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More Riming Couplets Please!
Ferrick Gray — It is without a doubt that the riming couplet has been a useful construct in formal (classical) poetry. It has been altered and adapted over the centuries, but today there is a tendency not to give a great deal of praise or time to this once popular form.
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What is Poetry?
Ferrick Gray — In all honesty, this is the age-old question for which there is no answer. Many people have tried, but no-one has succeeded. Yes, all have failed. The point where failure begins is when personal opinions come into the discussion, đebate or in some cases argument.
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Comments on Eliot’s “Reflections on Vers Libre”
Ferrick Gray — Eliot’s essay concerning vers libre is extremely important. One may even say that it is ground-breaking because it puts to rest the so-called free verse movement. At least I would have thought so, but the believers still push on in their ignorance, thinking that if you make enough noise then someone will listen.
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Whāt Has (Mother) Nature Done?
Ferrick Gray — The Spenserian sonnet is unique in that the quatrains are interlocked by their rime. The rime scheme is given by abab bcbc cdcd ee with the volta always occurring at the final couplet. The sonnet is sometimes classified as Italian because it only has five rimes. However, the Italian sonnet does not has a rime-connection between the octave and sestet of which…
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The Rape of the Lock—Canto I
Ferrick Gray — This analysis uses the version from: The Twickenham Edition of the Poems of Alexander Pope General Editor: John Butt Volume II — The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems The Five Canto Version of 1714 Edited by Geoffrey Tillotson The Broadwater Press Ltd, 1963
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Thoughts of Eliot’s “Shelley and Keats”
Ferrick Gray — I am a great admirer of Mr. Eliot’s work (Eliot from now on), both poetry, prose and critical essays. Albeit I do not find the enthusiasm for Wordsworth as he does, or at least to me appears to have, I hold great interest in work. I do find his comments about Shelley (which I doubt to be flippant) quite amusing on occasions.…
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Analyzing Shelley’s “Ozymandias”
Ferrick Gray — Ozymandias is brilliant! Yet it is not without its critics. There has been much debate over different aspects in this short poem. Is it a sonnet? Is it written in iambic pentameter? How do you pronounce Ozymandias? How many syllable are in Ozymandias? All these and other questions litter the Shelley table.
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Dos and Don’ts when using Heroic Couplets
Ferrick Gray — Heroic couplets have been a useful and successful vehicle in formal poetry. They have a uniqueness to them that is pleasing in both a visual and audible sense. The heroic couplet became popular from the influence of the likes of Dryden and Pope.
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The Poet’s Voice
Ferrick Gray — How many times have I said this? Ha! Be yourself, and do not try to be someone else. I mention this in my essay Charging Poetry with Meaning, but I will elaborate further in what follows.
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What is this Thing called Meter?
Ferrick Gray — When we talk of meter in accentual-syllabic verse, it is not something that should be obvious. If it is obvious, then your work will be of little interest. After listening to overemphasized syllables, it will become dull and boring. When you read formal (structured or metrical) verse, you are feeling the rhythm of the piece. Like a song which in many ways…