A Guide to Writing Non-Rhymed Poetry

Over many a volume of forgotten lore...

Do you recognize these famous lines? If not, they're from "The Raven," of course! Edgar Allan Poe, despite his tendency toward dark and deathly themes, is still well loved for poems like the above, "Annabel Lee," and "For Annie."

If you're a newcomer to writing poetry, however, and you're unsure as to where to start, you may find a few suggestions here. Though many famous poets like Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the ever-wonderful William Shakespeare used rhyme, this does not mean you must do so.

Rhyming is simply one technique, as tonal harmony is to painting, and staccato is to music. When first starting to write poetry, my personal suggestion is to avoid using rhyme altogether, because of its tendency to limit your imagination and stifle your ideas.

Many poems that do not rhyme, however, still have rhythm. Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" is a famous example. Even without hearing Mr. Ginsberg recite the poem, you can almost get a sense of the rhythm he was creating when he wrote the words:

Who talked continuously seventy hours from park to

pad to bar to Bellevue to museum to the Brooklyn Bridge,

lost battalion of platonic conversationalists jumping

down the stoops off fire escapes off windowsills

Much of the poem consists of similar hallucinogenic imagery, and while the words occasionally rhyme, there is certainly no strict rhyme scheme, as in a sonnet. Perhaps the reason that so many newcomers to poetry associate it with rhyme is that the poems taught in schools often conform to such a pattern.

In addition to free verse, there are also rhyming poems that refuse to follow a rigorous rhythm. You may have read Langston Hughes' classic "Dream Deferred":

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

After skipping one line, the following line of the poem rhymes. See the full poem here, if you wish: Poem Hunter: Dream Deferred. The point, however, isn't necessarily the rhymes, or the rhythm. "Dream Deferred," though short, uses a number of similes to evoke imagery in the reader's mind. As a matter of fact, some might say that its brief length makes it all the more powerful.

Using such literary elements as metaphors, similes, and personification help make your poem more memorable and able to evoke emotion, if you so choose.

Making a List, Checking It Twice

An enjoyable exercise, if you are just beginning to write, may be to jot down ideas that pop into your head. Let's say you want to write about the breakup of a relationship (a very common theme, in poetry and song); think of words associated with it.

You might say: partner, heart, warmth, whisper, murmur, peace, torn, apart, broken, separate, depressed, despondent, dispassionate. Though you may not decide to use all of those words, you can sift through the list and think about which words sound good together.

This, however, is the part that takes some degree of talent and practice to master. Anyone can write a poem, true; but what is it that really makes the classic poems great? The "masters," as you might call them, are able to take a list of words, like the one above, and make them work together as a whole.

Cornelius Eady, a contemporary poet, once wrote an amazing work entitled "I'm a Fool To Love You," in which the lines do not rhyme; the words, however, are incredibly rhythmic:

Some folks will tell you the blues is a woman,

Some type of supernatural creature.

My mother will tell you, if she could,

About her life with my father,

A strange and sometimes cruel gentleman.

She would tell you about the choices

A young black woman faces.

Because of his use of metaphors and similes, as well as the rhythms contained within his lines, Eady creates a poem that could almost be considered a song, were it to have music behind it.

Words and Guitar

Speaking of music...you could technically consider any musical piece that has lyrics to be a form of poetry. Granted, some of today's pop music may not sound particularly poetic, but you can almost always find a song or songs that speak to you personally.

"Under the Bridge," by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is a song that technically began as a poem, and later evolved into its current musical form. According to some interviews, the song and/or poem symbolically talks about singer Anthony Kiedis' addiction to heroin.

The lyrics never once mention the word "heroin," although there is one line where Kiedis sings, "Under the bridge downtown/Is where I drew some blood." The song, overall, talks of the city of Los Angeles, personifying it as a woman.

In Eady's poem above, his first line, in which he says "the blues is a woman," is an excellent example of personification. If you're considering the use of this technique in a poem or song lyric, however, make sure that the association is fitting. You may want to read it out loud to yourself, to ensure that it sounds right.

Yet one more contemporary singer/poet whom you might want to "consult" for inspiration is Fiona Apple. Her MTV and media antics aside, she is appreciated by fans for her poetic lyrics. On her album When the Pawn (whose full title is a poem in itself), there is a song entitled "Paper Bag," in which she sings:

But then the dove of hope began its downward slope

And I believed for a moment that my chances

Were approaching to be grabbed

But as it came down near, so did a weary tear

I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag

Though Apple has never officially released a statement on the meaning of the lyrics, it is apparent that she is talking of a boy who has fallen out of love with her, or for whom she has unrequited love. The symbolism of seeing what she thinks is a bird, and discovering it to be a paper bag, somehow seems appropriate.

Write Now

There have been many volumes of literature written solely about poetry. In this writer's opinion, however, one of the best ways to develop your own poetic voice is to read great poetry composed by others, and then borrow some of their technique.

Again, you may end up preferring to rhyme your poetry, and to use strict rhythm; that is a personal choice, just as a director may choose to shoot a film in black and white. However, that director who makes that decision must realize that there are certain restrictions to shooting in black and white. The same goes for the poet who chooses to rhyme.

Just as the early rock 'n' roll singers were heavily inspired by the blues, many a contemporary poet will acknowledge classical and perhaps even Biblical influences. So make that trip to your nearest bookstore, library, or poetry website, and "ponder...over many a volume of forgotten lore," to paraphrase Poe. You never know what might strike you.