Why Is Poetry Broken into Lines? (And How I Figured it Out)

[@stevecarter8810]

If they're talked about this stuff at school i might not have been an engineer after all. Fascinating glimpse into the alchemy of expressive writing

[@gettingthere007]

Thanks for this!! “Top amateur poetry mistakes” and also mixed metaphors would be helpful to learn more about!!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Ooh, thanks for the ideas!

[@adrct]

Yep. Yours is the best KZbin channel on poetry. Thanks.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thank you!

[@losthylian]

I don't know how a poetry video ended up as a suggestion when I was deep into F-Zero 99 highlights, but now I'm 4 videos deep into understanding and appreciating poetry. I fell asleep last night both brainstorming a poem and humming the Mute City theme!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

lol, that's a winning combo 😂

[@YourPoetryMom]

I’ve recently watched several of your videos, and this one was especially thought-provoking. As a poet, I often drive myself crazy wondering where I should break the lines (if it’s free verse)… 😅😩

[@WritingwithAndrew]

It's the conundrum that keeps on giving 😅

[@snowdragon1732]

haha the i have to admit the takes are funny. Skullie was right to keep them in haha. On another note, I feel the same about shorter lines tend to have more energy. I will have to write a prose poem and break it up into lines. Great video!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks all around--and, yes, do it!

[@pedropedroso4744]

Just discoverd your channel and I am amazed!Fantastic content!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks so much--I really appreciate that!

[@darkblueturbo]

Me too. I can't get enough!! This particular video inspired me to write a piece of prose poetry, which I haven't even considered doing since school (which I left in 1996!) just so I could try rearranging it into lines. That bit I am failing miserably with, but then I only really took an interest in poetry yesterday, when I found this channel. I guess I have some reading to do first.

[@Jesus_Christ.Mary-and-Joseph]

Hi Andrew! I always appreciate your patience and explanation in detail about educational topics that you have done weekly basis. It has been eyes opening moments in each video. 🙌 😊 Thank you so very much for your and your teams. 😊 Please Keep Up the Great work. 🎉

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks a lot--I'm happy to hear that you've been enjoying them!

[@jainilsheth7996]

Thank you for the channel and the content on poetry, it has been very helpful 😊

[@WritingwithAndrew]

You're very welcome--I'm happy to hear it!

[@valvihk3649]

I took a poetry class in college and all we did was share our work and get feedback from peers. When I asked our professor if we were going to learn meter and things like that, she gave me crazy eyes lol. She was into modern poetry rather than classics. So, nobody really learned anything. All of my peers expressed discomfort, students wanted their poetry to be understood, and students could not understand each others poetry. The only thing I learned in that class was to let go and allow my peers to have an experience of my work even if that experience wasn't intended. I am here because of Rupi Kaurs "poetry." Even though, I know that her work is not poetry cus all she did was take a shower thought sentence and break it into lines to call it poetry. I still have difficulty understanding what those lines are for other than rhyme. This was really well done, but I hope you could make more parts on this subject like what is the intent of spacing between the lines as well?

[@SotraEngine4]

How is this? I woke up too early For a Saturday Tight-coiled pain seething Along the curve of my skull Into my neck The pain hollowed out by Aspirin I settle into the love seat The water sloshes The dryer bumps and hums From the other room Robins and sparrows chatter Outside in the trees Under a light blanket's Easy warmth I close my eyes Willing to surrender A few minutes of sleep Before getting to work I wait Watching the lightening And darkening As patchy clouds slide beside the sun And still Still I wait

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Cool restructure!

[@ocdtdc]

Love this channel and very grateful for the lessons learned from it.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks, I appreciate that!

[@Dismythed]

Prose poetry has always been my forte. Even though I was neither Christian nor a big Bible reader at the time, I learned prose poetry by reading poetic parts of the Bible and identifying what made it poetic and emulated that style. What I had found was that rhyme was not necessary, but could be sprinkled in to improve flow. Mostly, I found that it was about revisiting ideas and using the same words in different and interesting ways and in the same places, structurally. As a result, people ended up fascinated with my poetry. I haven't written any poetry in many years now, But not having to worry about line breaks or rhymes was my comfort zone. I was only interested in evoking the feeling of beauty in the flow of the words themselves, and in a rhyming structure rather than rhyming words. It was like singing a song without music. The reader always knew how to read it, which I think is what enamored them. Today, science identifies it as brainwave communication in word selection and structure. Whatever the case, it felt pure. I want to get back to that poetry. Right now I'm trying to work my way back up to it in my motivation. I think I'm getting there. It should be easy enough now that I'm a Christian and a daily Bible reader.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Awesome--I love a good prose poem!

[@justanotheremptychannel2472]

The chill presentation is pure bliss

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks, chill is what we're after

[@Jane-zp7hy]

Thank you very much! You have helped me to enjoy reading and listening to poetry in English a lot more and understand it. I'm an African and anything that was not in the Gospels in the Catholic schools I attended was regarded as pagan and forbidden. Your lessons are liberating.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Glad you're enjoying it!

[@matthewalton7721]

I have something like 1,500 poems piled up in notebooks of various shapes and sizes. I've always wondered if the contours of the poem were unduly influenced by the dimensions of the page. I'll try your exercise tomorrow and I'll return with a full report.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Can't wait!

[@smithdraws]

It didnt occur to me that line structure could have so much effect on the meaning and reading experience!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

It really is surprising how much it can change!

[@ejtattersall156]

Poem broken into lines Anyone who knows anyone who did what she did knows that no man, no woman, no nothing caused her death but what was within her, and what she had tried to do before, she would try again, and eventually succeed no matter the transgressions against her, or no transgressions at all, and those left behind cannot sleep, no, they cannot sleep, though they cannot speak of their sleeplessness, of black sleep, dreams wiped to save the conscious mind from breaking, no, even those at the greatest distance from her-- them--in geography, or friendship or family-- anyone at any distance from anyone who did what she did, blames themselves because blame is not a thought, or a set of reasons, but a feeling that never goes away. Ramble, ramble, say I'm rambling, but I know, I know what I should not know, and maybe I should just have said from the outset what one of them once said: "Oh, well, whatever, never mind." Original prose poem Anyone who knows anyone who did what she did knows that no man, no woman, no nothing caused her death but what was within her, and that what she had tried to do before, she would try again, and eventually succeed no matter the transgressions against her, or no transgressions at all, and those she leaves behind--they leave behind--those left behind cannot sleep, no, they cannot sleep, though they cannot speak of their sleeplessness, of black sleep, dreams wiped to save the conscious mind from breaking, no, even those at the greatest distance from her--them--in geography, or friendship or family--anyone at any distance from anyone who did what she did, blames themselves because blame is not a thought, a set of reasons, but a feeling that never goes away. Ramble, ramble, say I'm rambling, but I know, I know what I should not know, but maybe I should just have said from the outset what one of them once said, "Oh, well, whatever, never mind."

[@shubhidixit4076]

Thanks for this Andrew. You are a blessing.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Aw, thank you!

[@harmoniabalanza]

I earned an MFA in poetry in 1977 at what is considered one of the top two schools for this kind of program. I studied with a couple of the greats. One day someone in class said, "what IS poetry, anyway?" and our program chair said, "poetry is a statement in lines." Many years later, I'd say I agree on one level but not on others....

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Well, isn't that *the* question!

[@dannicholas9267]

Love it...thank you. ..my poetry didn't take til I shortened lines and the entire poem, inspired by the translations of Ladinski in Love Poems From God. Dan Nicholas, M77 Copperopolis, CA

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Nice!

[@tracyzimmerman7912]

I was wondering if people mix long and short lines. I know I do. Is this a good way to do it. I also do it the way you have described. I did learn a lot form this video of yours.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Glad to hear it! I'm not sure that I can think of someone who does it off the top of my head, but I know it happens. It's an aesthetic choice that can sometimes be perceived as creating a more erratic/dynamic feel (at least, that's how I tend to read it)

[@LisaB_12204]

Gentle Sir, once I read in an introduction to a book of children's poetry, that poetry is to read aloud not silently. Is this true? Or is it truer for children's poetry and not poetry as a whole?

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Poems can be read silently, but I think we'll always get a better handle on them if we can read them out loud: the sounds of language matter a lot to poets, and they're easier to catch when we actually say them

[@abstractbybrian]

How you can break a poem down like you do, boggles my mind…I don’t how I’ll ever get there…

[@WritingwithAndrew]

For most of my time in school, I felt like I was fumbling my way through it. It's all practice, and I bet you're doing better than you think 🙂

[@theoneandonlyfool7103]

I always thought poets were being annoying but now I get it 😅thank you

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Haha, sometimes I think a few of them are trying to be annoying--but I'm glad it helped 😂

[@Lss-s1x]

the metric laws have scared me and I avoided to write poetry because that

[@WritingwithAndrew]

They can get pretty intense! They're worth knowing, but they don't need to be the first thing you learn. Focus on good imagery and specificity, and those will make a bigger difference early on than a detailed knowledge of meter will 🙂

[@England_en_Geurre]

"Older forms of poetry like the Greek epics were marked by rhythmic patterns that helped people to memorize and remember culturally important texts with the regularity of the rhythmic patterns" So you mean actual poems? Not just half-baked failed song lyrics? ACTUAL poems. Is that what you are talking about?

[@patriciadavison1486]

Hello Andrew, I find your presentations so informative and helpful . The skull is so distracting. I find myself wearing an eye mask because every time ‘it’ interrupts you my mind goes off course. It is my preference to just listen to your voice and to be fully attentive to what you are saying. Is there any reason why you use it as a prop? Just a friendly question - not a gripe. Thank You for your videos. XX Pd in the UK.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

The motives have shifted over the years, but there are a handful, including serving as a reminder to avoid the terminal self-seriousness that afflicts so many academics

[@kristanicole8123]

I love your channel!!

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks so much!

[@BiscuitGeoff]

It seems weird to cover this subject and see the subheading ‘earliest lines’ and have no discussion of poetry’s history. Homer was writing in lines. It’s something that probably comes from pre-literate oral traditions, regular cadence can aid memorisation, etc.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Yep, 100%

[@123axel123]

Useful ideas.

[@flibflob2785]

Now do Stanzas please

[@WritingwithAndrew]

It's like you're reading my mind. All in good time...

[@colleenkochman9656]

value of lines in Greek plays demonstrated usefulness of this stratagem to other and future cultures?

[@richardglady3009]

Thank you for the lessons. Does the skull accompany you to the classroom. Everyone needs comic relief.

[@jeffstone5554]

One of my favorite prose poems has lines of a sort. At the Clothesline by James Tate, ha. Thanks, Andrew.

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Ooh, I'll have to check it out!

[@Bizarro69]

there is water and there is earth but what is wind and what is fire

[@Serendip98]

Lines are essential in poetry. Look at that example : "I thank the universe for taking everything it has taken, and giving to me everything it is giving". Boring ? Not interesting ? But wait, if you write it like that : I thank the universe for taking everything it has taken and giving to me everything it is giving and you sign Rupi Kaur, then you can use a full white page for only 18 words, and you'll be considered as a great poet. Especially if you're a feminist. (Added) And now compare it with that stanza : "(...) It was a spring that never came, But we have lived enough to know What we have never had, remains; It is the things we have that go." This was Sara Teasdale. This is poetry. Sure, she was not Indian, and I don't care whether she was a feminist or not. But she knew how to write a poem.

[@LS-pe1rr]

how does one "went on to poetry school"

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Applying to one and getting accepted (poetry school = MFA program 🙂)

[@musca1musca]

Nice

[@WritingwithAndrew]

Thanks

[@NoordeepKhichy]

Please,PLEASE HELP ME WITH TIME LIMITS *types aggressively* ÆÇẞⱤĦÎŶÞ-