Book on Prosody

[milo]

For those who would like an excellent and easily accessible book on writing poetry that is freely distributable in electronic form go here:

http://www.the-rathouse.com/files/prosody.pdf

It is written by an old friend and mentor, Dennis Hammes, who passed to a cold Minnesota wind in the middle of December, 2008. He also wrote a collection of more than 1000 sonnets mirroring the trials of Orpheus in a modern setting of which over 700 have disappeared due to his distrust of the publishing industry, as well as several other freely distributable books that will, in all likelihood also disappear.

It would make him happy, i think, to know that people are still reading and finding use for him , of sorts.

[rayheinrich]

For those who would like an excellent and easily accessible book on writing poetry that is freely distributable in electronic form go here:

http://www.the-rathouse.com/files/prosody.pdf

It is written by an old friend and mentor, Dennis Hammes, who passed to a cold Minnesota wind in the middle of December, 2008. He also wrote a collection of more than 1000 sonnets mirroring the trials of Orpheus in a modern setting of which over 700 have disappeared due to his distrust of the publishing industry, as well as several other freely distributable books that will, in all likelihood also disappear.

It would make him happy, i think, to know that people are still reading and finding use for him , of sorts.

I'd like to second that 'excellent'. Solid book by an amazing man.
(Oh those days on rec.arts.poems!)

P.S. I named a black cat stray I found "Mews Jr." in honor of his cat
"Mews". (Mews Jr. is doing fine, but, of course, he's really hard to please
when it comes to writing.)

[milo]

For those who would like an excellent and easily accessible book on writing poetry that is freely distributable in electronic form go here:

http://www.the-rathouse.com/files/prosody.pdf

It is written by an old friend and mentor, Dennis Hammes, who passed to a cold Minnesota wind in the middle of December, 2008. He also wrote a collection of more than 1000 sonnets mirroring the trials of Orpheus in a modern setting of which over 700 have disappeared due to his distrust of the publishing industry, as well as several other freely distributable books that will, in all likelihood also disappear.

It would make him happy, i think, to know that people are still reading and finding use for him , of sorts.

[font=Courier]
I'd like to second that 'excellent'. Solid book by an amazing man.
(Oh those days on rec.arts.poems!)

[/quote]

I don't remember you from rap, did you use the same nick?

[rayheinrich]

I don't remember you from rap, did you use the same nick?

I used "Ray Heinrich" instead of "rayheinrich".
While they seem almost identical, they search differently.

I was part of the Michael McNeilley (aka mcn) 'zero city' crowd.

[milo]

I don't remember you from rap, did you use the same nick?

I used "Ray Heinrich" instead of "rayheinrich".
While they seem almost identical, they search differently.

I was part of the Michael McNeilley (aka mcn) 'zero city' crowd.

I remember McNeilley (though I was never RAP crowd, I was AAPC). Still there was enough intercourse between the 2 that I remember most.

( you should note that your name shows up mostly on google as poems on that idiot George Dance's blog)

[rayheinrich]

I don't remember you from rap, did you use the same nick?

I used "Ray Heinrich" instead of "rayheinrich".
While they seem almost identical, they search differently.

I was part of the Michael McNeilley (aka mcn) 'zero city' crowd.

I remember McNeilley (though I was never RAP crowd, I was AAPC). Still there was enough intercourse between the 2 that I remember most.

( you should note that your name shows up mostly on google as poems on that idiot George Dance's blog)

I knew of AAPC and the others and would occasionally read them, but
I posted only on RAP (with the exception of my replies to cross-posters).

He, bless his idiot soul, seems to like my stuff.
It's distressing, but I don't get to vote.

... and there are so few (mostly 14 year old straight girls and
16 year old gay boys) that it would be a pity to waste a one.

P.S. obpoem from Jun 25 1995:

< god is fine >

god is fine
though the number of miracles
produced lately
has so diluted the market
that no one notices

---

[Brownlie]

Well I read the whole thing, whether or not the messages of the book are inculcated into any future practice I may participate in is questionable. Thanks for posting I'm still confused on the limits of Free Verse.

[rayheinrich]

Well I read the whole thing, whether or not the messages of the book are inculcated into any future practice I may participate in is questionable. Thanks for posting I'm still confused on the limits of Free Verse.

Well... Mr. Hammes wasn't a leading proponent of free verse (which should
suit many of the members of the pig just fine). But, as a huge fan of the
scientific method, I appreciate the fact that his views were the result of
lengthy and intense experimentation. And I must admit, that when one
averages the results, his views are correct.

P.S. One limit of free verse is that it doesn't require enough suffering
from the writer and far too much from the reader. Another, and more
significant, is that it is built on the faulty premise that any state of
"free" can be obtained when using words.

[Brownlie]

"'I, chanter of Adamic songs,
Through the new garden the West,
the great cities calling.' -Whitman
It is, in fact, in the poems gathered under the title Children of Adam
(1860) that we have the most explicit evidence of his ambition to
reach behind tradition to find and assert nature untroubled by art, to
re-establish the natural unfallen man in the living hour. (Lewis).

Don't know if this ads anything to our discussion here.

As far as freedom I think of that old aphorism "Freedom isn't Free." I would like someone to take a stab at defining freedom.

[milo]

Well I read the whole thing, whether or not the messages of the book are inculcated into any future practice I may participate in is questionable. Thanks for posting I'm still confused on the limits of Free Verse.

I don't understand what you mean by "limits of free verse". Pretty much all of what you write is free verse.

[billy]

"'I, chanter of Adamic songs,
Through the new garden the West,
the great cities calling.' -Whitman
It is, in fact, in the poems gathered under the title Children of Adam
(1860) that we have the most explicit evidence of his ambition to
reach behind tradition to find and assert nature untroubled by art, to
re-establish the natural unfallen man in the living hour. (Lewis).

Don't know if this ads anything to our discussion here.

As far as freedom I think of that old aphorism "Freedom isn't Free." I would like someone to take a stab at defining freedom.

the freedom to write what you want. if you mean real freedom, (think about something freedom is a state of mind.

as for free verse, it's as a good a medium as any for getting a poem written. not the same as blank verse which is what i tend to use if i'm not trying to do a rhymed poem.

i'll read the piece when i get time, at present i'm trying to juggle uping some audio poetry and the real world demands of being the household's taxi driver. thanks milo

[Brownlie]

"'I, chanter of Adamic songs,
Through the new garden the West,
the great cities calling.' -Whitman
It is, in fact, in the poems gathered under the title Children of Adam
(1860) that we have the most explicit evidence of his ambition to
reach behind tradition to find and assert nature untroubled by art, to
re-establish the natural unfallen man in the living hour. (Lewis).

Don't know if this ads anything to our discussion here.

As far as freedom I think of that old aphorism "Freedom isn't Free." I would like someone to take a stab at defining freedom.

the freedom to write what you want. if you mean real freedom, (think about something freedom is a state of mind.

as for free verse, it's as a good a medium as any for getting a poem written. not the same as blank verse which is what i tend to use if i'm not trying to do a rhymed poem.

i'll read the piece when i get time, at present i'm trying to juggle uping some audio poetry and the real world demands of being the household's taxi driver. thanks milo

Just by knowing the difference between free verse and blank verse you know more than half of the English students at my college. I loved the audio you put up on Robert Frost I think Frost might have been reading them himself great stuff.

[Erthona]

Thanks milo, that's a nice little book and it's free.

Brownlie: If it is not formal verse, it is free verse, that however does not make it good or even adequate free verse. I will tell you what free verse is not. It is not abandoning punctuation, grammar, or correct spelling. It is not a bunch of dependent clauses stuck together trailing down the page. I always has some kind of underlying rhythmical component, just as music has a beat. Of course as no one these days believes there are standards by which poetry can be judged, and thus all poetry is equal, none of that really matters.

Here is a truism: Just as in art, football, music and so on, if you lack the talent you will never be a poet, no matter how many books you read that instruct you how to be one. The best that can be taught is skill, the inner spark is either there or it is not. It is no great loss if one is not a poet, in fact one is much better off if one's talents lie in the area of plumbing. You will make a much better living (that is you will make  one) and probably make a greater contribution to your immediate community. There are very few poets who come along that are gifted enough to effect the larger consciousness. Compared to those rare individuals, the rest of us write slop. Some slop to be savored, some of it slop that should be promptly poured out, but in the end, slop and it will be forgotten without leaving the slightest ripple on the greater course of things. If one wishes to impact the world, I suggest smiling more. A true poet writes, simply and solely because he has no other choice. Basically for the same reason we fuck, we are driven to it. All the rest is pocket change.




Musings on Muses (Leanne hates Muses)

My muses are enough for me,  
Poetic sexuality,  
They from me rarely flee,  
Nor never are unfaithful.  

So let me lie in their repose,
Absorbing inspiration’s blows,
For I will follow where they go,
In this I will be faithful.

For no evil do these faeries bring,
Only wild imaginings,
Through that song they softly sing,
Forever are they faithful.

Yet, if their song one day falls quiet,
And I am thus robbed of my sight,
It is my pride that brings the blight,
For they are ever faithful.

It is a gift, but seems a curse,
When one is forced to write in verse,
Words compressed, thus seeming terse,
Desire to be unfaithful.

Still to these nymphs I am wed,
Yet, care not they, for mortal’s dread,
Neither need they meat nor bread,
Only spirits remain faithful.

Regardless of the circumstance,
Continue they with their dance,
Although I may look askance,
To this they’re always faithful.

Not for money or for fame,
Will these faeries wild be tamed,
While I slip on down life’s drain,
Bound to death I still am faithful.

There in the eve’ning hours gloom,
Read the stone above my tomb,
To poverty he was doomed,
For always stayed he faithful.

dale

[rayheinrich]

        There once was a poet, a plumber;
        Whose girl thought his poems were a bummer.
        While pluming her pipes,
        He relinquished his gripes;
        As he found he was just a new comer.