Favorite Poems

[ysabetwordsmith]

I've read a great many poems, both online and in print. The poetry collection here at Fieldhaven fills a bookcase. Here are some of my favorite poems that appear online...

"Cleveland Lyke-Wake Dirge" by Sir Walter Scott
"Close the Language-Door" by Rumi
"The Deserted Garden" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes
"Emplumada" by Lorna Dee Cervantes
"Frog Haiku" by Matsuo Basho
"Holiday Blessing" by Suzette Haden Elgin
"Hunting Song (Navajo)" anonymous
"in Just-spring" by e e cummings
"Israfel" by Edgar Allen Poe
"Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll
"The Law for the Wolves" by Rudyard Kipling
"On Imagination" by Phillis Wheatley
"On Wenlock Edge the Wood's in Trouble" by A.E. Housman
"The Pagan" by Doreen Valiente
"The Question Song" by Anne McCaffrey
"The Road Goes Ever On" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"She Had Some Horses" by Joy Harjo
"The Stolen Child" by William Butler Yeats
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost
"To Make a Prairie" by Emily Dickenson
"Unnamed Lands" by Walt Whitman
"A Volant Tribe of Bards on Earth Are Found" by William Wordsworth
"You may forget but" by Sappho

Poem: "unfolding wings"

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Origami Mage series is historic fantasy that draws much of its inspiration from Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian cultures. The two main characters work their magic through traditional crafts, origami and kirigami. The first poem, "folded wings," introduced this type of magic for the Origami Mage and the second, "cutting and folding," introduced the rival character, the Kirigami Mage. The poem below, "unfolding wings," is the earliest in chronology; you can see an illustration of it by meeks. The series as a whole deals with the evolving relationship between the two women, and the plot takes a spiraling path common to Asian folklore; you can read more on my Serial Poetry page.  The icon on this post shows the Origami Mage as illustrated by Tod Wills.

Most of the poems in the Origami Mage series are written in Asian forms. A majority use haiku verses; some use tanka verses. Then there are a few with unique forms, such as "Bā Guà". I find that using ethnic forms strengthens the sense of local color when I write poetry that has a close connection with a particular culture.

unfolding wings

the blind beggar sits
on a sunny street corner
folding paper cranes

two wen will buy one
to take up to the temple
and leave with a prayer

a little girl stops
to watch the old man working
what seems like magic

she tugs mother's sleeve
the string is untied, coins freed
and given over

in her tiny hands
paper crane opens white wings
and bursts into flight

Poetic Techniques

[ysabetwordsmith]

Poets may use a variety of poetic techniques in creating poetry. While some of these are used only in verse, others also appear in prose. The skillful use of literary devices is part of what makes a poem engrossing to read. Here are a few examples...

Alliteration -- the repetition of consonants at the beginning of a word.

Caesura -- a pause or space near the middle of a line of poetry.

End-stopping -- the conclusion of an idea at the end of a line.

Enjambment -- the extension of an idea across two or more lines, breaking in a place other than an ordinary grammatic pause.

Meter -- the rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

Onomatopoeia -- words that imitate sounds.

Personification -- portraying nonhuman beings or inanimate objects with human traits.

Repetition -- multiple uses of the same word or phrase to emphasize a point.

Rhyme -- repetition of vowel and consonant sounds at the ends of words, which may be similar or identical, and may form patterns at the ends of lines.

Sense Imagery -- description of sight, sound, smell, taste, or texture in a poem to give the reader a feeling of really being there.

Symbolism -- the use of one thing to stand for another thing, particularly when an abstract concept is represented by a concrete one to make it easier to understand.


What are some of your favorite poetic techniques?