August 21 Workshop Information
Moderator: Norman  Chichester		 Poetic Forms: Structuring your Creativity List of all workshops

Norm began the workshop by asking each of us how we begin to write a poem.

From that point, we discussed basic traditional poetic structures and how they provide both the discipline and the freedom in writing poetry.

Following are the basic meters in most poetry: Scansion is the means of marking this meter and rhythm.

Iamb:  one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable; common line length is pentameter, or 5 poetic feet ( – / = one poetic foot) per line [10 syllables per line].

Trochee: one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable ( / – ) per foot, opposite of Iamb.

Anapest:  two unaccented syllables followed by one accented syllable ( - – / ) per foot.

Dactyl:  one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (/ – -) per foot.

Spondee:  two accented syllables per foot ( / / )

Pyrrhus: two unaccented syllables together, one is the end of one poetic foot; the other is the beginning of the next poetic foot ( / – - / )

Norm gave us a poem which he wrote in 1995 and asked us to scan it for both the basic rhyme and meter and for variations in the meter. The first stanza is scanned for you.

A Poem
-    /   -   /   -    / -  /        -    -      /   -   /     /       /
What is a poem anyway, of what value to mankind?             8 feet, 15 syllables
-    /   -     /     -    /     -     /     – -    /    -     /    -      /
Perhaps a healing for the soul or a vision for the blind.          7 feet, 14 syllables
-     /  -   /   -    /   -    /    -     -   -    /      -         /    -   /
The distillation of an instant, a remembered beauty rare.       7 feet, 16 syllables
-   /      -      /     -   /    -         /     -   /  -    -     /    -    /     -
An unshed tear, an unasked gift, a quiet unspoken prayer. 7 feet, 15 syllables
An utterance of emotion from unplumbed depths of soul.
A laughing brooklet’s murmuring, the crash of waves that roll.
A bluejay’s gossipy chattering, the nightingale’s sweet song.
The caress of one’s beloved, the hero’s arm so strong.
There is no theme or concept which a poet cannot reveal.
No emotion, pain or happiness the poet cannot feel.
For all of life and living can be illuminated when
Wisdom, truth and beauty are awakened by poet’s pen.

This second poem is the same poem after having been ruthlessly edited. All of the important parts are there, but any words that weren’t working have been removed. Look at the difference in the two poems, even in the way they look.

A Poem 

A poem is valuable!
It heals the soul,
gives the blind a vision,
distills an instant
reminding us of beauty.

An unexpected gift,
unshed tears,
a quiet prayer.

The voice
from deep within
a rippling, laughing brook,
becomes
rolling, crashing waves.

It is a conversation:
gossiping, chattering jays
with sweet singing nightingales.

A lover’s caress,
a strong helping hand.

It reveals abstract emotions
with concrete images
of pain, happiness and
life lived.

All this wisdom,
truth and beauty
awaken when the poet
takes pen in hand.

 Stephen Minot, in his book Three
Genres, 6th edition, suggests five
fundamental qualities that distinguish poetry from prose:Concern for the line,
Attention to the sound,
Development of rhythms,
Heightened use of images,
Creation of density.

Some of these we find in the first poem.
All of them we see in the second poem
Norman Chichester wrote both poems, the first January 5, 1995; the second, August 16, 2010.