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How to ruin poetry

created by Muke

(idea) by Muke (3.1 y) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Wed Aug 16 2000 at 16:40:24

I have a habit, sometimes, when I recognize that a poem matches the particular meter of a song I know, I'll end up singing it in my head to it.

For example, a lot of the poetry in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings can be sung to Greensleeves (aka "What Child is This"). Tennyson's In Memoriam gets sung to the tune of "O Come O Come Emmanuel". Now, these are pretty reasonable songs, but...

I was at the node The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and in Queequeg's writeup he mentions it can be sung to the theme song of "Gilligan's Island". And now... the viral meme won't go away!

My poetry experience was ruined forever!


(thing) by AlexZander (11.5 mon) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Thu Aug 17 2000 at 17:59:47

I'm not quite familiar with the underlying subcategory of this node - how to ruin poetry by reading it.. sorry Muke. I am, however, quite familiar with the subcategory how to ruin poetry by writing it poorly in the first place.

In my opinion, any of these ways works.

  • Make depressed poetry rhyme - Rhyming gives a lighthearted feel to the poetry, ruining anything with a dark undertone
  • Make it trite - Try not to say something someone else has said before you.. or at least, not in the exact same way. Try to come up with your own magical phrases that ellicit emotions from the reader.
  • Use Iambic Pentameter - Shakespeare was the master of this. You are not Shakespeare, so pick your own rhythm.
  • Make it fluffy - This works for me at least. All my happy, shiny poetry is absolute CRAP.
  • This is all I have on the top of my head, besides my hair. Will add more as it pops up.


    printable version
    chaos

    The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Poetry written by teenagers bad high school poetry Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?
    How to begin poetry iambic pentameter Problems with E2 user poetry In the eternity it took for those small motions to occur
    How I used Napster to ruin the life of the most popular kid in high school Leonard Cohen In Memoriam Greensleeves
    How to tell your social class by the location of your name Michael Jackson How to find out if ANY number is divisible by eleven Viral meme
    B.S. your way through Spanish Fight Club My penis shall not suffer as a result of this horrible poetry! Dashboard Confessional
    Ex-Basketball Player You Bring Life to Me Performance Art nothing is as effective as defeat
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