Hey everypony, just a noob poet here

So I don't suppose any of you have read brony poems, have you? If you have, you've probably only read a few, since there are only a few on the site anyway. Some of them even get popular, such as both Pony for Christmases, Haiku of the Alicorn (which completely misses the point of the form imo) and my personal favourite, The Six Deeds of Harmony, though that might be because the authors of those had an audience from writing prose beforehand.

I think one thing I'm seeing when I read fan poetry is the lack of metre (that is, in forms where it is expected, which is most btw). People new to poetry tend to think it's all about slapping words on the page without any concern for the rhythm they evoke, which even in free verse (which, to do right, requires considerable experience writing metred verse) is fundamentally wrong. As such, awkward lines and crappy rhymes (don't get me started on rhyming) tend to result, and I can't say I'm not guilty of letting either of them happen either.

That said, I've seen some of these poems get lots of upvotes/very few downvotes, which could mean either a) I'm talking out of my ass, and brony poetry is much better than I think it is or b) people find poetry more taxing to read than prose and thus tend to gloss over any flaws. It might even both tbh.

So, what is your view on poetry in the fandom? Do you like it, loath it, lament that half the ones on Fimfiction miss the finer points of the art form, or what?

I for one am a big fan of poetry, and have written a pony poem of my own, although it was on one of my blogs.

I've written a few pony-related poems.

Well, speaking as someone who actually wrote a 'story poem', I can tell you that it's damn hard to get them any attention whatsoever. People tend to not even read them if they're not prose.

Honestly it seems that if you want to get views then it's all about one thing: clop.

I like poetry and I've used it as a prelude to a few of my chapters, but all of mine is non-pony specific and could just as easily have been about a pair of alligators as far as subjects are concerned.

But that's just me.

Never seen any pony-specific poems for that matter... meh. Having looked at the Six Deeds of Harmony... I really don't get the point in making a story out of a poem, I prefer the path of letting the poem set the scene in a chapter.

Not having much poetry in the fandom is kinda depressing. I wrote a poem about Luna facing her inner demons, if anyone would like to read it. Personally it's not my best work, but people seem to have generally enjoyed it, even though some of my rhymes fall on their faces.

But if you read my story and comment, it could improve my writing, and I'll be sure to follow and read your stories or poems. I think we should try to have more prose-focused groups, as, while there are many of them, they're not extremely popular. What a shame.

The Melancholy of Princess Luna: A Poem

This is my poem. Thanks for posting this, Kazantu, cause I have a lot of the same views as you. I think it also depends on when your poem is submitted that determines how popular it gets, if at all. Groups help, also. Happy trails, everyone, and write poetry for those who wish to read it!

-Ghost

I used poetry for a Hearth's Warming themed fic I wrote (there is a story version and a poetic version of the same story) but the so called poetic version is just me rhyming however I can while still following the original story. It sounds more like Zecora telling a story than anything else. I have no expertise of any kind when it comes to poetry but people apparently like both story and (so called) poetic versions. When it comes to this or any fandom, it all comes down to taste. Enjoying poetry or even knowing what is or is not good poetry takes a particular kind of persion who already happens to like that sort of thing, just as fics with Dark and Crossover tags are (usually) glossed over because typically only folks with those particular tastes tend to read them.

I'm not able to post the link at the moment, but do give the poetry group some attention! Let's make poetry a larger presort of the fandom!

756859 Ultimately, a story will be expressed the way the author wanted to express it, and the decision to write something as prose or poetry is really up to what they want out of it. Personally, I would say narrative poetry is better suited for epic stories like the Odyssey and Paradise Lost because the brevity of interpretation that comes with writing verse leaves more to the imagination, and, because in ancient times poetry was the main medium in which stories were told, long poems which tell a story can have the connotation that they're timeless and have been/should be passed down through the ages.

756846 You have a point there. Maybe memories of reading Shakespeare in class is what's scaring people away from them
One thing I would like to learn in school is how to properly read, understand, appreciate and write poetry in general, rather than just diving straight in and picking lines out of individual poems to say "this says this" and "that connotes that", which doesn't really accomplish much besides making me bored reading what would otherwise be good poetry.

756906 I agree, it's kind of hard to appreciate something you're not interested in, and I don't remember poetry of all things being a craze of any sort.

756899 Thanks to you too! Don't worry about the quality of your stuff; just keep writing and reading poetry (and about it too) and you'll get better. My rhyming's pretty bad myself imo, but I like to think I'll be better the next time I try it

I'm not a poet
though sometimes I write Haiku
like this one right here.

756775

Check out my stoy 'Ballad of the Two Sisters.' Took me months.

I love poetry.

I'm not quite convinced it's really meant for fandom, though. I don't know. I've enjoyed one particular one... was it like the Song of Sylehx or something? Gosh, but I liked it.

so, someone want to collaborate on an epic poem set in Equestria.

Actually, that's probably a really terrible idea that I don't have time for, but hell, I'm open to either greek verse or germanic verse styles. (iambic quartameter iirc for the first, the second is.. um... crap i forget the name, but its more alliteration based than rhyming based)

I am heavily in preference to free-verse poetry, as there are some parameters in the romantic/classical ideologies which stifle creativity, thereby rendering the poetic medium hemmed with a multitude of clichés that define the modern conceptualization of "poetry".

Don't get me wrong, I like poetry, but I've grown somewhat tired of the age-old format, and I encourage writers who desire to push the bounds of what can be considered poetic, just as I make an effort to do in most of my writing.

Thus, in my opinion, I feel that the only great lesson that can be learned from contemporary poetry nowadays is how to write great dialogue, as I just simply love the sound of Shakespearean speech.

759590
There once was a poet from Cloudsdale
who saw strict forms as an epic fail
"It's stifling to do it tradi-tion-alee
writing on pulp from a dead tree"
so he wrote in free verse on his tail

* * *

You call old forms a restriction
yes, but free verse is not my boss
Let old ideas just gather moss?
No! I go my own direction

Tropes are building-blocks of fiction
You ignore it? well that's your loss
A little tweak's an easy cost
because nothing needs perfection

I don't care just what you fetter
but you fetter it all the same
to stereotypes that you construct

Think your forms are slightly better
but free verse to me is just lame
and the heartstrings remain unplucked

* * *

That is not to say
that slam poets can't throw themselves
like suicide jumpers under a train
and fuck all traditional conventions
'til their middle fingers fall off
But four fingers doesn't work on a piano
whether you're playing Debussy or Schubert

Maybe it works better
for the genres we have yet to discover, sure
but in twenty years
they will be thaught at the music academy anyway
so why bother?
Tradition is the only true rebellion

* * *

Issa knew to swear
and even poets know to
get a point across

771020

In all seriousness though, you raise a valid point. To me, free verse is just one form of poetry like all the others. One that is also incredibly easy to screw up and think "oh, I can write whatever I want hurr durr" of imo, but nonetheless one which someone with decent experience might take as a poet.

I'll be more than happy to read the few select free verseers that are actually good (Pound, cummings etc.), mind you, but not the garbled unorganised mess too many people think it is.

771063

In all seriousness though, you raise a valid point. To me, free verse is just one form of poetry like all the others.

Indeed, y'know, it's funny, last year in the forums, me and cyto had a big debate about poetry, the question was whether poetry had to rhyme to be considered poetry, and I was firmly on the side of "NO!" Even leaving aside Allen Ginsberg, Billy Collins and Taylor Mali and the branches they represent, I'd say that metre rather than rhyme is more important in classical poetry.

One that is also incredibly easy to screw up and think "oh, I can write whatever I want hurr durr" of imo, but nonetheless one which someone with decent experience might take as a poet.

Often its the things where there ARE no real rules that's the most difficult to pull off, cus noone can really teach you how to do it, you're on your own, basically. But one thing that often helps is to know the rules before you break them.

I'll be more than happy to read the few select free verseers that are actually good (Pound, cummings etc.), mind you, but not the garbled unorganised mess too many people think it is.

I mentioned Billy Collins above, he's one of my favorite poets, cus he paints these mundane, if slightly surreal scenes with a sense of humour. He's definently one of my inspirations for my obsession with Slice of Life...

But my favorite poet of all time is undoubtly Leonard Cohen,and he's done both free verse and rhyming poetry not to mention lots and lots of songs.

A fair attempt; a stomping of feet
To those you deem lesser than thy?

Colorfulness and uniquity be gifts,
So why not use them - give them but a small try?

Ee'n though the imposing bounds will be there,
Why not disregard them and go for a fly?

You miss my pont, think of it this way:
What are the rhymes trying to say?
What is it about how you end a sentence
That makes it make more or less sense?

Music have rythm, is that a cliche?
Language has rythm, it's not formless clay
It's less about copying romantic ideals
and more about the way that words feels

Free verse seems to ignore this dimension
and exchanges enjoyment for pretension
Ignore the impact of the sounds themselves
and join the unread books sitting on the shelves

Poetic flame wars o' metre versus none
Or rhyme against its absence, missed for long
Since the beginning of the last whole cent'ry
Towards its end the fury died, none fought it.

Left a deep footprint, echoing the cries
"All poets metred they're just simple fools,
No rhyme is good; they're simply cliché, see?"
Below the metred man debates his craft.

"You do not write in metre? I'm so sorry son,
But this is just the way that Poesy's done.
And rhyme, I see where novices screw up,
But never use it? Chisels aren't just duds!"

"The art is breaking bound'ries, not remaining
Within the olden barriers of good taste.
In fact
in de
monstrat
ing this
I've brok
en
A few
al
read
y,
beaten it will not."

Alas, these foes had woken an old beast
Immeas'rable 'yond mind's capacity,
Which comes before our two combatants wild,
Complaining 'bout the racket of debate.

"Poesy includes of all these things so great,
Emotion, imagery, and all the eyes desire.
But what do eyes desire per pair, you ask?
Any of these, I say, it's just their taste!

"As food appeals to connoisseurs of tongue,
Poetic eyes prefer the sight of words,
Which blend and melt in sockets while
The image 'veals so slowly in our minds.

"As art is crafted, sculpted, painted, made,
So is the metre, rhyme and free verse, see?
One is a chisel, one sandpaper, and
Free verse to art with a fine brush.

"You could use all three if that is what you want,
A canvas shaped whatever form is needed
For art is finding, just as much as making,
Find that brief spark, ignite, and let it burn."

"And stop arguing too, that really kills my buzz."

And burn it did; the poets went their separate ways,
Creating words which all did glide along
The pages like they were but wings 'bove surface,
The beast did smile for he could now sleep.

There once where some poets from Durham
Who filled a forum thread up with spam
They argued all day
but had nothing to say
So instead they arranged for a poetry slam

My view of poetry are shaped like the road
Turning and turning, but onwards it goes
Old ideas stolen to make something new
Put them all together in one tasty stew

Ancient poets used repetition, not rhyme
has this structure not grown better with time?
And up in the north, we had our own iteration
instead of rhymes, we used alliteration

These "brand new ideas" are just old ones rebranded
and far from the originality that people demanded
I complain 'bout free verse,but it's not like I hate it
One strong advantage: you can actually make it

It's just that I can't stand when I see pretention
lock people out of a whole old dimension
they talk about freedom, but are still on the tracks
They walk on the road, but they are walking back

A poem to Twilight Sparkle on learning of her Ascension:
by Dafaddah

O winged Element
Thou estate once common now elevated!
An atmosphere rare wreaths thy head
And set apace a new cadence.
Wilt thy fellowship wane
when that sixth so far above
in far Canterlot will reign?
Or will friendship's magic bind thy heart
to Ponyville and the mares of its nights?
Weep that not only dogfish guide thy flights
but still thy tale follow bronies mortal,
in multitudes undiminished.
Tune in next season, and find out,
mayhaps!

More poetry, rhyme and ponyfied song lyrics (by myself and other more worthy contributors) in: Dafaddah's Box of Chocolates

The point of that post was to make it clear that I'm not just "hating" (yes, that pitiful piece of jargon . . .) on poetry, because, as you can clearly see, I can manage it.

It's just that some points are more clearly given precise identity without any such slurring of thoughts or imagery — for the many topics in which it is used, formal discussion/elaboration would decisively evaporate the illusory, inhibiting, and convoluted mists that are often the driving forces of poets to catalogue their own, personal smatterings of allegorical assumptions about the way that they think the world works, or should work.

IMHO, poetry should only be resorted to in trying to represent something that is truly rhetorical in context, as its use is only one of tautological substantiation outside of that window of sorts.

I actually have a few pony poems that I'm turning into semi-cohesive short stories. Keep watch for Pony Poetry. It's a back-burner fic for now, but it should come to the forefront this weekend maybe.

<3 DarqFox