02-25-2026, 01:14 AM
It's funny that I've just found this post because I was talking to a friend about how I might read 'The Odyssey' before the film comes out. I then learnt that the poem was about 300 pages so I might have just changed my mind. I thought it was like 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', long but not novel length.
That said, I have read Pushkin - Eugene Onegin which is quite long and Goethe - Faust which is a poem of sorts. I love Faust but more as a story than as a poem. The longest poem that I have read that I enjoyed all the way through was Ginsberg's Howl, although I admit that this is still too long for a poem.
Whenever I look at poems on here, I scroll down and if it's one of those where the scroll goes on forever I am filled with dread.
I'm with Ella on this one, a page two pages max
and on the other side of the scale I do enjoy short poetry, gone are the days of caring whether it's a true haiku or senryu or not but I still enjoy writing them and thinking about them. For me it's a different kind of poetry in the sense of trying to capture an image so perfectly with the least amount of words. There is a limit, I don't accept an exclamation mark as a poem, I think it's pushing it to say that 'Jesus wept' is the greatest short poem ever written.
So over haiku length, so more than 18 syllables but no more than 2 pages and bonus points for around about a page which is about the optimal length
That said, I have read Pushkin - Eugene Onegin which is quite long and Goethe - Faust which is a poem of sorts. I love Faust but more as a story than as a poem. The longest poem that I have read that I enjoyed all the way through was Ginsberg's Howl, although I admit that this is still too long for a poem.
Whenever I look at poems on here, I scroll down and if it's one of those where the scroll goes on forever I am filled with dread.
I'm with Ella on this one, a page two pages max
and on the other side of the scale I do enjoy short poetry, gone are the days of caring whether it's a true haiku or senryu or not but I still enjoy writing them and thinking about them. For me it's a different kind of poetry in the sense of trying to capture an image so perfectly with the least amount of words. There is a limit, I don't accept an exclamation mark as a poem, I think it's pushing it to say that 'Jesus wept' is the greatest short poem ever written.
So over haiku length, so more than 18 syllables but no more than 2 pages and bonus points for around about a page which is about the optimal length
wae aye man ye radgie