A good poem needs to be understandable. You need to be able to understand the contents and meaning
of the words used in the poem. The poem below is simple and very understandable when figuring out
the meaning of the words.
Ex.
Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it as its play –
In accidental power –
The blonde Assassin passes on –
The Sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an Approving God.
-
Emily Dickinson
A good poem needs have meaning. Direct or indirect, the words of a poem need to have some sort of
meaning. In the first poem, it has more of a direct meaning and tells you everything straight forward. In
the second poem, it has more of an indirect meaning, especially towards the ends. The poem does not
tell you exactly what happened, so you can only assume or predict what happened to the character.
Ex. of direct
A tractor,
Oh yes indeed,
Is what you need,
To plant a seed.
-
Dennis Geiman
Ex. of indirect
Forgive me; it’s not your fault.
You pierced my heart and left me to die.
But I am still here,
Waiting,
Watching,
Observing…
How are you?
Do you love him?
You left for that?
What is that?
Did he do this?
Forgive me; it’s not your fault.
I must pay for what I have done.
But now I am at ease.
-
Dackery Geiman
A good poem needs to be relatable. For a poem to be relatable, the audience needs to be able to see
themselves in the situations that are in the poems. The poem below not only talks about winter, but the
winters when there was not very much technology. So people that where before the large advances in
technology can really relate to this poem.
Ex.
When icicles hand by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
“Tu-whit, tu-who!”
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marians’ nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs kiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
“Tu-whit, tu-who!”
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
-
William Shakespeare
A good poem does not have to rhyme. Rhyming is ok, but there are many great poems that do not
rhyme. Telling a story through poetry can get difficult when rhyming and then the poem’s meanings can
change when you force rhyming schemes.
Ex. of rhyming
Jack and Jill
went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down
and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after.
Ex. of not rhyming
Memories mixed in water
Dripping from my brush
Blues melting into a day
White winds rolling fluff
Sunlight swirled in circles
Golden face with streams
Puddles of my inspiration
-
Kathy Paysen