02-21-2015, 03:46 PM
Before I go into this, I just want to say that as far as I am concerned poetry is not better than prose, nor prose better than poetry. They are different because they have different uses. They both can provide excellent sometimes transcendent material, depending upon the talent and skill of the writer. It is erroneous to think that poetry does not have to adhere to the same writing rules as prose or any other kind of writing. OK, introduction done.
leftovernachos wrote: "Just to clarify, what would one apply to a writing like this in order to classify it as a poem? Meter, yeah?"
At the minimum: rhythm/cadence.
As it is it is more or less a factual narrative, with only a little speculation at the end, one finds little in the way of poetic tropes. Especially metaphor as it is probably the most important tool of poets.
Poems do not have to be based on meter, however if one does not understand about cadence and how to use it, then meter is preferable, as well as the surest way to learning about cadence, rhythm, beat, and so on. As T. S. Elliot famously said, there is nothing free about free verse. Although "free verse" or"free form" is not reliant on iambs as traditional free verse was, poetry must at the minimum have a rhythmic quality that not only support the poem, but energizes it. In prose the narrations or the plot moves the story along. Unless poetry is longer than most of what we see today, it hasn't the space to rely on such devices. Prose can use the mystery of what will happen to pull the reader along. This is generally not an option for poetry as it is slow in developing. Although things seem to be changing, it is still not that that common to see an epic work rely on cadence such as the "Leaves of Grass," by Whitman. With metered poetry it is much simpler. One always has the static form to fall back on if he loses his way. He always knows how many feet of what kind of meter(s) that need to go into making up the line, and it is fairly easy to recognize this.
For me your poem seemed closer to a parable than anything else, although it lacked the objectiveness of a traditional parable. Still it reminded us that the quality to feel awed so easy to come to for children, still function in adults also, if we can briefly achieve that non-judgmental in children. It opens us up to wonder. That sort of motif is probably more common in poetry than it is in prose. In these gray area sorts of writing this is often the case and there is really no objective way to firmly say it is this rather than that.
Personally I would like to see this put more in the poetry camp as I think it will benefit from that. However it can stay where it is and people can deal with it that way. The bottom line is, it really doesn't matter. These definition we put on writing are completely artificial and do not exist in reality. We simply box them up because it makes it easier on our either/or brains, but that's a different story.
Welcome to the site,
Dale
leftovernachos wrote: "Just to clarify, what would one apply to a writing like this in order to classify it as a poem? Meter, yeah?"
At the minimum: rhythm/cadence.
As it is it is more or less a factual narrative, with only a little speculation at the end, one finds little in the way of poetic tropes. Especially metaphor as it is probably the most important tool of poets.
Poems do not have to be based on meter, however if one does not understand about cadence and how to use it, then meter is preferable, as well as the surest way to learning about cadence, rhythm, beat, and so on. As T. S. Elliot famously said, there is nothing free about free verse. Although "free verse" or"free form" is not reliant on iambs as traditional free verse was, poetry must at the minimum have a rhythmic quality that not only support the poem, but energizes it. In prose the narrations or the plot moves the story along. Unless poetry is longer than most of what we see today, it hasn't the space to rely on such devices. Prose can use the mystery of what will happen to pull the reader along. This is generally not an option for poetry as it is slow in developing. Although things seem to be changing, it is still not that that common to see an epic work rely on cadence such as the "Leaves of Grass," by Whitman. With metered poetry it is much simpler. One always has the static form to fall back on if he loses his way. He always knows how many feet of what kind of meter(s) that need to go into making up the line, and it is fairly easy to recognize this.
For me your poem seemed closer to a parable than anything else, although it lacked the objectiveness of a traditional parable. Still it reminded us that the quality to feel awed so easy to come to for children, still function in adults also, if we can briefly achieve that non-judgmental in children. It opens us up to wonder. That sort of motif is probably more common in poetry than it is in prose. In these gray area sorts of writing this is often the case and there is really no objective way to firmly say it is this rather than that.
Personally I would like to see this put more in the poetry camp as I think it will benefit from that. However it can stay where it is and people can deal with it that way. The bottom line is, it really doesn't matter. These definition we put on writing are completely artificial and do not exist in reality. We simply box them up because it makes it easier on our either/or brains, but that's a different story.
Welcome to the site,
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.