World Class Poetry Blog

Poetic Conventions Should
Be Shunned
11 March 2008, the poet @ 3:18 pm

The final principle of Millennial Poetics, that conventions should be shunned, is almost identical to Principle No. 2, that there is no room for prejudice in poetry. The difference is one of angle of perception. Whereas prejudice refers to an internal reality within the poet, convention refers to an external force upon the poet. It can be stated “Let no one enforce their own prejudices upon you,” or “Rules made by others are not applicable to oneself.” It is time to set the poet free from external conventions that make no sense.

These conventions arise from various fronts. One poet does not like long poems. Well, that’s fine, but does that mean Paterson, The Iliad, Paradise Lost, Inferno, The Aeneid, and other long poems, particularly epic poems, are wrong? Every poet is welcome to his own prejudices, though I don’t see why a poet should limit herself by them, but no poet should be allowed to foist those prejudices upon others. The poet who prefers short poems to long poems has no right to require that all poets write short poems. Nor does the poet who prefers epics have a right to require that all poets write epics.

In my short life I’ve encountered the following prejudices, all of which I consider irrational, that other poets have tried to impose upon others:

• No rhymes - Early on as a poet, in the 1980s, I encountered this prejudice, which was widely held among my generation (and still is). Someone decided that rhymes were out. Period. It was also during this time that New Formalism began to take off as a school. Obviously, it was a backlash against the irrational prejudice of the anti-rhyme crowd. The New Formalists insisted that poetry should adhere to the established forms, including rhyme. I take issue with both sides. Poetry is a broader matter than the inclusion or exclusion of one element. Whether or not a poem includes the element of rhyme should depend on the poet, the form chosen, subject matter, and the rules set forth by the poem itself.
• All lines should begin with a lower case letter unless it begins a sentence - Why? For hundreds of years poets began each line with a capital letter. Why, all of a sudden, should that change? Admittedly, some poems are hard to read because capital letters at the beginning of the lines make them so. But that does not apply across the board. Again, this is an irrational prejudice that has to go. Whether or not a letter is capitalized should depend on the poet, his preferences, form, subject matter, and other elements of craft.
• Poems should fit on one page - I don’t get this one. A poem should be as long as necessary to be complete, but no longer than it needs to be to say what it has to say. If that means a poem must be 5,000 lines in length then that is the length of the poem. If it means a poem is only three lines long then that’s how long the poem should be.
• No soul - I once met a publisher who ran a poetry journal and refused to publish any poem that used the word “soul.” That’s his right, of course. He can do whatever he wants with his journal, but why would a publisher, or a poet, limit himself? Furthermore, why impose an irrational poetic upon everyone you encounter? Yes, there are other words to use for soul, but they may not be the right word. The word “soul” means a particular thing and it bears significant meaning to American culture, so why refuse the word its natural power? Soul or no soul, it should be the choice of each individual poet and his poem.

There are other prejudices, of course. I’m sure there are some that I’ve never heard of. I do not subscribe to them. There are no rules in poetry. If there are, they should be broken. And not only should be broken, but they should be broken with a long middle finger extended.

Poets are the most unconventional people I’ve ever known. Why then should we disgrace our profession by inventing conventions that should not be? All conventions should be shunned; prejudice has no place in poetics. Preferences, yes; prejudices, no. All convention must go.

Millennial Poetics Review
Let’s review the 9 principles of poetics:

1. Craft is of utmost importance - Poets cannot, and must not, forget craft. This is the crown of the principles. Without craft, there is no poetry. It is the beginning of all things poetic. Craft should never be ignored. It should be pursued relentlessly.
2. There is no room for prejudice - Poets must end all prejudice with regard to craft. The elements are all equal. Which one applies to a particular poem or a particular sentence or line depends on the poet’s knowledge of craft and skill in employing that knowledge.
3. Form is just another element of craft - Form is not the most important thing, nor is it so unimportant that it should be ignored altogether. Form is simply one more element of craft. No more. It should be considered along with the other elements. In some ways, form determines the other elements, but in other ways, it does not. A sonnet, for instance, is not a sonnet if it does not adhere to the 14-line rule or rhyme scheme. A haiku is not a haiku if it does not follow the 5-7-5 syllabic pattern. Apart from the necessary enforcements, form should be considered as equal with all the other elements of craft.
4. Creativity and craft go hand in hand - A poet must exercise creativity. Don’t just write poems that follow a rigid form and do not tap into imagination. Make them unique in some way. Employ new elements never thought of. Create new forms, modify old forms, establish a new rubric. A poet cannot be a poet without imagination. Creativity and craft go hand in hand.
5. No subject is taboo - Every poem has a subject and all subjects are good for poetry. Nothing is taboo.
6. There is no such thing as language that is too archaic - This could fall under the shunning of convention, but I separate it from convention because it deals with poetic language and language is an inherent art of poetry. Poets should use the language that is most appropriate for the poem. If a poem requires the use of words or language that is out of use due to subject matter, form, and other elemental considerations then archaic language can be appropriate. It is a poetic choice of the author.
7. All poems are individuals - All poems are individuals and as such should be judged by their individual merits.
8. There is no acceptable method to writing poetry - There are no formulas for writing poetry. Poetics is an art, not a science. The craft of poetry requires a thought process, not formulaic assertions. Methods do not work. Poets who are looking for a method are forgetting the craft.
9. All convention should be shunned - Unless poets take craft seriously and shun convention of all sorts, we will keep seeing the same things over and over again. Poetry will lose its meaning if poets get too complacent, forget about craft, put method over creativity, and choose prejudice and convention over the study of craft. All poetics should be placed under the crown of craft and convention should be shunned at all cost.

2 Comments a “Poetic Conventions Should
Be Shunned”

1. Jim Murdoch — March 11, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
   

   I’m not sure where the line is drawn between prejudice and personal taste. Personally it takes a lot to get me to look at any poem over a certain length. My opinion is that most of the time they’re making a meal of it or that there is more than one poem vying for attention. I’ve never written a poem longer than a page in length since I was a teenager and it was a bad poem. For example, is ‘Paterson’ a poem or a poetry collection? I don’t think it honestly matters. At the end of the day there is writing and there is bad writing and there’s no accounting for taste.

2. the poet — March 11, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
   

   The way I’m using the words, a preference is when you might say “I don’t much care for alliteration at all and I won’t use it,” whereas prejudice would be “alliteration should not be used in poetry and I won’t read a poem if it involves alliteration.” There is a fine distinction, a subtle nuance. It may seem harmless enough, and it is until someone decides to turn a prejudice into a convention, which is more like “Alliteration is not allowed and no one should ever incorporate it into any poetry at any time.”

   A preference is one person’s leaning toward a particular type of poetry or element of craft over another. A prejudice is a leaning away from a particular type of poetry or element of craft because one prefers something else. A convention is an imposition of a prejudice or preference upon others.

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