06-01-2004, 07:27 PM
|
#1 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
| Writer's Block!
For school, I have to write a poem commemorating the Holocost. While in general I am a decent writer, I cant seem to get started. Any ideas for how to go about this? 
__________________
--Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.--
- Atticus Finch
| 
|  | | And now for this message... |
| |
06-01-2004, 07:29 PM
|
#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,091
| Go straight off the top of your head - don't worry about quality or anything. Just write the first things that come to mind. Then, go back and clean it up later. | |
| | |
06-01-2004, 08:19 PM
|
#3 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
| thanks Soldier, that really helped  . i do that all the time, only it didnt occur to me to do it for this. Its not that good, but it will do. Good wasnt part of the assignment 
__________________
--Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.--
- Atticus Finch
Last edited by athena; 06-02-2004 at 06:44 PM.
| |
| | |
06-01-2004, 08:44 PM
|
#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Right behind you...
Posts: 181
| It's a good start, but I think the first thing you need is stanzas, and maybe some end punctuation. It helps break up the thought into a voice instead of one long stream of words. And just a remark about tone: I like the idea of history repeating itself, but you could make it more subtle. Out right asking is quite word efficient, but it makes your words seem unalive.
__________________
"Steady as a mountain, attack like fire, still as a wood, swift as the wind. In heaven and earth I alone am to be revered."
| |
| | |
06-01-2004, 09:19 PM
|
#5 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
| well its due tomorrow, so i dont think much is going to happen, but thanks. my friend says it is "angry feminist" style. I dont quite get that, but whatever 
__________________
--Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.--
- Atticus Finch
| |
| | |
06-02-2004, 03:40 AM
|
#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK
Posts: 1,565
| Quote: |
Originally Posted by athena For school, I have to write a poem commemorating the Holocost. | I apologise in advance for this comment - i'm a bit irritable due to lack of sleep and you've just hit on my pet hate.
The first thing you need to do is learn to spell "holocaust".
__________________
Louweasel
"I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from" [Eddie Izzard]
"she might not look like much, kid, but she's got it where it counts"
| |
| | |
06-02-2004, 06:45 PM
|
#7 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
| well sorry about that...i figured out i was spelling it wrong yesterday when i went to go look up something
__________________
--Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.--
- Atticus Finch
| |
| | |
06-02-2004, 07:01 PM
|
#8 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 10
| When writing a poem, you should forget about the ridiculous idea that everything has to rhyme. | |
| | |
06-02-2004, 07:14 PM
|
#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 4,499
| Si metrum non habet, non est poema. | |
| | |
06-02-2004, 09:17 PM
|
#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: MA
Posts: 7,409
| Robert Frost :"Writing a poem without words is like playing tennis without a net."
But in fairness, I'd like to point out that many of his later poems did not rhyme. | 
| | |
06-03-2004, 01:03 AM
|
#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The great U.S.ofA.
Posts: 1,362
| and the english translation of that, telkanuru, is . . .
__________________
"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory." - George S. Patton
| |
| | |
06-03-2004, 06:40 AM
|
#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Holland
Posts: 861
| If it doesn't have a metrum, it isn't a poem
I don't know if there's an english word for describing metrum, it's the rhythm in which the words should be read.
__________________
With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 11:14 AM
|
#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The great U.S.ofA.
Posts: 1,362
| I think there is, but right now I don't remember it. Thanks.
__________________
"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory." - George S. Patton
| |
| | |
06-03-2004, 11:35 AM
|
#14 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: ---->
Posts: 2,086
| The Germans concluded "of course
We must cut off our woes at the source."
So the Jews they did slay
In an efficient way
Without even the slightest remorse.
Or, if that's too long, try a haiku:
People killed people
Who didn't live as they did
But lived among them
Either one should get you an "A." | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 11:52 AM
|
#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Holland
Posts: 861
| Nice Haiku
__________________
With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 04:39 PM
|
#16 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: ---->
Posts: 2,086
| Thanks | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 06:15 PM
|
#17 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003 Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 4,243
| "meter"
by the way, that statement is BS.
__________________
---Myrddin Pythagoras' Flying Circus---
(and now for something completly the same: thread drift and oversharing!)
"Where's the plasma?" | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 06:20 PM
|
#18 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Holland
Posts: 861
| Most 'modern' poetry indeed doesn't adhere to classic 'meter'.
But it does have a nice ring if you can make a nice piece of text in 'dactylic hexameter'(sp?) of course....
__________________
With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 07:11 PM
|
#19 | | Curmudgeon-in-Chief
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Somewhere in your nightmares!
Posts: 23,182
| Free verse is an invention of the lazy. Elements like rhyme and meter are what sets poetry apart from prose. Scattering words randomly on a page does not a poem make. Even rappers understand that much. Most of their works may be doggerel, but they ARE poetry ( and when created extempore even doggerel is hard to do, and I respect anyone who can do it...even if it doesn't make him a "musician" ).
Last edited by Inquartata; 06-03-2004 at 07:13 PM.
| |
| | |
06-04-2004, 05:50 AM
|
#20 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Holland
Posts: 861
| Quote: |
Originally Posted by dunastor Most 'modern' poetry indeed doesn't adhere to classic 'meter'.
But it does have a nice ring if you can make a nice piece of text in 'dactylic hexameter'(sp?) of course.... | Maybe i'm making too much use of the word 'nice'...
__________________
With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter | |
| | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | 
Similar Threads | | Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post | | A question for the writers | Peregrinus | Fencing Discussion | 15 | 11-21-2002 05:26 PM | | Writers | arcon | Discussion Archive | 10 | 11-01-2001 06:38 AM | All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:08 PM. |
