epic was written and its metre.

Lewis wrote the poem after visiting the Manchester home of Dr Ida Lilian Gordon, a specialist in Medieval English and Old Norse, and her husband, Eric Valentine Gordon, a professor of English language.

The couple were also good friends with JRR Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings author. The poem casts light on the friendships between these fantasy writers and medievalists.

The original manuscript, in Lewis's handwriting

Thanking the Gordons for his overnight stay, Lewis wrote: “…Talk was kindly,/ Whetted with whiskey. The white blanket,/ Winter’s weaving, worked about us/ Till the house was hush’d, the hearth brighter,/ And bed-time better…”

Written in black ink, it had been overlooked among documents relating to Tolkien and the Gordons acquired by the University of Leeds a decade ago.

It has now been discovered by Dr Andoni Cossio, of the University of the Basque Country and the University of Glasgow, who spotted it while doing some research.

He told The Telegraph: “The discovery of this hidden treasure made me feel elated. I was astonished to find that this poem doesn’t appear in any of [Lewis’s] collected works.

“The excitement mostly comes from the fact that it is difficult to find new works from these writers, especially because people have mined the archives, searching for these kinds of things. Normally we get letters or other documents, but not poetry or literary works…

“Lewis published many poems in modern English which adapt Old English metre – The Nameless Isle is a good example… [The poems used] just an adapted Old English metre, not words.

“He signed other poems under the pen name Nat Whilk though… This confirms that, by 1935, he already had good knowledge and command of this … adaptation of this Old English metre in which Beowulf was written.”

Dr Cossio said: “It had everything I could wish for – biographical details, Old English, alliterative metre, and Lewis’s writing at its best… It had passed completely unnoticed…

“It was kept by the Gordons, then by their daughter, until she sold the collection of letters and different manuscripts that are now at Leeds. So this has been hidden from the public eye. Nobody, except the Gordons, had seen this literary work by Lewis.”

Playful references to Beowulf

He added that the poem’s Old English title is complicated to translate and involves playful references to Beowulf, which Lewis taught at Oxford.

Dr Cossio said: “Þrýþ, according to Lewis and Tolkien, is the name of Offa’s evil queen in the Beowulf poem… Mód Þrýþe Ne Wæg is translated very poetically within the poem by Lewis as ‘whose heart knows not the temper of Þrýþ’, which means that Ida Gordon is the exact opposite of Þrýþ, that she was a good human being.”

Lewis’s use of the pen name Nat Whilk was “a modernised version of the Old English nāt-hwylc ̇, meaning “someone” or, in this case, simply “anonymous”.

In his critical commentary in the Journal of Inklings Studies, Dr Cossio writes: “ For Tolkien, Lewis and their circle, poetry was a way to explore their shared love of language and lore, and to develop their own writing. The thing I like most about this poem is that it opens a little door to that world.”

He adds that, while Tolkien wrote the Gordons an Old English bridal song as a wedding present in 1930, Lewis’s friendship with the couple has been overlooked until now: “It is plain from the content of the poem and the invitation to stay overnight at the Gordons’ that both wife and husband were more than acquaintances…

“However, there is no trace of their friendship in Lewis’s published biographical details or letters…

“In contrast, it is well recorded that Lewis and Tolkien became friends at Oxford and started an informal society of writers called ‘The Inklings’, which met weekly to read and comment on its members’ work – a key part of the development of Narnia and Middle-earth.”

‘We tend to associate Beowulf with Tolkien’

Simon Horobin, professor of English Language and Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, and author of the forthcoming book CS Lewis’s Oxford, said: “We tend to associate Beowulf with Tolkien rather than Lewis, given his famous lecture The Monsters and the Critics… But this new discovery reminds us that Lewis was also immersed in the poem.

“I’ve recently come across translations of extracts from Beowulf that Lewis made when teaching it to his students, which show him thinking carefully about the poem’s style and meaning.

“In CS Lewis’s Oxford, I talk about Lewis’s late-night ‘Beer and Beowulf’ sessions which he held at Magdalen , at which students recited the poem aloud and drank beer from the barrel Lewis kept in his rooms.

“Tolkien was an occasional visitor to these meetings, offering insights into the poem’s wider contexts and competing with Lewis in blowing smoke rings.”

Sarah Prescott, literary archivist in Special Collections at the University of Leeds, said: “We’re very excited to now be able to say we have an original CS Lewis poem in our collections.”

News of the discovery comes as an exhibition, CS Lewis: Words and Worlds, is due to open at Magdalen College on April 24.

JRR Tolkien,
University of Oxford
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Taylor Swift Makes 'Temporary Insanity’ Plea in Tortured Poets Poem: ‘It’s the Worst Men That I Write Best'

In a "summary poem," Swift — who dropped her highly anticipated album on April 19 — writes about going from "a restricted humanity" to a period of "chaos"

Melody Chiu is an Executive Editor at PEOPLE overseeing music, events and emerging content. She has been with the brand since 2009, editing, writing and reporting across all entertainment verticals. She has written cover stories on Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Melissa McCarthy, Blake Shelton, Jordan Turpin and Sandra Oh. The Los Angeles native graduated from the University of Southern California and has appeared on Extra! , The Talk, Access Hollywood and Good Morning America .

Beth Garrabrant

Taylor Swift continues to wear her heart on her sleeve.

After announcing her latest album The Tortured Poets Department onstage at the Grammys in February , the superstar gave fans a peek at her new work with what had appeared at the time to be song lyrics.

"And so I enter into evidence/ My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs/ My veins of pitch black ink," Swift, 34, posted on Feb. 4.

As she dropped the album on April 19, fans learned the words were actually the final lines of a "summary poem" accompanying Tortured Poets titled "In Summation."

"As you might all unfortunately recall / I had been struck with a case of a restricted humanity / Which explains my plea here today of temporary insanity," Swift writes in the poem.

She goes on to allude to herself as a "caged beast" who entered a period of "chaos" after earning her freedom following a years-long romance .

"And so I was out of the oven and into the microwave / Out of the slammer and into a tidal wave," she writes, seemingly referencing her brief relationship with musician Matty Healy after her breakup with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn .

Throughout the album, Swift bares her emotions — ranging from longing to anger to heartbreak, and more — as she untangles everything she went through in her personal life during a huge period of upheaval.

While she's rarely confirmed who her music is inspired by, Swift remains vulnerable on Tortured Poets , making unmistakable references to her relationships as she shares her story.

"A smirk creeps onto this poet's face / Because it's the worst men that I write best," she writes in her summary poem.

During her Melbourne tour stop earlier this year, Swift opened up about Tortured Poets after delivering a moving performance of "You're Losing Me," which fans believe was inspired by the breakdown of her relationship with Alwyn.

Teasing her bonus track "The Bolter," Swift told the crowd her latest work was something that she "needed" to make.

"It was really a lifeline for me — just the things that I was going through, the things that I was writing about ... it kind of reminded me why songwriting actually gets me through my life," she said. "I've never had an album that I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets ."

Read PEOPLE"s review of The Tortured Poets Department and dive deeper into the album's deeply personal lyrics , call-outs and more .

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6 Tips for Using Poetry in a Speech
Writing a speech on top of actually performing it in public can be super scary and intimidating, but it gets easier once you think of a speech as an epic spoken word poem. Check out our tip guide for getting over some of those spoken word nerves. Most speeches actually use the same literary devices you already use in tons of your poetry.
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Nonetheless, if you're new to writing poetry or want to explore a different writing process, try your hand at our approach. Here's how to write a poem step by step! 1. Devise a Topic. The easiest way to start writing a poem is to begin with a topic. However, devising a topic is often the hardest part.
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Well, for starter, a poem can really serve as a highlight of a speech, breaking the usual monotony. It adds a fresher element to the speech, and helps to capture the audience's attention better. Poetry can also be a very good reference point in your speech. By adding a familiar poem to the audience, the speaker can help the audience ...
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Let your mind wander for 5-10 minutes and see what you can come up with. Write to a prompt. Look up poem prompts online or come up with your own, like "what water feels like" or "how it feels to get bad news.". Write down whatever comes to mind and see where it takes you. Make a list or mind map of images.
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Tips: Present yourself well and be attentive. Use good posture. Be confident and make a direct connection with the audience. Nervous gestures and lack of confidence will detract from your score. Relax and be natural. Enjoy your poem—the judges will notice. Qualities of a strong recitation: Ease and comfort with the audience.
How to Write a Poem: A Simple Guide for Beginners
Take a walk in nature and observe your surroundings. Listen to music or read poetry for inspiration. Keep a journal and jot down your thoughts and observations. Attend a poetry reading or open mic night for inspiration and community. Remember, inspiration can come from anywhere, so be open to new experiences and ideas.
Guide to Prosody
Note: while most meters are composed in just one kind of foot per line, poets frequently vary the prescribed rhythm. For English prosody, a good rule of thumb is to count the number of beats (stresses) per line. One foot. is called. monometer (pronounced "mo-NAW-muh-ter") Two. dimeter (pronounced "DI-muh-ter") Three.
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whatever sound or smell or color. swells up, makes your throat. fill with unsaid tears, whatever threatens to ignite your hair, your eyelashes, if you get too close—. write that. Suck it in and quickly. shape it with your tongue. before you grow too afraid of it.
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Use literary devices like similes and metaphors to add depth to your poem. Try different forms like sonnets or free verse to find what best suits your message. Edit your work by reading aloud and changing words for the strongest impact. Join a writing community, seek mentorship from published poets, and keep practicing.
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Poets use figures of speech in their poems. Several types of figures of speech exist for them to choose from. Five common ones are simile, metaphor, personification, hypberbole, and understatement. Simile. A simile compares one thing to another by using the words like or as. Read Shakespeare's poem "Sonnet 130.".
Lesson 12: Figures of Speech in Poetry
Poets use figures of speech in their poems. Several types of figures of speech exist for them to choose from. Five common ones are simile, metaphor, personification, hypberbole, and understatement. Simile. A simile compares one thing to another by using the words like or as. Read Shakespeare's poem "Sonnet 130.". Sonnet 130.
Poetry
Terms Related to Poetry - Figures of Speech figurative language - language that is used to mean some other or something more than it says; language that is used in a non-literal way. figures of speech - various ways speech is used figuratively. simile - a comparison using the word like or as. metaphor - a direct comparison or equivalence
12 Elements of Poetry Every Poet Needs to Know
Of course, a collection of rhymes does not a poem make. While some poems don't use any rhyme at all, almost every piece of verse has a keen sense of rhythm. 2. Meter. Meter is the basic structure of a line of poetry, whereby stressed and unstressed syllables are used in a predetermined way to create rhythm. In a sense, it's the heartbeat of ...
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Let's do this. Here are four steps to writing spoken word: 1. Tell a Story. If you've never written spoken word before, you might feel overwhelmed, unsure where to start. But this type of writing isn't as foreign as you might think.
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Let loose your heart—. raise your voice. What if I have many voices? Let them dance together. twist and turn. like best friends. in a maze. til you find. your way.
How to write a poem: 11 prompts to get you into Taylor Swift's
Here are some prompts to kickstart your poetry era. Use a five-dollar word: Who else could fit "clandestine" and "mercurial" in a song? Use an unexpected word from Swift's work, like ...
How to Introduce a Poem, Speech & Debate
Step 1. Think of an anecdote or situation from which your poem, speech or debate arises. Think of the details from that story or scenario that are most relevant to the work you will present, and write them down as reminders on the top of your printed speech, poem or debate introduction.
How to Write a Poem
Hush. Grab a pencil. some paper. spunk. Let loose your heart—. raise your voice. What if I have many voices? Let them dance together. twist and turn.
Figure of Speech Definition and Examples
For example: "His girlfriend is a princess.". Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates a real sound. For example "boom" or "hiss.". Parallelism: the use of similar structures in two or more clauses. For example: "that's one giant step for man, one giant leap for mankind.". Idiom: a common phrase with a non-literal meaning.
50 Ways to End a Poem ‹ Literary Hub
Disturb your punctuation. Get breathless or let more air into the poem. 5. End with a punchline. 6. End with epiphanic closure—suddenly now you see it, lightning strikes the tower of the self, etc. 7. Name something that previously felt difficult to name; call it up out of the darkness. 8.
Figure of Speech
A figure of speech is a literary device in which language is used in an unusual—or "figured"—way in order to produce a stylistic effect. Figures of speech can be broken into two main groups: figures of speech that play with the ordinary meaning of words (such as metaphor, simile, and hyperbole ), and figures of speech that play with the ...
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Step 1: Read Some Examples of Elegies. Step 2: Choose a Format. Step 3: Brainstorm Your Message. Step 4: Write, Edit, and Rewrite. Elegy Examples. An elegy is a sad poem or song about someone who died. A eulogy is a speech that is usually given at someone's funeral, praising that individual's life and accomplishments.
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6. Write the Closing Line

7. Edit, Edit, Edit!

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The Power of Poetry in Speeches

Why Use Poetry in a Public Speech

How to Use Poetry in A Public Speech

1. Choose the right poem

2. Have a plan

3. Speak like a poet

4. Don’t think too much

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2. We shall fight on the beaches by Winston Churchill

3. Ain’t I a Woman? by Sojourner Truth

4. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

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