Poetry Survey Results

These are the results from

Poetry Survey  (E) a survey about poetry. I really want to know... #888529 by spidey

Check back often, I'll update as much as I can.

Updated - 7/16/07 10:47 am

Number of people who have taken survey: 190


Questions and Results:

1. Overall, which do you prefer? (Must pick one!)*

         A. Free Verse poetry - 54%

         B. Rhymed poetry - 46%



2. What type of poetry do you most like to read?

         A. Free Verse - No set rhyme or meter - 28%

         B. Strict Rhyme - 8%

         C. Strict Meter - 1%

         D. Strict Rhyme and Meter - 13%

         E. Loose Rhyme and Meter - 29%

         F. Other (if other, please email and explain) - 1%
*Write in vote:For question 2 I chose "other" because I've read and enjoyed free verse and strict verse. I don't particularly enjoy one type over the other-my distinction is just that often times strict verse is more difficult to pull off so it doesn't sound forced. If it's done well, you don't notice it rhymes.

         G. Can't decide - 20%


3. What type of poetry do you most like to write?

         A. Free Verse - No set rhyme or meter - 47%

         B. Strict Rhyme - 7%

         C. Strict Meter - 1%

         D. Strict Rhyme and Meter - 11%

         E. Loose Rhyme and Meter - 25%

         F. Other (if other, please email and explain) - 2%

         G. Can't decide - 7%


4. Which aspect do you think is most critical in creating a successful poem? (Please pick one)

         A. Imagery - 46%

         B. Flow/Rhythm - 37%

         C. Tone - 3%

         D. Punctuation - 1%

         E. Line Breaks/Line Lengths - 1%

         F. Other - 6%
A few of the write-in votes:

"Originality"

"I think honesty is essential in creating a good poem. It is hard to explain, but poetry is not quite like storytelling. I don't mean we always have to explain our own feelings etc., but there should be something we feel some way about. A good poem is not JUST playing with words."

"...regarding what critical aspect I think makes a successful poem - I think heart does. Is the work coming from the heart or the head. It is possible to write a poem that has everything needed, but if it isn't from the heart it usually doesnt move me."

         G. Can't Decide - 5%


5. Favorite Poets - Various Answers
         **See Below**

6. How do you feel about the use of color fonts in poetry?

         A. Love it! - 8%

         B. It's okay, if it's done right. - 41%

         C. Don't feel one way or another about it. - 27%

         D. Would rather not see it. - 18%

         E. Hate it with a passion. - 6%


7. Do you think punctuation is needed in poetry?

         A. Yes, definitely! - 17%

         B. Most of the time, there are a few exceptions. - 33%

         C. Sometimes - 40%

         D. It doesn't matter to me. - 8%

         E. Definitely not. - 2%


8. Is a title needed in poetry?

         A. Yes, definitely! - 39%

         B. Most of the time, there are a few exceptions. - 35%

         C. Sometimes - 19%

         D. It doesn't matter to me. - 9%

         E. Definitely not. - 3%


Question 5: Who is are your favorite poets, on Writing.com and otherwise?
Here are the answers as they were given to me: (Most were mentioned more than once!)

Redbird on brief hiatus
teardrop
invisibleink
spidey Aww..
jacky was sick, missed you!
Mark Doty
Marge Piercy
T.S. Eliot
Ogden Nash
Catullus
Edna St. Vincent Mallay
Tornado Day
sedona
bianca_b
COUNTRYMOM-JUST REMEMBER ME
cassidra
aynhazaii
Sarah Rae
John~Ashen
Eliot
ee cummings
Emily Dickenson
Edgar Allan Poe
Melissa
biancascott88
Robert Townes
Robert Frost
Robert Crummy
Shel Silverstein
Allyn-P90X Fiend!
involution
Jedi Moose
Harlow Flick, Right Fielder
winklett
Plath
Sexton
Lowell
the Beats
👼intuey
Lexi
WH Auden
Shakespeare
Brenpoet
William Carlos Williams
Walt Whitman
Ginsberg
Donne
phlegyas
El Shawn
Sara Teasdale
Wendy Cope
Margaret Atwood
Alfred Noyes
King David
William Wordsworth
Dylan Thomas
Robert Service
wordsy
Davy Kraken
dimaradu
Wilfred Owen
Thomas
Sherman
Alexie
Garret Hungo
Ai
Langston Hughes
Dante
Milton
Blake
Gheote
W.S. Merwin
InkyShadows
Aurelio2005
cerianwen
crithni
Elby Wordsmith
novrain1962
poetchick
Nate
Yeats
Wislawa Szymborska
C.K. Norwid
AnderClunk
Ann Ticipation
Mavis Moog
Tanith Lee
silentspring
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Prufrock
Michael O'Donovan
Anna Akhmatova
Kerouac
Lisa Taylor
Carlos Russell
Longfellow
cnoto
dwilliamsbw
David E. Navarro
bkcompton
runningpoet08
Elia
Amathel
Sappho
Lesbos
SB Musing
Tetiana
Dave Matthews
Charles Bukowski
idylore
EyeKahn
David Horner
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Alfred Tennyson
Ann Bradstreet
Tahirih
Breyten Breytenbach
larryp
Tigger thinks of Prancer
Beyond the Cloud9
MDuci
bakar
Baeby-taking a sabbatical
Orual
Ellen Hopkins
Jordan Langer
writerguy13
Jack Howarth
irisjustwrite has granddogger
D. Byron Patterson
AXiLeA
shleprock
winter
katherinea
slavesinchains
Lynda

So far, the poet named to be a favorite the most is: Robert Frost


*Question 1 was added after the first person took the survey.

**Numbers are rounded up to the nearest whole.