If Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, or any the other fine traditional poets of yesteryear, were alive today, he might not have the easiest time to get his work published in today’s markets. Why? Assuming there would be no other objection, like sentimentality, the strict traditional forms often placed more emphasis on form or structure than on the words. Inverted language (like reversing the natural order of subject/verb/object to object/subject/verb) to facilitate rhyme or contractions to accommodate the metrical beat or syllabic count is now considered contrived and archaic. However, keeping the important things in a predominantly free-verse world of poetry in mind, good rhyming poetry can be written today.
The biggest reason that “rhyming poetry” has fallen out of favor is that it is often forced and unnatural. Now throw in terrible metrical discipline (or a complete lack of it), which aggravates the sing-song “quality,” and the work will be on rapid express to the rejection folder.
So how is the rhyme issue dealt with? If the rhyme is not hard rhyme (like dove/love), but slant or half-rhyme (like wren/fend or ham/ban), or even consonantal rhyme (ruin/son), there might be a more natural feel to the rhyme. But that isn’t enough. The lines should not be deliberately end-stopped to facilitate the rhyme, but continued. To the ear, it will sound more like internal rhyme (but to the eye it will appear as some form of end rhyme). In a good rhyming poem, the reader might not even realize it is rhyming poem (until later).
What about the meter? A modern version of a traditional poem may preserve the structure and rhyme scheme, but the metric will be relaxed. It is wise to deliberately avoid a regular metrical arrangement, even though there might be passages of deliberate iambic tetrameter or whatever. But there still must be rhythm and flow. it’s like waves crashing on the shore. There is a rhythm, but the waves are not regular!
There are venues that do favor the so-called formal poetry (sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, etc.) such as Measure. And even other venues without a predisposition against these traditional forms or other rhyming poetry will publish them as long as they sound natural (and have the other things that make a poem a poem). For example, my poem, “Aurora in the Dawn” (Aurora in the Dawn Anthology, Aurora Wolf, August 2010), is a such a poem about survivors of a nuclear winter. The rhyme scheme, aabcc, is unobtrusive had I said nothing. I still like rhyming poetry. And no, rhyming poetry is not out. See for yourself:
Aurora in the Dawn
Sheer-black curtains the frozen tundra
and the lone white wolf ululates La Luna
hidden above the thick gray clouds.
And the stars, too, shed their drops
of light on the shroud of nimbus tops.
Remember the fire pinks, the honeysuckle,
the lavender and rose, the green and thistle
grass? Where have they gone? All gone
the skittering chickadees and warblers,
eagles, falcons, mockingbirds, no more.
There is no south to fly to for nuclear winter.
Tropical islands long since frozen, now under
pale glaciers floating in wine darkened seas,
no, just darkened. The sun had forgotten us.
So few of us left. It is cold in this loneliness.
But we warm by the fire and I hold your hand.
I kiss you. And I kiss you again. And again.
When I open my eyes, I stare at the gray,
waiting for the sky to tear, to shimmer dawn
and the hope of light, for the first shaft of sun.
I do not agree with your statement that rhyming makes poetry forced or unnatural (though I admit it can sometimes happen) in my opinion it is more challenging to write a rhyming poem than free verse, and though it may not be quite as fluid, rhyming makes it beautiful.
Perhaps I am too traditional or old-fashioned, but I find it very difficult to call something poetry which does not rhyme, has no meter, no structure and no rhythm.
I suppose you will tell me that this is not the definition of free verse, but what I want to ask you is this:
If you encourage no, half and slant rhyme, on the basis of them being more natural and flowing, are you not in danger of creating a new generation of poets who define poetry in no better way than it being a list of inspiring words and phrases, without any particular form.?
I ask this for I can tell you from experience that people tend to misuse or overuse their freedoms, and because all the poems I have read today have almost made me lose my faith in human talent.
Thank you for your above poem, is very beautiful, and the best one I have read today.
Thank you, Tamarind, for replying. I too would disagree with myself if I indeed said “that rhyming makes poetry forced or unnatural.” Fortunately, I did not say that. However I did say that forced rhyme makes the poem sound unnatural. This is a very important distinction!
I never said or implied that rhyming poetry is not fluid! Fluidity is extremely important. I define fluidity as rhythm and flow. In a rhyming poem, that fluidity is often achieved by rhyme and meter, but that by itself may not be enough. It could still sound clunky, so syntax might be important to rescue the line. Like you, I feel that much of the contemporary poetry published today doesn’t even seem like poetry, but it is marked with impeccable rhythm.
I put structure right up there as one of the key elements to a poem, so whether it is a traditional form poem (like a sonnet, ballad, or villanelle) or a free verse poem, there is structure. And besides the verification, one of the most important structural elements in free verse poetry is the line-break. When deftly handled, it is awesome.
When writing a rhyming poem, I encourage whatever it takes to make it appealing to the ear. I am sorry, but forced rhyme will never do that. If you can use hard rhyme and make it sound natural, then do it. But I see all too often that novices will rhyme for rhyming sake and compromise what might be a good poem. Some hard rhymes are so cliche, it is a double-whammy to use them (face/grace; love/above; etc.) I like rhyming poetry and I write some rhyming poetry. The title of the essay was rhetorical, not declarative.
Poetry does evolve with each generation. Some of the changes I like, others, I do not. I disdain most of postmodern poetry. I miss the lyrical verse. The anecdote isn’t poetry, but I see a lot of that today. But it is what it is. However, there will always be some venue that will try to preserve some of those things that we have held dear. And there are hundreds of journals out there that will appreciate rhyming poetry. I edit poetry for a couple of journals. I do not discourage form poetry as many other publications might, and I do publish rhyming poetry on occasion. (See Silver Blade at http://www.silverblade.net.)
I am glad you enjoyed “Aurora in the Dawn” where I have demonstrated all those kinds of rhyme (including hard rhyme )
You are right that it is easy for rhyming poets to sacrifice meanings for words,
but If I had to choose between a forced rhyme and a senseless free-verse, I would pick the rhyme, luckily those are not the only choices.
By the way, could you please give me an example of exactly what you see as a forced rhyming poem.
Sorry for the late reply, Tamarind. I meant to respond to it when I got home that night, but I frankly forgot. Then I got terribly distracted. Some of what I say below might be repetitios (my apologies for that), but some is “new” material.
Indeed, there is a lot of “senseless verse” out there (both rhyming and free verse forms). I will read neither. Now, a poem might not be accessible, and it is this you might be talking about. I think poetry should be accessible. Deeper meanings can be layered in the poem and “everyone” should get something out of it if the poet has done his/her job. That’s part of the crafting process — clarity. Unfortunately, some poems leave me scratching my head wondering what was going on. I understand that part of the responsibility of “getting it” is up to me, but the burden is up to the author.
There is some confusion in the Internet about what is “forced rhyme.” Disregard those that say forced rhyme is when a word doesn’t perfectly fit aurally. Actually, that’s a half-rhyme or slant rhyme, and it is a good thing. Forced rhyme refers to the insistence of a hard rhyming word for the sake of making the rhyme with a complete disregard for the poem. It may even compromise rhythm and flow, the metrical discipline to get that rhyme (which includes line length and meter), let alone the meaning. When the word is forced into the poem for the sake of rhyme, it is called forced rhyme.. Sometimes the poem will use an archaic technique called introversion (reversing the natural order of words) to accommodate rhyme, or make up silly make-up words (which might still be fun for a preschoolers and jabberwockies). So are all hard rhymes forced? Of course not! Only when it sounds unnatural.
AllPoetry has some examples: http://allpoetry.com/column/7523857-What_is_Forced_Rhyming__-by-Mephitic_ID_Synergy
Hope this helps.
I am in agreement with Tamarind and find that rhyming poetry can be the most beautiful of poetry. Free verse annoys me and I feel that I am wasting my time reading nonsensical sequences of words. I simply don’t like poetry that leaves me thinking “What was that all about?” and, unfortunately, that’s mostly what’s out there.
It is my belief that the “general public” prefers rhyming poetry and are in disagreement with the literati about what is good.
Hi Carol,
I am in agreement with Tamarind, too. Please see my recent response to her. I think we are all on the same page, but getting polarized by some misconceptions. Good poetry is good poetry period, regardless of whether it is rhyming or non rhyming.