Ferrick Gray — For decades children have been taught to read silently. One can understand the reasons for this exercise, but it certainly does not help us understand or necessarily appreciate what we read. The advantage is that there is silence, but there are many disadvantages associated with this common and insistent practice.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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…

Ferrick Gray — How would you group different styles of poetry? It seems that there are a whole host of ways of doing this. As we may suspect, as many ways as there are individuals. There will be three types of poetry, regardless of your method. Sure, there are!