Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 22:37:14 -0800 (PST)
From: StreetWrites 
Subject: {poetry} SETUP: "Concrete Poetry"

This is the first - but only in the sense that I've written it first -
advanced exercise.  There may be debate over how "advanced" it is, but I
do hope it's fun.

Bill - thanks for the feedback on "I've Got Rhythm".  I'll re-post it
after editing.

Woofie - I believe that the dactylic meter was named after the pteradactyl
because they are both considered dinosaurs, and presumed to be extinct.
Maybe the dactyl should be.  But if you tear a dactyl, you get a bunch of
useless syllables.  Please don't do that.  Bash it with an inebriated rock
instead. 

---

Concrete Poetry
--------------

	Now why would anyone want to write poetry in concrete?  Or is this
supposed to be poetry about concrete?  Poetry that uses forms of the word
"concrete"? 
	"Concrete poetry" refers to poetry where the text itself forms a
visible picture on the page. 
	This has become a popular device with the growth of visual
mediums, from television to the World Wide Web, but poets have been using
it since words started being put on paper. 
	Here is one example (first stanza only) from the 1600's, by George
Herbert, called "Easter Wings": 
	
	Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
	   Though foolishly he lost the same,
	        Decaying more and more
	            Till he became
		      Most poor:
		      With thee
                      O let me rise
	         As larks, harmoniously
              And sing this day thy victories:
	Then shall the fall further the flight in me.


	I've seen several modern examples.  One of those of my friend, Dr. Wes 
Browning, is "Elizabeth":

   
            Trees outnumber *Elizabeth*
       Clouds   blossom      Streets    carpet
     Locks    harbor       Walls     garden
  Glass     pictures     Steel  poses
  Lamps fountain    Stones nurture
       while
       Trees,
        still
      outnumbering
      *Elizabeth*,
     surround and defend....
  ---------------------------------------------


	One of my own attempts is:

	summer
           rivers
        murmur
    leaves
and breezes
   whisper
        bees and
           dreamy
       thoughts
     hum
   as summer
     winds
         on


	Concrete poetry has no agreed-upon conventions.  It is certainly
more elegant to have the shape formed by a natural line length, as in
Herbert's poem, than by the arbitrary division of lines and the padding of
spaces, like Dr. Wes and I sneaked by on; but some arbitrariness of line
arrangement is always going to be necessary to create the visual effect. 
	Unless you simply vary the length of your lines so cunningly that
the right margin forms a picture, like a silhouette. 
	Sometimes the visual form makes it possible to read a poem in
different ways.  A poem written in the form of a circle may be read from
different starting points, or in alternate directions.  A poem written in
the form of a "V" may be read down and then back up, or left-to-right, or
down the right side and back up the left... 
	Many intriguing possibilities, aren't there?

Exercise:

	Within the limitations of ASCII text, create a poem so that the
shape of the text on paper matches, in some way, the theme or nature of
the poem. 

Guidelines for critique:

1) How identifiable was the visual image formed by the text?
2) Did the visual image match the poem?
3) Did the visual image add to the enjoyment of the poem?
4) Was the poem good enough as a poem to stand alone, be enjoyable 
without the visual image?
5) How arbitrary was the arrangement of text, to form the visual image?
6) Did the arrangement of lines allow for alternative ways of reading the 
poem?

Your critiques may also cover any other aspects of the poem, but be sure 
to include the exercise points above.

Write On!
Anitra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     "Beware of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."  ABS
	   anitra@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~anitra
	   thalia@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~thalia

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