How to write poetry? How to learn to write poetry

Many people, especially in their youth, want to write poetry. Most of them try to compose something, but not everyone gets an attractive result. And as a result of these, recognized poets is not so much. Perhaps, it is not necessary and to try in that case? Nevertheless, the number of amateur poets is great, and with every day there are more and more newcomers.

Can all be poets?

It's hard to say why people write poetry. Most often they are motivated by the desire to express their emotions about the surrounding world: an impressive corner of nature, heartfelt experiences, reflections on the structure of life - all this becomes a topic for poetry. No less often poems are written as a kind of response to the events of social life (in modern times or in history), which excited the author. In any case, the reason for writing poems is usually emotional motivation, and rhythmic lines become a response to events of external or internal life.

Many people try themselves in versification, and you too can create, if you feel this desire. Of course, no one will guarantee that you will become a good poet, but such experience will not be in vain. The main thing is you will understand how to write.

Verse and stanza - clarify the meanings

If you try your hand at poetry, then it will not be superfluous to know some important concepts related to versification.

Verse ... This word has two meanings. The first: a poetic speech, organized in one or another tradition (for example, "Pushkin's verse"). Second: a rhythmically constructed line of verse text.

It is incorrect to use the word "verse" in the meaning of "poem", because the first is an integral part of the second or (in some cases) much broader concept than one work.

The union of two or more verse lines (verses) is called a strophe.

Among such combinations are the couplets, the three-line, the quatrains ... and so on, up to ten verses.

Later in the article, several important concepts will be explained. We understood why different people write verses and how this can be useful, and also understood the meanings of words that confuse readers and many novice poets. Then we will talk about the secrets of writing a good poem.

The first step: where to start?

If you have never before engaged in versification, it is most sensible to begin by reading the poetic works of recognized authors. It is not necessary to immediately grab for the classics, if it is not very fond of you. Start with modern authors, then go on to the poets of the Silver Age, and then you can complicate your reader's repertoire. If you do not yet know how to start writing poetry, then just find and read what will resonate in your soul. At the same time it is very possible that the first independent opuses will be similar to the works of those poets that you like most. Treat this as the first stage of training and continue to compose as it turns out. It's no secret that the first poems of many subsequently famous poets were imitative. But a single-minded person will be able to develop his talent and find his own style of writing. Believe in yourself, try, experiment.

Genres of poems

But in order to know in which direction to move, we will understand the main varieties of poetic works.

Let's talk about how you can try the genre. For subtly sensitive natures, lyrical and philosophical poetry, as well as ballads and stanzas, will suit. Those who are actively interested in the surrounding social life, you can try to write journalistic poems. Parody, satirical and humorous poetry also deserve attention - individual copies of these genres are loved by readers no less than serious poems.

Varieties of versification

The selected genre and style will prompt how to write. Verse in the meaning of "way of expressing poetic speech" is composed according to certain rules. Let's list the types of poetic works:

• White verse (there is no rhyme, but the size and rhythm are clearly preserved);
• Acrostic (the manner of writing, in which the first letters of each line form a word together, rarely two or three);
• Mixed verse (a way of writing without saving the same size throughout the whole work);
• Verses in prose (there is no rhyme and rhythm, but a special expressive style allows to refer them to poetry);
• Vers libre (a complex style, characterized by a special construction of lines, concise and saturated images and lack of rhyme).

Next we will understand the main components of the poem: rhyme, size and rhythm.

How is rhyme?

So, you have decided which poetic styles and ways of versification you want to try yourself. But there is little one desire to engage in poetry, you need to know how. Write a verse - every line of your work - it is necessary by certain rules.

One of the most important points is rhyme - a consonant ending of two or more words. As you know, in the poem such words are placed at the end of the line. In this case, the next two verses can either rhyme or one, or two. Rhyme has its own variety:

• Male (with emphasis on the last syllable);
• Female (stress falls on the penultimate syllable);
• Dactylic (with accent on the third from the end syllable of the verse);
• Hyperdactylic (stress on the fourth syllable or even further).

There are many other varieties, but the beginning poet can still get acquainted with the basic ones. It is important to find a suitable and original rhyme, not like "love - blood" or "never - forever." In addition, the words chosen for rhyme should organically enter the text of the poem, creating the image that the poet intended to convey.

If you want to know how to write poetry correctly, then also read the concepts of poetic size and rhythm.

Why do we need size and rhythm?

The size of the poem is extremely important, because it determines the sound, melody, mood of the work. You can determine the size by combining percussion and unstressed syllables in 2-3 lines of a poetic work. If you are thinking about how to learn to write poetry, then try to analyze your favorite works for dimensionality and to understand how the author got the desired effect.

Two-Sized Sizes:

• Iamb;
• Trochee.

One stressed syllable and one unstressed. In iamba, the stress falls on the second syllable, and in the chorea on the first.

Three-syllable dimensions:

• dactyl;
• Amphibrachium;
• anapaest.

One syllable is percussion, while the other two are unstressed. The difference is in which syllable is stressed: the first is dactyl, the second is amphibrachium, the third is anapaest.

Will knowledge of verse sizes help to learn how to write poetry correctly? In itself - hardly, however, to look "inside" this or that poem is still useful. Such an analysis reveals what is not noticeable in ordinary reading, and allows you to learn how to build a poetic drawing.

Another important factor is the rhythm - a cyclic alternation of unstressed syllables with percussion. To better feel the rhythm, you need to read the poem written out loud.

Poetic techniques

We have learned a lot about poetry, but we have not yet fully decided how to write. The verse is a separate line, from the combination of which the poem is composed. To have not only a form, but also content, you need to know and be able to apply poetic techniques. Here are some of them:

• allegory;
• Alliteration (sound recording);
• anaphora;
• Antithesis (opposition);
• exclamation;
• hyperbola;
• Gradation (strengthening);
• inversion;
• irony;
• pun;
• metaphor;
• metonymy;
• Treatment;
• oxymoron;
• Impersonation;
• refrain;
• Rhetorical address or question;
• synecdoche;
• default;
• euphemism;
• epithet;
• epiphora.

Knowing these techniques in itself will not tell you how to learn to write poetry. But if you get used to find artistic means in other people's works, it becomes clear what you can apply in your own work.

A poet or a graphomaniac?

Suppose you have already written one or more poems. How to determine how good they are? Do it yourself - it's not easy, because not by reason, but in a fit of inspiration we write poetry. At the same time we can adore each line of our own creativity, but will it cause the same enthusiasm for others? The only way to check this is to let your poems be read to other people. If they could interest someone else with their work, then they came close to understanding how to write good poetry.

The main signs of a successful poem:

• The reader feels the feeling that the author has invested in, or sees the picture described;
• Fresh, original rhymes, suitable in meaning and mood;
• The size and rhythm are observed in all lines;
• There are no speech, stylistic and other errors (except when it is part of the creative method).

"I want to write poetry, what to do?". The only answer is to write. And read, and the creations are not only recognized masters, but also novice authors. Practicing and analyzing other people's opuses, you will learn the technique of writing poems and develop the ability to distinguish successful lines from unsuccessful ones. But be prepared for the fact that you have many years to train in developing your style, if not all your life.