  Poetry
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“You will not find poetry anywhere unless you bring some of it with you.”
Joseph Joubert quotes (1754-1824)
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Dark Poetry
I thought there was no better time to talk about dark poetry than as we approach a traditionally spooky holiday.
WHAT IS DARK POETRY?
Dark writing is a type of genre within poetry and prose. This genre could include elements of horror, depression, sadness, anger, or any other emotion most people would consider dark.
Many times dark poetry is used as therapy, and that’s okay.
If you’d like to submit your dark poetry to publications or contests, then you’ll need to be able to distance yourself from the piece during the editing process (if not before).
WHO WRITES DARK POETRY?
Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson are the most famous dark poets. Check out the groups below for dark writers at Writing.com.
WHY WRITE DARK POETRY?
You don’t have to be a horror writer, sad, angry, or any other dark emotion to write dark poetry.
I am normally an upbeat and happy person (nauseatingly so, according to some friends and family), and in spite of that I can purposely write dark poetry and prose. If you’re like me, you can use dark poetry to stretch yourself as a poet and author. Picture yourself as another person, in another state of mind, in another time, in another place, or all of these combined—then write about it.
HOW CAN I START WRITING DARK POETRY?
You don’t need a particular form to write dark poetry. However, if you prefer writing to a form here are a couple forms that utilize a dark genre that you can try:
Elegy
This form dates back to ancient Greece. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms says, “the word elegy comes from the Greek word elegeia, which means ‘song of mourning’” (Padgett, 62).
BRIEF HISTORY
This same handbook tells us that in the 7th century B.C., “the first person to write an elegy was probably Mimnermus of Colophon.” At least, his is the first written record found of an elegy. There may be many earlier elegies lost to time or haven’t been discovered yet (Padgett, 62).
MUST HAVES
--Must be about death or a loss that is like death--unless you choose the Roman change that made them about love (see below).
--If you choose to create a classical elegy you will want to begin with the subject of your elegy, then share your mourning, and finally your acceptance of the death/loss.
COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?
--Any form (or no particular form) just follow the form's rules if you use one.
--Any rhyme (or no rhyme), unless a form is used, then you follow the rhyme scheme for that form.
--Any meter (or no set meter) unless a form is used, then you follow the meter required for that form.
--Length can be long or short. However, if you use a form, that form might dictate the length.
OF NOTE
The Greeks wrote elegies about death, but later Romans made them about love. This remained relatively unchanged until “England in 1611.” At that time, John Donne brought the elegy about death back into writing fashion. (Padgett, 62).
Monody
This was the most difficult form to research, since I could find little else but “form that laments a death.” This term can be found in music, as well as poetry. In fact, monody comes from the lyric. (Davies, 52)
BRIEF HISTORY
Way back in ancient Greece, the lyric had two types: the choral lyric, which was performed by many people, and the monody, which was sung by one person. Since there are very few rules out there for this poetic form, I will create some for you to use as a guide based on its historical use. I will use the Monody, Choral Lyric, and the Tyranny of the Hand-Book article by Davies, and Classics in Translation by Mackendrick and Howe as my historical guides.
MUST HAVES
--Must mourn a death.
--Must be on the short side, but not usually as short as the epitaph and epigram are.
--Must be in the POV of one person, although the lament could be about the loss of many.
COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?
--Any rhyme (or no rhyme), unless a form is used, then you follow the rhyme scheme for that form. Generally things that are sung rhyme, and this form was originally sung. Consult your poetic license when you decide how to go for this one.
--Any meter (or no set meter) unless a form is used, then you follow the meter required for that form. This form usually had simple meters, and if one is chosen stick to it throughout.
--Stanza length, choose any, but stick to the same throughout. Example: if you choose an eight-line stanza and want three stanzas, make them all have eight lines.
--Any form (or no particular form) just follow the form's rules.
OF NOTE
The Classics in Translation book had an interesting note. They said that this form is “closely associated with the Ionians, [and] is nearer to popular folk poetry” (Mackendrick and Howe, 93).
WHERE CAN I FIND/READ/SHARE DARK POETRY?
Here are some places you can post, read or submit your dark poetry:
On Writing.com:
"Invalid Item"
"The Dark Society" [13+]
"Invalid Item"
On the Internet:
http://www.darkpoetry.com/
http://www.horrormasters.com/Themes/DarkPoetry.htm
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/thematic_poems/dark_poems.html
Source Notes:
Davies, M. (1988). Monody, Choral Lyric, and the Tyranny of the Hand-Book. The Classical Quarterly, New Series. Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 52-64.
Mackendrick, P, & Howe, H (1980). Classics in Translation. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
Padgett, Ron. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. 2nd. NY: T & W Books, 2000.
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I've decided to use The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach: (Available at Amazon.Com) in order to hone my skills.
Every month I will share a synopsis of one of the exercises I want to try. If you also try the exercise, please feel free to share it with me and the Poetry newsletter subscribers. If you send me a link to your item, I shall place that link in this section next month.
The exercise I will try this month comes from Part 3, page 104: Write Something that Scares You, by Sandra McPherson.
That's all the explanation you need for this, but I will quote a passage to help you understand the idea behind the exercise: "it does matter that during composition that the writer [feels] chills, alarm, a boundary shattered, shocked at what [she's] done."
~*~
Have a question, answer, problem, solution, tip, trick, cheer, jeer, or extra million lying around?
If so, send it through the feedback section at the bottom of this newsletter OR click the little envelope next to my name Red Writing Hood <3 and send it through email.
Comments on last month's newsletter:
Sent through email:
"I've been trying to find some good poetry study books. Thanks. Great Newsletter." A thinker never sleeps 
"Oh thank you for using my poem in the editors picks!! You just made my day!!" Jamie lee
Sent through feedback section:
Submitted By: Fyn 
Submitted Comment:
I am an old compilation of poetry and short stories, bound in the softest of letters, with golden edges to my many pages. My words, are the the words written within, and they have much to offer. My heart is that most special of poems buried on page 223 and called {The Touch of the master's Hand, a poem by Myra Brooks Welch. My hands and senses wrap around The Vagabond House by Don Blanding for it is a veritable feast. My interaction with others is as they read my words within and I share the passions in them and my I's see as they absorb the words of the masters. My hands would caress the hands of the person reading, my ears drink in the alliterations and the assonance of well formed word combinations. My spine would be cracked and creased with use, my skin paper thin. Ah, I should be a book so well loved that I should fall open to the favorite poems and live on the desk of a writer.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Submitted By: Ruth
Submitted Comment:
You are so kind to feature Ballad of a Traveller in your Newsletter. Your newsletter this week is very informative.
Thank you for saying so  It is my goal to be informative and/or entertaining.
Submitted By: iluvtoowrite
Submitted Item: "Invalid Item"
Submitted Comment:
I've never submitted anything before, so I have no clue what to say or how this really works. Oh well, no hurt in sending it in anyways!
And here it is.
Submitted By: NOVAcatmando 
Submitted Item: "Invalid Item"
Submitted Comment:
Thank you for suggesting a poetry blog, I have noted mine, and I would love for more poets to blog. It feels more organic than writing for contests. If anyone else has one, I'd love to know so I can drop by for a visit.
I should go to the next level and participate in a local group - but that takes some bravery.
It sure does. I hope you will share your experience with us when you take that step
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, comments and feedback!
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Poetry: October 14, 2009 Issue [#3334]
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