What's the difference between a story and a poem

[George]

Besides having different devices that suite the craft of each, is there anything different?

I've read numerous poems where it is told like a manner of a nostalgic memory or in the format of a story, how do I make sure that I write about about a story yet still be able to call that a poem?

[milo]

Besides having different devices that suite the craft of each, is there anything different?

I've read numerous poems where it is told like a manner of a nostalgic memory or in the format of a story, how do I make sure that I write about about a story yet still be able to call that a poem?

insert random line breaks.

[Truerenigma]

Besides having different devices that suite the craft of each, is there anything different?

I've read numerous poems where it is told like a manner of a nostalgic memory or in the format of a story, how do I make sure that I write about about a story yet still be able to call that a poem?

insert random line breaks.

Don't listen to milo. Generally you usually try to utilize metaphor and engage the senses through sound, etc. And try to show what happened though imagery etc. instead of just telling. Of course you can "call" anything a poem though.

You could try opacity but that is better left till when you have more experience.

Lookee the pome I just wrote:

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SYMBOL KEY = a+b*(!1)
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&^%$3345434554344 ~
*&^^%*%*%*8&%*&1)
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SYMBOL KEY = a+b*(!1)

It is a triolet, and it is story too.

Poetry is way harder than selfies.

[Erthona]

insert random line breaks.

Straight prose can often be poetic in the way it describes things. Generally, what you do not find in prose, but that you do find in poetry is a a rhythmic quality. It may not be formal meter, or even free iambic verse, but it will generally have some rhythmic quality, such as you might find in Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". Generally in what is called prose that quality is absent. And as Milo has pointed out poetry does have line breaks, with good poetry (as opposed to someone who doesn't know what they are doing), the line break at a minimum, acts as a caesura and generally contributes to the rhythmic quality, like the cadence of Whitman, or the breath pattern of Ginsburg's "Howl". As writers are generally no respecters of authority, there will always be some who try and blur any difference between prose and poetry that one might set, and so today we have a type of writing called "prose poetry" which takes tropes from poetry, primarily the use of metaphor, and the narrative form from prose. Sometimes we have gotten into arguments on this site about what is "prose poetry", or where the line exits between the two, as far as i know, there has never been any definitive conclusion reached.

My question is, why do you care if it is a poem? Prose is not a lesser form of writing. In fact prose has many advantages over poetry, the most obvious being is that a writer can make a living writing prose There are generally more important things regarding writing than as to what genre it is a part of. It usually takes a number of years of learning to write poetry before you would write anything so subtle that such a question would need to be debated. Learn formal poetry first, so you have a base on which to stand. Too many people want to jump in and write free verse before they know what unfree verse is, and so all they do is copy the superficial appearance without any understanding of the deeper elements.

Please do me one favor, whatever you post, don't post a love poem.

Thanks,

dale

[Carousal]

A story poem is one that develops a central theme i.e. it usually has a beginning, middle and an end and can be written both in free verse and rhyme. In general terms the emphasis is on communicating with the reader so the delivery tends to be kept in the range of the understanding of the average reader’s vocabulary; why would you want to read a story holding a dictionary in your hands or scrambling your brain trying figure out what the writer was attempting to convey.

I stress this is a generalization and with all generalizations there will be a degree of overlapping, for example the English poet Phillip Larkin.
Poetry hacks have the insatiable need to graft their own perception on a poets work to place him/her into a convenient box for their understanding but with Larkin they can’t agree on whether he was a modernist writer or not.
Larkin’s friend, the Poet Laureate John Betjaman, a quintessential English poet, was definitely not a modernist and much of his poetry could fall easily in the story mould.

Of the two, Betjaman was by far the most popular poet with the general public, so it follows that writing in a style and manner to engage a wider audience who don’t give a toss about the nuts and bolts of writing poetry (Not that Betjaman didn’t) it gives the writer a broader appeal though it won’t bring you many accolades from the poetry elite.

Personally I admire both for different reasons. Larkin, a confirmed atheist who felt, when in a church alone to be compelled to-- take off my cycle-clips in awkward reverence.
Betjaman for the last two lines of this verse.

And Nurse came in with the tea-things
Breast high 'mid the stands and chairs-
But Nurse was alone with her own little soul,
And the things were alone with theirs.

But as they say—beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

[Erthona]

"Poet Laureate John Betjaman, a quintessential English poet"

Blimey, the sterling rhyming limey.

"But most of us turn slow to see
The figure hanging on a tree
And stumble on and blindly grope
Upheld by intermittent hope,"*
but in groping find it hard,
hoisted by our own petard.


* excerpt from "The Conversion of St. Paul" by Sir John Betjeman


Best,


dale

[milo]

The two use separate muses:

Muse
Calliope was the muse of epic poetry.

Clio was the muse of history.

Erato was the muse of love poetry.

Euterpe was the muse of music.

Melpomene was the muse of tragedy.

Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry.

Terpsichore was the muse of dance.

Thalia was the muse of comedy.

Urania was the muse of astronomy.

[Erthona]

None of your Greek muses here,
so stick them all back in your rear,
now it may be quite silly,
but our muse is "Billy",
for we find Greek muses quite drear.

the dale

[Carousal]

"Poet Laureate John Betjaman, a quintessential English poet"

Blimey, the sterling rhyming limey.

"But most of us turn slow to see
The figure hanging on a tree
And stumble on and blindly grope
Upheld by intermittent hope,"*
but in groping find it hard,
hoisted by our own petard.


* excerpt from "The Conversion of St. Paul" by Sir John Betjeman


Best,





dale

An expert on English verse are we? Christ, your expertise knows no bounds.or did you consult Google.Not only does our hero tell newbie’s how to write he also shares his advice with a Poet Laureate; so sad that he’s not listening. He died in 1984 what a pity.

[Erthona]

My degree was in Poetry, specifically the English Romantic poets, so yes, I guess I am. Thanks so much for noticing.


dale

[milo]

A story poem is one that develops a central theme i.e. it usually has a beginning, middle and an end and can be written both in free verse and rhyme. In general terms the emphasis is on communicating with the reader so the delivery tends to be kept in the range of the understanding of the average reader’s vocabulary; why would you want to read a story holding a dictionary in your hands or scrambling your brain trying figure out what the writer was attempting to convey.

I stress this is a generalization and with all generalizations there will be a degree of overlapping, for example the English poet Phillip Larkin.
Poetry hacks have the insatiable need to graft their own perception on a poets work to place him/her into a convenient box for their understanding but with Larkin they can’t agree on whether he was a modernist writer or not.
Larkin’s friend, the Poet Laureate John Betjaman, a quintessential English poet, was definitely not a modernist and much of his poetry could fall easily in the story mould.

Of the two, Betjaman was by far the most popular poet with the general public, so it follows that writing in a style and manner to engage a wider audience who don’t give a toss about the nuts and bolts of writing poetry (Not that Betjaman didn’t) it gives the writer a broader appeal though it won’t bring you many accolades from the poetry elite.

Personally I admire both for different reasons. Larkin, a confirmed atheist who felt, when in a church alone to be compelled to-- take off my cycle-clips in awkward reverence.
Betjaman for the last two lines of this verse.

And Nurse came in with the tea-things
Breast high 'mid the stands and chairs-
But Nurse was alone with her own little soul,
And the things were alone with theirs.

But as they say—beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

The two subsets are identified as the "lyric" and the "narrative"

Betjaman strongly favoured the lyric over the narrative but, possibly, your reading has more strongly favoured his narrative stuff. Larkin dealt almost exclusively with the lyric.

[Leanne]

Your question is "what is the difference between a story and a poem?" and herein lies your problem. A "story" is not a text type, it is a purpose. One may tell a story to one's mates down the pub; a news article may be considered a story; a story involving a few dwarves and some runaway housemaid may be rendered by Walt Disney into a cinematic masterpiece.

As milo points out, within poetry there are two accepted subsets: lyric, which deals with thoughts, emotions, philosophies, reflections etc.; and narrative, which tells... wait for it... a story. Of course there are crossovers and elements from each that bleed into the other, because we are artists who do not appreciate boxes (well, most of us are, except for John Betjeman* apparently).

Poetry has been used as a vessel for "stories" for millennia. Bards would memorise thousands of poems as their stock-in-trade and be expected to add many more by the end of their careers, which were in turn passed to their apprentices. A narrative is certainly no less poetry than a lyric; it is simply that recent trends have diminished the poem as a narrative device because people have been far too concerned about how much their souls bleed and why that girl has gone and left 'em broken on the floor.

[Carousal]

Exactly, but the point I was making was Benjamin’s poetry, that was exclusively written in rhyme and in a story form engaged the public ear far more than the modernist style of writing poetry. Whether you prefer either forms is a matter for the individual, not that cuts much ice with the devotees of both who are constantly damning each others work and have been doing so far a hundred years.

When Benjamin’s poetry came under attack in a national newspaper Larkin, who shunned publicity all his life, came to Benjamin’s defence with a scathing reply in the national media.

[abu nuwas]

Exactly, but the point I was making was Benjamin’s poetry, that was exclusively written in rhyme and in a story form engaged the public ear far more than the modernist style of writing poetry. Whether you prefer either forms is a matter for the individual, not that cuts much ice with the devotees of both who are constantly damning each others work and have been doing so far a hundred years.

When Benjamin’s poetry came under attack in a national newspaper Larkin, who shunned publicity all his life, came to Benjamin’s defence with a scathing reply in the national media.

Who's Benjamin?.......

[billy]

"Poet Laureate John Betjaman, a quintessential English poet"

Blimey, the sterling rhyming limey.

"But most of us turn slow to see
The figure hanging on a tree
And stumble on and blindly grope
Upheld by intermittent hope,"*
but in groping find it hard,
hoisted by our own petard.


* excerpt from "The Conversion of St. Paul" by Sir John Betjeman


Best,





dale

An expert on English verse are we? Christ, your expertise knows no bounds.or did you consult Google.Not only does our hero tell newbie’s how to write he also shares his advice with a Poet Laureate; so sad that he’s not listening. He died in 1984 what a pity.

calm down. stop attacking people, if you don't enjoy what was said then attack the post and not the person. we don't do nasty in the sewer; here we just discuss. /admin

---

The two use separate muses:

Muse
Calliope was the muse of epic poetry.

Clio was the muse of history.

Erato was the muse of love poetry.

Euterpe was the muse of music.

Melpomene was the muse of tragedy.

Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry.

Terpsichore was the muse of dance.

Thalia was the muse of comedy.

Urania was the muse of astronomy.

billy is the muse of the pig pen, think of me and write something sweet

[rayheinrich]

Stories without verbs aren't stories.
Poems without verbs are poems.

A poem can tell a story.
A story can't tell a poem.

A story is inside time.
A poem doesn't take sides.

[Leanne]

A poem doesn't have sides.

A poem is not a box.

A poem can fit in a box, and while the box is unopened the poem may be both alive and dead. Poems are only cats on Saturdays.

[Erthona]

Depending by whom it is written,
a poem can be a dog.
Depending on where it is written
a poem can be a hog,
but a poem is never a cat,
unless it is furry and fat,
or on certain Saturdays,
and that's the only way,
that poem can be a cat.

[Brownlie]

As an excersize you may want to convert a story into meter. A poem that tells a story is called a narrative poem. You may also want to consider what your line breaks are doing.