by A. S. Maulucci

Created on: April 02, 2009   Last Updated: April 03, 2009

How Good Poetry Works

Good poetry surprises and delights us. It does not state the obvious, as in "Roses are red." Roses can also be white, pink or yellow, but that's beside the point. "The roses are blue and the violets red" would turn our perceptions upside down and set up a world of new expectations for the reader. Placing the roses in an active context such as "The red roses danced against the yellow wall" helps the reader see them more vividly.

Better still is for the poet to incorporate the image of the roses into a larger idea, as in "The girl was growing slim and tall/as lively as red roses dancing up a wall." Note the use of the verbal "dancing" rather than the expected "climbing." This adds to our enjoyment. The word yellow was deleted for better rhythm and a more consistent meter. We could also replace "lively" with "vibrant" or some other synonym with a different shade of meaning. Linguistic nuances are to poetry what color is to painting.

Good diction is essential to the poet's art. It's also a lot of fun to consider the many possible words and choose the one that is best suited to the purpose. As Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug."

Worn out phrases are about as useful to a good poem as rotten wood is to a sailboat. Good poetry avoids trite phrases like . . . not the plague . . but like an underdone chicken cutlet. Not very exciting, but at least it's unexpected! No self-respecting poet would ever write a line of verse that includes a clich unless the intention was to mock it or play off it, as in "He took aim/but couldn't shoot the arrow from the bow/for killing/was not his cup of cappuccino."

When an artist paints flowers in a vase they are utilizing an iconic image, a symbol that resonates with many layers of meaning. Does it say anything original? Probably not, but it may be painted in such a way as to render the flowers beautiful or intensely alive. The painting may help us see the flowers in a new way. The poet who writes about flowers may achieve the same effects. Or he/she may go a step further by comparing a woman to a flower. But this is dangerous territory. What could the poet be saying when he/she compares a woman to a flower? (Of course it all depends on the type of flower!) "My love is like a red, red rose" could mean that he/she is intense, passionate, lovely, virginal, fragile, evanescent. It's simple, and it works because a rose is a rich image with many possible meanings. But to write my love is like a buttercup is just plain silly.

Good poetry has been burnished till it glows from within. Every word and every line break have been carefully considered, every image has been selected for its power to delight. Good poems are like mosaics of polished stones. If you throw in a chunk of asphalt, it ruins the entire effect.

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