What is Contemporary Poetry?

What is Contemporary Poetry?

Cotemporary poets adapt the ancient forms of verse to create a revolutionary piece of verbal art.  Authors are always trying new combinations of line length, interesting formats, and unique rhyming schemes to create these innovated poems. Thus, the evolution of contemporary poetry is never stagnant, it is always moving towards something new.

            Rhyme doesn’t seem to be part of contemporary poetry; however it’s only full rhymes that aren’t part of modern poems. Poets tend to shy away from them because ‘it can be both stale and predictable’ (Keane, pg. 2). They’re predictable because poets have used them for 1000’s of years. According to Ezra Pound rhymes ‘must have in it some slight element of surprise’; which half-rhymes do because the rhyme is unexpected. Half-rhymes create movement and joins the stanzas together.

Syllabic is one type of half-rhyme. It’s ‘a rhyme in which the last syllable of each word sounds the same but does not necessarily contain vowels’ (Keane, pg. 10).  The word groups ‘smear/pear’ and ‘dozen/raven’ are examples of this. Jon Anderson’s poem, ‘Voyage’, uses syllabic rhyme. One example of syllabic rhyme in ‘Voyage’ that caught my eye was ‘lands/stands’.  I noticed it because I studied the end of each line – it was like a game to find the syllabic rhyme.

Assonance and consonance are two of my favorite half-rhymes because I find that it is fun to come up with unusual rhyming word groups. Assonance is when the vowels match (Keane, pg. 9). ‘Tube/Prudent’ rhymes with assonance. “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brookes has assonance because of ‘cool/school’ and ‘thin/sin’. Assonance focuses on the emotional side of a poem (a sad poem uses a hard vowel sound – ‘gong/longingly’ - while a lighthearted poem uses soft vowel sounds – ‘look/stoop’).

            Similar to assonance is consonance. However, consonants match instead of vowels (Keane, pg 10). “Heavy/Hike” is an example of consonance. Consonance adds connections between the different stanzas and lines because of the same first letter. With consonance, playfulness can be added (goopy, gloppy gopher guts, anyone?). I prefer assonance to consonance though, because I like working with the vowel sounds.

Besides rhymes, the form of a poem is important. Form is the shape that the poem is in – from long and skinny to short and wide. It can also be a representation of the verse’s topic. John Hollander’s “Swan and Shadow” is an example of form representing the topic. It’s shaped like two swans and is about a swan swimming at dusk. To read this poem, turn to page 333 of The Vintage Book of Contemporary Poetry, the second edition. It also gives direction how to read the poem. Ending sentences in the middle of a line or in the next stanza instructs the reader when to pause. Because of the period induced pauses, the reader has time to ponder the poem’s topic. If the form is unique, it sticks with the reader for a long time, thus the reader continues to think about the topic.

            Another style used in contemporary poetry is the Haiku. It has been around for 700 years. It’s 3 lines long and has only 17 syllables, that are dispersed in an 5-7-5 syllable scheme. These poems are about the natural world, including human behavior (Keane, par. 4). Related to the haiku is the haibun, which doesn’t look like a poem. It’s a prose poem with haiku’s interspersed through it. It also ends with haiku (Keane, pg. 2). A journey is taken through this prose poem. Humor and/or serious topics are also part of the poem as is imagery and metaphor. I am not fond of writing either form because they are too restricting and I never can say all I want to say with them.

            The versatile sonnet is the form that I’m drawn towards. It reminds me of two of my favorite poets, Blake and Tennyson. William Shakespeare perfected the sonnet form which is still used today (Miller, par. 15). It’s 14 lines long and its tradition form of alternating rhyme scheme and can be manipulated in a plethora of ways to say precisely what the author wants so that the reader gets the most out of the poem. Ending a traditional sonnet is a couplet, which are 2 successive rhyming lines of equal length. “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” is an example of a traditional sonnet. Words that rhyme in Shakespeare’s poem are ‘day /May’, ‘temperate/date’, and ‘see/thee’. To make a sonnet contemporary, many poets use either half-rhymes or no rhymes at all. John Berryman’s ‘Sonnet 96’ is an example of a sonnet with no rhyme. Through this poem, he points out the absurdity of life. He also speaks of bracing for change.

            Originating in France is the sonnet’s relative – the 39 line long sestina (Unst, par. 3 and 6). Repeated in each stanza are 6 non-rhyming words.  Rudyard Kipling ‘Sestina of the Tramp-Royal’ is an example of a sestina. His 6 words were ‘all’, ‘world’, ‘good’, ‘long’, ‘done’, and ‘die’. This poem is about the paths a person travels and what they see. Kipling also stresses that as long as a person has health, then they are wealthy, even without owning any money.  

            The ode and the elegy are other types of poems. An ode celebrates life while an elegy mourns the loss of life. The ode is an ancient Greek and Roman poem that was sung at celebrations, for rulers, or at important events (mahalo, par. 1). Each stanza has 10 lines and follows an alternating rhyming scheme (par. 9-10). John Keats ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is a famous ode (par. 13). In this poem, Socrates is imagining being resurrected as a nightingale after drinking the hemlock. The elegy, in contrast, is written for someone who has died (mahalo, par. 1). It has no set form, but some type of metrical pattern or rhyme should be included (par. 2). To see an example of a classic elegy, take a look at Langston Hughes's elegy, ‘One Way Ticket’, which is an elegy towards the death of just laws.

            Cotemporary poetry’s purpose is to combine refreshing rhymes with traditional forms to create a piece of prose that shows life in a realistic as well as explicit way. The modern poet wants to connect the reader to the mental and psychical world around them and to shed light on new ideas. Poets want to surprise the reader with the ideas that are embedded into their poems through the rhymes and forms he or she uses. The contemporary poem is meant to evolve and its form is meant to be altered. Never stagnant and ever changing – that is what a contemporary poem is.

 

Works Cited

Anderson, J. (n.d.). Voyage. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from poemhunter.com: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/voyage/

Berryman, J. (2003, May 22). Sonnet 96. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from American Poems: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/john-berryman/9286

Brooks, G. (1963). We Real Cool. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=17315

Burke, Brenda Ann. "Three Reasons to Write a Sonnet: Why This Poetry Form May be the Structure Your Draft Writing Needs." 22 March 2008. Suite101.com. 15 November 2009 <http://writing-poetry.suite101.com/print_article.cfm/three_reasons_to_write_a_sonnet>.

Hollander, J. (2003). Swan and Shadow. In J. McClathchy, The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (p. 333). New York: Vintage Books.

Hughes, Langston. "Langston Hughes "One Way Ticket" Poem animation." 20 March 2009. Mefeedia. 17 November 2009 <http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/langston-hughes-one-way-ticket-poem-animation/15637560>.

Keane, E. (2009, September 28). Can Contemporary Poems Still USe Rhyme and Meter?

Keane, E. (2009, October 22). Haibun and Haiku - Twp Japanese Forms.

Kipling, Rudyard. "Sestina of the Tramp-Royal ." Famous Poets and Poems . 17 November 2009 <http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/rudyard_kipling/poems/14460>.

Mahalo. "How to Write an Elegy Poem." 2009. Mahalo. 17 November 2009 <http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-write-an-elegy-poem>.

Mahola. "How to Write an Ode." 2009. Mahola. 17 November 2009 <http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-write-an-ode-poem>.

Miller, N. (n.d.). Basic Sonnet Forms. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from sonnets.org: http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

Saunders, A. (2009). Consonance, Assonance, and Alliteration . Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Bella Online: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46600.asp

Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day? Retrieved November 2, 2009, from Love Poems: http://www.love-poems.me.uk/shakespeare_sonnet_18_shall_i_compare_thee_to_a_summers_day.htm

Unst, Ariadne. "Poetry Form - The Sestina." Bay Moon. 17 November 2009 <http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sestina.htm>.