Poetic forms 7: the Kenning poem

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For this prompt we branch off from the list poem to look at working with kennings. A kenning is a two-word descriptive phrase. Shape-shifter. Dog-sitter. Book-lover.

What is a kenning poem?

A kenning poem is made up of these phrases, as a kind of list poem, and uses them as metaphor for a person. It is a poetic form dating back to the Anglo-Saxons, but in modern times largely appears in classrooms as a way of getting children to think about poetry and description. It is sometimes called a riddle or a puzzle poem, because it describes something without naming it, so the reader is guessing throughout.

The Prompt

The temptation here is to write about someone you know, and many of the examples of kenning poems online are written by children, about their parents. But for this prompt, pick a historical figure – and a complex one. Try to pick a person about whom much has been said, though little decided. Describe them using at least ten kennings. It does not have to rhyme.

Choose a title other than the person’s name (though you can say who it is about in parentheses or as an afterword).

If you can’t think of a figure, here are some you might choose: Thomas Cromwell, Queen Victoria, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou, Jackie Onassis, Errol Flynn.

My example is about the anatomist Vesalius, and it rhymes in places but not strictly. I also deviate on 2 phrases, which aren’t kennings. But rules were made for breaking!

To Cut to Pieces 

(after Vesalius)

Parallel dissector, tooth-counter

Atrium-ranker

Heart-holder, heart wholer

China-rooter, eyeball bowler,

Ionian-sailor, Zakynthos-wrecked,

Body-snatcher

Blood distressed.

 

Poetic Forms 6: The List Poem

Photo by Palo, used under Creative Commons license.

Lists can be beautiful, even by accident. Over at Flavorwire Emily Temple has compiled a number of ‘Lists that Read Like Poems’ and I’m particularly fond of Isaac Newton’s List of Recently Committed Sins.

To write a list poem can be quite freeing – you have the chance to juxtapose things without having to work out how to get from one thing to the next – you just put the words on the next line!

What is a List Poem?

Have a look at Lists of Note, and you’ll see that a list is not always just one word on one line, one word on the next. There are footnotes, asides, bullet points, numbers, letters. Lists are ordered, formed structured – just like poems. You can play around with the form, putting it in dialogue with the subject matter. But essentially, a list poem is a list.

One example of a list poem I’ve written in the past used different markers to signify a sort of breakdown of order in the mind of the protagonist:

Three Days of Watching Criminal Minds

1. Criminals can be classified as Organised or Disorganised. Gideon or Hotch can tell which they are from a glance at

1.1 The scene of the crime.

1.2 Their bedroom in their parent’s house

or

1.3 The contents of their briefcase or their handbag.

2. As a female I am blonde or Latino. I’m a less frequent criminal. Crimes I am unlikely to commit include arson and rape. I can be your alibi or I can answer the door when they come looking for you and be genuinely oblivious to your crimes. I wish you’d trusted me not to rat you out. I wouldn’t have, baby, I swear.

3. Being from a broken home is “classic” for criminals. Other things to look out for are:

a) Bedwetting.

b) Cruelty to animals.

c) Impotence.

4. If I found you in the night, sticky and damp with urine, even if it spilled onto my side of the bed, I wouldn’t condemn you. I’d Google other symptoms for diabetes, sure. I’d get you clean pyjamas and run you a hot bath. And with regards to your childhood with a drunk for a father all I can feel is sorry.

The Prompt

Bearing that in mind, write your own list poem titled ‘Potential Titles For my Upcoming Autobiography.’

 

 

 

Poetic Forms 5: Haiku and Senryu

Berwick Street Market. Photo by Mikko Eerola, used under Creative Commons license.

It’s two-for-one week and we’re trying haiku and senryu.

The Prompt

Write a series of haiku about a place or natural setting that you visit every day. Maybe it’s the outside smoking area of a pub. Maybe it’s your front garden. Maybe it’s a playing field you use as a shortcut on the way to work. Don’t cheat. How ‘natural’ the subject is will depend on the place.

Now write about the same place but as a senryu. Write about it at the same time of day in both.

What is a haiku?

For the purpose of this exercise, we’re going to use the simple definition. A haiku is an unrhymed poem of three lines, written in the present tense, with 5 syllables in the first and last lines and 7 in the middle.

It focuses on natural imagery. There is a twist/shift in viewpoint at the end of the first or second line. Often the first line will be a fragment, or the last line will be a fragment (ie not a full sentence). A season is usually present, either literally or in a metaphor.

What is a senryu?

Again, for the purpose of this exercise a senryu follows the same form as a haiku. It focuses on human nature and observation, with no mention of the natural world or of the seasons. The tone can be more satirical or humourous.

PLEASE NOTE: this is a very simple definition for the prompt only. It’s way, way more subtle and complex than that. Shadow Poetry go into more detail and give more examples. Many poems could be called either a senryu or a haiku. But this exercise is trying to get you to think about the same thing from 2 different positions. You’ll see from the example the end result might not necessarily be that different.

Berwick Street Market. Photo by Dave Patten. Photo used under Creative Commons license.

Berwick Street Market (in haiku)

A close spring morning
Under heavy skies steer through
The rotting fruit smell

Pacing the cobbles
Late workers want to linger
Dewy air, damp faces

Berwick Street Market (in senryu)

Rails of new fabric
Rolled out under tarpaulin
Sticky pavements from last night

Morning in Soho
Smells like regret and good coffee
Flat white, cigarette

 

Poetic Forms 4: The Shakespearean Sonnet

The Shakespearean Sonnet

This year marks 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, so it seemed appropriate to try a Shakespearean sonnet! The rules are fairly simple and great fun to bend. I stuck to the definition from the Young Writers website because I like that they haven’t just focused on the form but sum up the themes in this neat little description: ‘a poem expressive of thought, emotion or idea.’ 

For this exercise I tried to be really strict with the rhyme scheme and the pentameter.  As I said I love it when sonnets break the rules, and my favourite of Shakespeare’s often do, but sometimes it’s nice to start with something a bit more rigid.

The Prompt

Think about what has meant most to you in your life. Friendship, family, learning, working, religion, politics? Choose an abstract concept that means a lot to you and write a Shakespearean sonnet about it.

If you don’t fancy this one, have a look at our other poetry prompts on the villanelle, the prose poem, and the English madrigal!

How do you write a Shakespearean sonnet?

A Shakespearean sonnet has three verses of four lines each, and then a little 2 line verse to finish. The rhymes alternate in the verse so that lines 1 and 3 rhyme, lines 2 and 4, and then you can have a new rhyme in the next verse so that lines 5 and 7 rhyme, and lines 6 and 8. The last two lines rhyme with each other. As a format to follow, the rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

A Shakespearean sonnet is in iambic pentameter. This means that there are 5 beats to every line, or 5 points where you would stress the syllable, and that the rhythm goes duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH rather than DAH-duh DAH-duh etc. So a word like afar is an iamb, because you would say a-FAR and not AY-far. A word like opera isn’t, because you would say OP-era and not ope-RA.

Having a sonnet in front of you while you’re writing will help until you’re familiar with the form. Just to explain the stress/beats thing, remember this one:

Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY. 

duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH duh-DAH

My Writing

This poem is currently under consideration for publication so has been temporarily removed.

Further Reading

For a look at what modern writers are doing with sonnets I highly recommend recommend reading Roz Goddard’s The Sopranos Sonnets and Other Poems. This was published by Nine Arches Press who printed a number of excellent pamphlets, all of which consistent in design which made them especially fun to collect if you are a nerd like me. Roz’s poem about Christopher is available to read online on Josephine Corcoran’s extensive and wonderful blog.

Roz Goddard tweets @rozgoddard.

You can find all of Shakespeare’s sonnets online here.

The drawings in this post are mine. Feel free to use, but please acknowledge with a link back to my blog. Thanks!