John, my key metaphor is as specific as I can get to discuss poetic form in general. I don't have any "one size fits all" ways of talking about the multitude of specific forms, each of which has very specific things that it is suited for. A triolet, for instance, is ideally suited to exploring the ways in which tiny changes in a line, such as in the punctuation, can change the meaning of the whole line. You start out thinking the poem is about one thing and find out that it is about something else. Meanwhile, all of the repetitions give the poem a very songlike effect to the ear. Any formal poet with lots of experience gets a feel for which form to use to create which effects with which kinds of content, just as surgeons know which scalpel to reach for to deal with a particular kind of surgery.
Susan
|