Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

Pyxis

chris_m wrote: »

OK, so what makes something poetry rather than just a passage of text?
Serious question

Dunno.
(Not feeling well enough to look into it).

Just feel that in some situations it doesn't really matter; what matters is having a go.

I guess that, philosophically, if it gets people thinking and reflecting, it has succeeded whatever medium it purports to be.
If, technically, it doesn't qualify as poetry, I for one don't mind!

If it had been presented as a piece of prose, it might not have had the same impact.

Personally, I don't care if it doesn't win any prizes; I think she was brave to write it.

GDB2222

I've just received my BT gift card. It's a completely unnecessary bit of faffing around. They must be counting on people forgetting to apply for the card or forgetting to use it up.

Doozergirl

michaels wrote: »

Didn't one of the NP have a multi-year struggle with the twilight zone that is the NPower billing department?

Nikkster.

I just got a bill from them this week for an account I closed nearly five years ago. Go figure.

Pyxis

Doozergirl wrote: »

Nikkster.

I just got a bill from them this week for an account I closed nearly five years ago. Go figure.

:eek: I think I'll stick with the one I've got. :eek:

PasturesNew

chris_m wrote: »

Whilst the content and sentiment is excellent I do have to ask - is that what passes for poetry nowadays?

I always thought that poetry involved a fair bit of rhyming and generally a pattern of equal length lines? That looks more like an essay which has then been broken up by a random selection of line breaks.

It's strange this subject has sneaked in here. I, too, have never "understood" poetry that doesn't rhyme.

And many don't make any sense at all - they seem the random thoughts of loons.



I was wondering just last week: So what makes a poet? Looks like anybody could come up with some random whitterings when the moon's full and call themselves a poet.

And nobody knows
Tiddly pom
How my mind goes
Tiddly pom
How my mind goes
Tiddly pom
A wandering!

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

.... the amount of times I am either spoken to as if I am mentally deficient or questions directed at whoever is pushing my chair is amazing.

I think that's in part due to the height difference, not the disability. It's tough talking up to people, or down to people, as they're not at the same height as you - so I figure most people will just feel "easier" talking to the pusher as they're probably closer to their height. I bet if you stopped by somebody sitting down s/he'd speak to you first because you're closest to their height.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's strange this subject has sneaked in here. I, too, have never "understood" poetry that doesn't rhyme.

And many don't make any sense at all - they seem the random thoughts of loons.



I was wondering just last week: So what makes a poet? Looks like anybody could come up with some random whitterings when the moon's full and call themselves a poet.

And nobody knows
Tiddly pom
How my mind goes
Tiddly pom
How my mind goes
Tiddly pom
A wandering!

Yup! That's poetry!

If Pooh had said, " And nobody knows how my mind goes wandering", it wouldn't have the same impact.

It's also why words are put into song. Makes them more memorable and has more impact.

Poetry is song without music.

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

So what makes a poet? Looks like anybody could come up with some random whitterings when the moon's full and call themselves a poet.

Doesn't need to be a full moon, for some an opium-induced stupor worked quite well;

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

At least it rhymed, though :rotfl:

Pyxis

A poem doesn't have to rhyme,
At least, not every single time.
It can be rhymeless, but it's still
A poem, be it good or ill.

And with these lines I demonstrate
That blank verse too, a poem be;
That with these lines no rhyme is needed
To convey the sentiment.



:rotfl:

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

A poem doesn't have to rhyme,
At least, not every single time.
It can be rhymeless, but it's still
A poem, be it good or ill.

And with these lines I demonstrate
That blank verse too, a poem be;
That with these lines no rhyme is needed
To convey the sentiment.

Now, to me the first one is definitely a poem but not just because it rhymes but also the line couplets (if that's the right term) scan similarly.

The second one, however, I wouldn't call a poem, not so much because there's no rhyming but because the last two lines don't (to me) scan well.