The Ode Less Travelled Chapter 3, Form (Part 1)
I’ve been lax at reading through this, more that I’ve been lax at completing the exercises. I’m finished reading the first few sections, but not the most recent exercise, but thought I should write about it now anyway, given the lack of commentary otherwise.
Chapter 3 takes us through the various forms of poetry, starting with what the point of them is, and then detailing some of the common forms, and perhaps later the uncommon forms. There’s a lot of forms, the first section on “open forms” has six. The next section details ballads, and there are a further eight sections in the chapter.
I enjoy the explanation and examples of each form. Trying to write to a form, in a way that makes sense, is interesting (and challenging). I’m certainly looking forward to learning about more, once I complete Exercise 12 (completing a ballad). I’m going to try and find the time to do that later today.
In the mean time I’ve been continuing to read poetry regularly, mainly by “A Poem for every day of the year”, and working (more slowly) through “Off the Shelf”, this is a collection of poems by various poets. The subtitle “A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse” sums it up — blending two things I particularly like (poetry and bookshops). It has also been fascinating to see each poets take on a common theme. I recommend picking it up if you see it.