Read Shakespeare. Especially his sonnets - they're all in iambic pentameter. (I think they are; I can't recall one that isn't.)
It's astonishingly difficult to write in that format. I tried - once. I have to have a lot more time than I do to scribble up some ditty in iambic p* than I currently have. (Notwithstanding the fact that I don't actually write my ditties; I sort of write them down as quickly as I can after they make themselves known to me. I've developed a habit of visualizing them. I started this when I came up with an epic, and forgot it the moment I found a pencil, and a bit of paper. C'est la vie.)
I love to Shakespeare; his words, correctly pronounced, fair leap of the page. You should watch that documentary with Al Pacino doing King Richard - it's really an eye opener. Al turns into Richard with a few words, a gesture or a slight change in posture!
It's a wonderful art form, iambic pentameter; only the truly gifted can actually accomplish a few poems in it. Shakespeare must have been a genius of Einstein-caliber to have written so much in that form!
2 comments:
Read Shakespeare. Especially his sonnets - they're all in iambic pentameter. (I think they are; I can't recall one that isn't.)
It's astonishingly difficult to write in that format. I tried - once. I have to have a lot more time than I do to scribble up some ditty in iambic p* than I currently have. (Notwithstanding the fact that I don't actually write my ditties; I sort of write them down as quickly as I can after they make themselves known to me. I've developed a habit of visualizing them. I started this when I came up with an epic, and forgot it the moment I found a pencil, and a bit of paper. C'est la vie.)
I love to Shakespeare; his words, correctly pronounced, fair leap of the page. You should watch that documentary with Al Pacino doing King Richard - it's really an eye opener. Al turns into Richard with a few words, a gesture or a slight change in posture!
It's a wonderful art form, iambic pentameter; only the truly gifted can actually accomplish a few poems in it. Shakespeare must have been a genius of Einstein-caliber to have written so much in that form!
Carolyn Ann
That's a lot more literate than what started me thinking about it, which is this page.
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