Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-25266931-20161119192054/@comment-26397825-20170211060112

When I read poetry in a book, it has a rhythm and flow to it which tantalises the mind and conjures images within the imagination. The passion is easily discernible because the author wrote it with a rhythm that helps the words flow.

When the poetry does not have a rhythm and the words do not flow, the imagination is hard pressed to conjure anything at all. Find a rhythm and stick to it for each one when you write these songs and poetry, and keep the rhythm for that poem going through your head the entire time you write, or it'll just seem like a bunch of words listed on a page with no rhyme or reason.

Once you can say for certain 'this is the rhythm, this is how many beats each line will have, this is the flow of the sentence' and you choose what kind of English you are going to use (will it be short and sharp, flowery and elegant, Shakespearean, modern, etc) for the entire poem (unless you specifically create a verse at dissonance with the rest of the poetry, but that should always be followed by at least one verse that returns to the norm to show it is meant to be like that instead of just a random thing thrown in), then it becomes readable and flows.

Poetry is more than simply slapping words down on a piece of paper with a vague rhyme going through it; it is also about story, rhythm, flow of the words and the type of language used. It's why anyone can can write a rhyme, but not everyone can write poetry.