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What makes a good poem?

Emma BEmma B
edited March 2010 in - Writing Problems
I know this is a much asked question but I think it is something that I have been thinking more today.

I am trying to up my poetry output so I can aim for publication shortly but today's poems is different from my usual and it makes me question what it is that makes a good poem and how can I learn to be better?

Comments

  • VivViv
    A poem should say something unique, in a unique way, using just the right number of perfectly-chosen words (and no more), and carry some emotional impact - that's my interpretation, anyway!
  • NefertariNefertari
    Interesting question.
    I'd say a good poem is one that stays in your mind long after you have read it and makes you think about something in a way you might not have considered before. You want to keep going back to read it again.
  • VericaVerica
    Viv, you hit the nail on the head. Emma B, have a look at Viv's poem (2nd prize), in April's WM - it is as good as poetry can get and stays in your head for a long time.
  • NefertariNefertari
    I'll second that!
  • LizLiz
    Agree with above. I also think a poem can distil la thought or series of thoughts or idea/s/emotion/s into the fewest number of words, whilst at the same releasing the most power and reaction and understanding of those thoughts, ideas, emotions etc.

    Even if you can't understand the poem's meaning, the rhythm, rhyme if present and beauty of the juxtaposed words should still be joy to hear.
  • scratchscratch
    If it don't rhyme it ain't poetry!

    (sorry, I've been told off by experts who tell me otherwise :D )
  • VivViv
    Rhyme helps but there are many other ways to make the language 'sing'!
  • NefertariNefertari
    By rhyme, Scratch do you mean where lines end in rhyme?
  • ambolineamboline
    [quote=scratch]If it don't rhyme it ain't poetry![/quote]

    So that's T.S. Eliot written off in one fell swoop then...
  • Patricia LesleyPatricia Lesley
    Nothing introspective.
  • ambolineamboline
    I don't mind introspection, as long as there is a way for the person outside to make the connection with the poet's inner world. Too many introspective poems get lost in abstracts; but with good imagery you can SHOW the poet's inner emotions without having to simply TELL the reader what those emotions are. Some of Roger McGough's early work, such as "Let Me Die a Youngman's Death", is particularly good in this regard. As is Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".
  • Patricia LesleyPatricia Lesley
    I like Eliot's humorous stuff, e.g. Night Mail about Skimbleshanks the railway cat.
    'the passengers were frantic to a man.....Skimble where is Skimble.... because my Granddad was a station master I suppose. Brisk rhythm appeals to me but so does the lovely slow echoing poem;
    Butt love is a durable fyre
    In the mynde ever burnynge:
    Never sycke, never ould never dead
    from its selfe never turnynge.
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