In the previous article, “How to Write Poems That Capture Your Readers’ Hearts and Imaginations,” we said that poems express ideas, experiences, or emotions in a more concentrated form than ordinary articles, prose, or speech. They may rhyme or be in a rhythmic composition of words. They are one of the most powerful forms of expression in language. So how can you write a poem that truly states what you want to say? Here are some key elements for composing and developing poetic form. Follow these key steps to write a poem that captures your emotions, ideas, and experiences as poignant word pictures.
Capture picture ideas in writing
Poems are about creating images in the reader’s mind. Use a variety of image ideas, such as the ones below, to help you achieve this.
o Allusion – a form of indirect reference usually made in different phrases, lines or sentences
o Simile: used to compare two or more things that are not the same using the word “like” ((her hair is like a stream of shiny coffee in the mountain sunlight)
o Symbolism o Metaphor: used to compare two or more things that are different using “as” or “is”, such as “all the world is a stage”, “red as a rose”, “black as midnight in a swamp of cypresses”. “, etc.
Establish a logical progression of thought to be used in the poem
The lines, thoughts, and ideas expressed in your poem should flow smoothly from one to the next. Don’t jump illogically. Let your poem flow rhythmically like a gentle stream tottering between the smooth stones of a stream gently murmuring in a grassy meadow.
Indicate the theme of the poem in one verse
Create a “theme verse” that can be used repeatedly in your poem to help unify its stanzas. Your poem will flow and sound much better as it is read using this key aspect. The main theme of a love poem can be one that begins or ends with something like:
or Did I tell you that…?
o As always, thoughts about you…
o Any key word or phrase used repeatedly to begin or end a verse or stanza
Other useful aids
To help you write your poem, try using these dynamic aids:
o A rhyming dictionary – invaluable for finding rhymes for low-frequency or hard-to-rhyme words
o A thesaurus: an indispensable tool to help you expand the vocabulary used in your poem (personally, I like Rodale’s much better than Roget’s)
o Alliteration: repetition of a consonant sound in two or more words in a phrase or line, such as: beautiful bubbly brown sugar or blazing sunbeams
o Assonance: similar sounds, like alliteration, but used in the internal syllables of a series of words (birthday weather, father’s brother, more math, etc. to give you an idea)
o Consonance: repetition of certain stressed syllables in a pair, group, or chain of words (taker, baker, maker, shaker, Quaker but not faster)
o Onomatopoeia – words that by their pronunciation imitate sounds. Words like whistle, tweet, boom, bag, pow, crash, crunch, slam, zoom, snap, crackle, pop, and zing, among many others, fit into this category.
These steps will help you write poetry that stirs the feelings and emotions of your readers and can help make your poetry writing stand out. For other tips and techniques on composing this elusive form of language in context, check out the companion article, “How to Write Poems That Capture Your Readers’ Hearts and Imaginations.”