08-10-2018, 06:07 AM
You can absolutely write in perfect IP, without variation, and not have it seem boring. Milo's suggestion of including enjambment is the ideal solution, as it's usually the end-stop rhyme (the chime effect) that causes something to sound far too sing-song and repetitive - not the meter. So yes, an example would be really helpful.
There are millions of examples of perfect, unvaried meter that prove your critic wrong, but I'd say it's not the meter he/she actually meant or if he/she did, then he/she doesn't really know enough to make that sort of comment. Variations can be both welcome and distracting, depending on who's doing them and how they're done. As to your question about novices experimenting, I think you're spot on in that you should try to master the rules before you break them, but always be aware that they're not really rules and poets are fickle, feral creatures...
There are millions of examples of perfect, unvaried meter that prove your critic wrong, but I'd say it's not the meter he/she actually meant or if he/she did, then he/she doesn't really know enough to make that sort of comment. Variations can be both welcome and distracting, depending on who's doing them and how they're done. As to your question about novices experimenting, I think you're spot on in that you should try to master the rules before you break them, but always be aware that they're not really rules and poets are fickle, feral creatures...
It could be worse