European Poetic Forms (2)

Why are foreign forms of poetry often very different from traditional English forms?

The short answer is because the languages are different. They sound different, they may be richer or poorer than English in rhyme for example, and the rhythms of everyday speech are different. We are often invited to write these foreign forms in iambic pentameters although the originals are not written in this rhythm because their languages did not suit that meter. Most of you will be familiar with the da-DUM iambic rhythm. It is popular for it most closely matches the rhythms of everyday English speech. French poets rarely use it, because French doesn?t vary the syllabic stress in the same way as English. If we wrote in English in the rhythms of French or Italian it probably wouldn?t work very well at all.

I am given to understand that almost every Italian word ends in a vowel. Consequently rhyme must be very easy in that language. English is not a rhyme-rich language, as anyone trying to rhyme with silver, orange or purple will have discovered so, traditionally, English has made a feature out of rhyme while other languages have looked to devices such as repetitive patterns and limited the number of rhymes to be used, in order to be more challenging.

In this class we will be studying several of these foreign forms and writing our own poetry using them.

A form can be as simple as a set rhyme scheme in a given number of lines of a given length, or it may involve a variety of additional complexities, such as repeated or tumbling lines as well as restrictions as to the number of rhymes overall. The forms we shall be studying all possess some or all of these features.

The course will start and end on a Friday with two chat rooms per week and the possibility of a third if the geographical spread of students requires it. If we stick to two sessions a week, most likely Tuesday and Friday, they will follow the pattern below.

Session 1. Introduction meet class consider special requests, and changes to the rough outline set down here. Introduce the Kyrielle and its derivatives. Assignment: write a Kyrielle and a kyrielle sonnet.

Session 2. Discuss the completed assignment. Introduce the pantoum consider problems arising from the form. Techniques used in writing this form. Assignment: Draft a pantoum.

Session 3. Consider problems arising from assignment. Consider subjects selected and their suitability for the pantoum treatment. Assignment, turn the drafts into finished poems.

Session 4, 5 and 6. The villanelle, writing using various techniques discussed, discussions of problems and suitability of form to subject. Assignments should produce at least three finished villanelles.

Session 7 & 8. The Sestina. Various approaches to writing this form. Assignments: write at least two contrasting sestinas.

Session 9. Discuss sestina assignment. Discussion on whether different forms fit different subject matter. Voluntary Assignment produce and post an essay/article, or even a sestina if you wish, entitled ?Horses for Courses?, and in the description box: ?Matching Poetic Form to Content?. This will be tutored individually prior to posting as required.


Instructor: James Bartlett

About The Instructor: Jim Bartlett is an ex-Royal Marine Officer, and retired teacher, with a good honours degree in Education, and English and Drama, from London University. He has been a member of a local poetry group in South Wales where he currently lives alone in a redundant farm house.

Jim started writing while serving with 45 Commando, Royal Marines in Aden in the mid 1960s. At that time he was writing mainly song lyrics but later moved on to poetry after studying it on his degree course, which he undertook as a mature student between 1972 and 1976.

He has been published in poetry magazines and newspapers from time to time. In 2005 he produced a CD of self-penned songs under the title of "Tomorrow Never Comes", and published a poetry collection of thirty-six poems in 2012 entitled, "Triple Dozen" prior to joining FanStory in March 2015. His songs and poems have won several competitions.

Jim has also lectured on English Folk Lore and Song for the WEA in SE London in the late 1970s. He was urged to enrol as an instructor on FanStory by many who found his reviews of their poetry particularly helpful.