Tag: E.E. Cummings

Poetry is recited and sung.  In some traditions it is committed to memory and orally passed down from one generation to the next.  The choice of rhythm, alliteration, words that rhyme, all contribute to the emphasis on how a poem will sound when it is heard.

What happens when a poem is read silently? Poems, often considered sacred, were copied onto parchment and carved into rock. The manner in which the words were placed took on new meaning.

Written in elegant sprawling letters in colored inks or boldly painted, visual poetry is another type of expression which has been around for centuries.

The 20^th century brought what is known as the Concrete Poetry Movement. Influenced by the Dada, Surrealist, and Futurist movements; poets sought to break the rules by challenging how words were placed on the page, how they were spelled. The most famous of these early 20^th century poets was e.e. cumming. Just think about his poem Grasshopper.

Below is a page from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with the “Mouse’s tale” in the shape of a tail.

But take a step back in time further and what you may not know is that  there was a English poet at the beginning of the 17^th century George Herbert (1593-1633) who, although formal in approach, started the ball rolling towards the concept of creating a visual statement with poetic verse.  A contemporary of poets Henry Vaughn, Richard Crashaw and Thomas Traherne, Herbert was read by the poets who followed him including Gerard Manley Hopkins, T. S. Elliot and Emily Dickinson to name a few.

Here to enjoy are two of his poems, now in the public domain.

The Altar

By George Herbert

  A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,

 Made of a heart and cemented with tears:

  Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;

No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same.

        A HEART alone

         Is such a stone,

         As nothing but

           Thy pow’r doth cut.

             Wherefore each part

          Of my hard heart

                Meets in this frame,

            To praise thy name:

       That if I chance to hold my peace,

 These stones to praise thee may not cease.

   Oh, let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,

     And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

Easter Wings

By George Herbert

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,

      Though foolishly he lost the same,

            Decaying more and more,

                  Till he became

                        Most poore:

                        With thee

                  O let me rise

            As larks, harmoniously,

      And sing this day thy victories:

Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne

      And still with sicknesses and shame.

            Thou didst so punish sinne,

                  That I became

                        Most thinne.

                        With thee

                  Let me combine,

            And feel thy victorie:

         For, if I imp my wing on thine,

Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

(If you place Easter Wings horizontally, the poem looks even more like wings.)

What shape is your next poem inspired to take and when writing a visual poem. It’s an interesting process, one you might want to try. Being a poet is all about following where inspiration takes you, but experimenting with a variety of poetic forms can expand you writing practice. Remember if you decide to submit a visual poem for publication it is important to save it as a pdf to insure that if it is shared with others it will look the same way you envisioned it.

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