NaPoWriMo Prompt 9
For day 9 of NaPoWriMo, we’ve reached the letter “H” in the alphabet, for “Hymn.” Traditionally, a hymn is a poem that praises God or the divine, and is often meant to be sung. While the Poetry Foundation page on the form includes some examples from the 17th through 19th centuries, many also consider Emily Dickinson’s poems to be written in hymn form. Consider writing a hymn to less traditional subjects, such as nature or love or something that inspires spiritual feelings. Feel free to share your poem (or a link to your poem) in the...
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We’ve reached the letter “G,” and there are very few poetic terms that start with that letter. There is, however, a very interesting form, the “Ghazal.” According to the Poetry Foundation: Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, medieval Persian poets embraced the ghazal, eventually making it their own. Consisting of syntactically and grammatically complete couplets, the form also has an intricate rhyme scheme. Each couplet ends on the same word or phrase (the radif), and is preceded by the couplet’s rhyming word (the qafia, which...
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Welcome to day 7 of the NaPoWriMo challenge, where poets strive to write 30 poems in 30 days. If you’re on track, you’re finishing up your first week. Let’s move forward in the alphabet to “F” is for “Figure of Speech.” For this poem, strive to make use of at least one figure of speech: a metaphor, simile, hyperbole, irony; or anaphora, antithesis, or chiasmus. For specific definitions of each term, check out the Poetry Foundation page on figures of speech. One approach might be to use an extended metaphor, comparing the subject of the poem to...
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For day six of National Poetry Writing Month, we’ve reached “E” in the alphabet, for “Epistle.” An epistle poem is essentially a letter to someone close to the writer. The addressee may be alive or dead, a close friend or family member, or even someone the poet doesn’t actually know. The Poetry Foundation’s page on epistle poems provides several examples. Feel free to share your poem (or a link to your poem) in the...
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How have you been doing so far with NaPoWriMo? Have you managed to keep up? If not, perhaps today would be a good day to write some extra poems. Today’s prompt, continuing to the next letter in the alphabet, “D” is for “Dimeter.” This form is fairly simple: to write a poem where each line consists of two poetic feet. You can read an example at the Poetry Foundation’s page on the form. Feel free to share your poem (or a link to your poem) in the comments.
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