A Poet Explains
Perhaps, dear madam and dear sir,
You might with my remarks concur
As I explain why I insist
That poetry should still exist
When all the world embraces prose,
Though I admit I can’t suppose
We yearn for language made to shine
When common speech will suit us fine.
And if a poem’s to entertain
We only ask that it contain
Some fresh depiction done with ease
To cause a smile and briefly please.
But yet allow me to observe,
A stronger verse may further serve
To light a thought, a scene, with art
And raise a joy in someone’s heart.
With guilt, I know I err too much;
I lack the firm and certain touch;
My lyrics strike not fire, but smoke;
Keen to declaim, I often croak.
Ashamed, embarrassed, I regret
How slowly I am learning yet
The craft of setting up a verse
To share delight and do no worse.
Nevertheless I can assert
A poem’s power to alert
The ready mind to worthy themes,
To lifted life, not merely dreams.
In verses sentiments resound—
Exalted, grander, more profound—
And of fine meanings there are those
That simply can’t be put in prose.
Poets and hearers still agree
In this prosaic world to free
That kind of speech that charms and rings.
Amid the dismal clank of things
Poetic work, in spite of doubt,
Can fashion wonder and share out,
In words that whisper, sing, or roar,
A gladness not made known before.
Having explained, I’ll now withdraw,
And though I lack the means to awe
Still I affirm that possibly
I will persist in poetry.
To keep my purposes intact
And in good will to wish and act
With little but rough lines to show,
Is scant accomplishment, I know.
And yet, dear madam and dear sir,
I might supply what you’ll prefer—
One special factor for delight.
We falter under hope and fright;
Cacophonies abound and jar
While harmony is lost afar.
But if you will give ear and time,
Along with words I’ll bring the rhyme.
Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano is a native of Kentucky who for many years has been a bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk of the Theravāda tradition.
Bhikkhu, I couldn’t agree more with your perspective on ‘Rhyme’. I flash my ‘prose’ in my other-than-poetry books, where it belongs. I genuinely appreciate GOOD prose, but – IMO – it takes, at best, the red ribbon when it comes to authentic ‘Poetry’. An excellent piece – 🙂
Only If They Rhyme
“You write, I see, exclusively in rhyme,” the patron said…
“doesn’t prose appeal to you?” she quizzed the noted bard.
“Prose is fine,” the man replied, “but here is why I do —
writing metered rhyme – for me, is relatively hard!”
Turning out a piece of prose, for me, is fairly easy –
laying out the concepts of my themes takes little time
When off’ring them — haphazardly — while many focused hours
are needed virtually every time I try the same — in rhyme!
You’ll find, in my portfolio, two quarters of my work
will either stoke a mem’ry in your mind – or make you laugh…
While those I view as ‘meaningful’ – exposing and defining
what our lives are all about – comprise the other half.
But I won’t try convincing you to alter your technique —
assuming you’re a ‘proser’ — but I’ve noticed… over time…
95% of those I’ve asked — “Do you like poems?”,
have stated, firmly – “Yes — I do — but only if they rhyme!”
Bhikkhu, I am in complete agreement with the distinction between prose and poetry. You have made the case beautifully and admirably. Mark’s comment also concludes in accordance with my mantra, “If it doesn’t rhyme, it is a waste of time.” I already know and have endured the comments otherwise but am happy to know it is not just me.
I appreciate and enjoyed the poem Bhikkhu.
I feel I lack a firm and certain touch as well. But we are all learning, line by line, verse by verse.
Great job! Keep it up!
Rhyming verse can indeed convey things in a more memorable way than prose does.
It is difficult not to call to mind the story of St. Thomas More, reported in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (and probably a Victorian invention), in which a friend presented to More the draft of a book he had written. More read it and then requested the author to turn it into verse. Having laboured long to produce the verse version, the author presented that to More, only to be told, “Ay! Ay! That will do, that will do. ‘Tis rhyme now, but before it was neither rhyme nor reason.”
Bhikku, your words are both rhyme and reason and are much appreciated.
This piece is written in lovely, lucid, and elegant English.
The first stanza is one complete sentence, every element perfectly subordinated, with a careful interplay of irrealist tenses and present and future indicative. It seems to speak in the style of prose, and yet it is rhymed and metrical. The other stanzas follow suit, and we have an excellent statement of aesthetic principles.
Well-spoken poetics in a poem, Bhikku Nyanasobhano. This is the kind of thing that could be said in prose, but more beautifully so in a poem such as this. You first recognize that poetic language is different, “made to shine.” Writing poetry is a skill to be learned. You acknowledge varied kinds: one to entertain, a “stronger” one to delight emotions in the hearer or reader, and further yet, poetry capable of evoking wonder and exalting the spirit to “lifted life,” perhaps even assisting toward a state of enlightenment. And you seem to say that the poet, though exercising a worthy vocation, would do well to keep humility about him and work diligently to share his joy. Good will helps, and worthy themes cannot be lacking for more profound pieces, but technique obviously displayed in the musical qualities of rhyme adds the most attractive polish. You have my agreement to add to that of others who’ve already said so!
I do prefer rhyming poetry, but that’s just me. I can appreciate lyrical free verse and find it helps me with my prose – short stories, novels, even articles.
Even so, it’s sublime
when your verse uses rhyme.
Thanks for the read.
“To share delight and do no worse” is just one of the many memorable, trenchant bon mot/aphoristic gems that move the poem forward like a string of pearls. I have attempted to create similar poetic defenses of the poetic art but none comparable to what you have accomplished here. Well done, and bring us more!
This manifesto reminds me of Alexander Pope — not only the couplets, but its epistolary tone and discourse on the nature and purpose of poetry. You make your case forcefully, with wit, and in a highly enjoyable poem. Very nice work.
A perfect summation of how I’ve felt since beginning to appreciate and write poetry 23 years ago. These lines especially resonate with my attitude toward my own work:
…though I lack the means to awe
Still I affirm that possibly
I will persist in poetry.
To keep my purposes intact
And in good will to wish and act
With little but rough lines to show,
Is scant accomplishment, I know.
The rhythm and rhymes, along with the highlighting of what makes poetry special, really make me love this work. Thank you for sharing it!