FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

I think we just fundamentally disagree about perfect meter. You think it makes for great poetry. I think it makes for second-tier poetry (out of the three tiers explained in the link in my earlier post to the book Poetic Meter and Poetic Form ), with a few VERY rare exceptions (such as Robert Frost’...

Great poem! No wonder it was published! But . . . I don't think either the rhyme or the meter are perfect--which for me is a good thing (for meter and neutral for rhyme). The rhyme issue may be a matter of opinion. Some people don't consider singulars and plurals that otherwise rhyme to be slant rhy...

Congrats on getting published! Is it available on line?

But the standards for publishable rhymed poetry seem so high. The editors of Mused Literary Review , describe the perfect rhymed poem as a "finished, polished granite sculpture". They describe any flaw or bump as a "lovely sculpture that has a giant pink band-aid stuck on its nose&qu...

glorybee wrote:

swfdoc1 wrote:When I'm old, I hope to become a better poet.

Me too!

I am of the school that all good metered poetry OUGHT to vary its meter to be excellent. In defense of this view, you can go to Amazon, search for “Poetic Meter and Poetic Form,” click on the “search Inside” book cover, and type “meter probably began” in the search box. This will take you to the fir...

Jan, I hope you don’t mind my jumping in. The issue you are addressing is called “elegant variation.” It is one of the mysteries of pseudo-experts’ advice as to how this phenomenon came to be considered a good thing. As this (trustworthy, believe it or not) Wikipedia article explains, “elegant varia...

Yes, Lillian, what you wrote in your last post simplifies parts of what I said, except that the comma is better changed to a semi-colon.

Jan, which part(s) do you disagree with?

I don’t think we’ve quite hit the nail on the head yet. The point is that there should be a comma BEFORE “and” as both Ashley and Jan wrote. And the reason is as Ashley stated: it joins two complete sentences (aka independent clauses). However, the second independent clause starts with an introducto...

Three adjectives. No adverbs. But if you count adjectives, adjective phrases, adjective clauses (the latter 2 of which serve as adjectives), adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses (the latter 2 of which serve as adverbs); you get a very different picture. Especially if you count some that are ...

swfdoc1 wrote:Actually, as I think about it, I'm pretty sure the "job and title" thing happened to someone else. I've done so much editing and been edited so many times, it all starts to blur.

Yep, someone else, per here (scroll down to my second post on the page and following).

Actually, as I think about it, I'm pretty sure the "job and title" thing happened to someone else. I've done so much editing and been edited so many times, it all starts to blur. (I think the reason my mind played this trick on me is because I had an interest in the mistake because of quit...

I once had a biblically illiterate editor change “every jot and tittle” to “every job and title,” whatever that was supposed to mean. I also had the same editor change the idiom “best lights” (as in, e.g., “proceed according to your best lights”)to the completely different idiom “best light” (as in,...

Jan, You're right that I've looked at this issue on several occasions and have some thoughts. Unfortunately (or fortunately :D), time does not permit me to address the issue, either here or in a new thread. Your links (and links within the links) address the issue from both pro and con points of vie...

Yes, I know you're “being a pill.” I appreciate your humor. As you and I know, but as your new students and perhaps even some of your long-term students may not know; you and I have a long-standing friendship, and I have a long-standing propensity to go too deep in my comments about your lessons. To...