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Mar. 30th, 2013 09:21 pmFerret's ranking of the most difficult constrained poetic forms
1)Sonnet. Okay, it's actually pretty easy to write a bad sonnet, but there are no crutches when you're writing a sonnet. The poem's lyricism needs to stand on its own, you can't rely on cheap rhythmic trickery to make the poem more entertaining. I've probably written a dozen sonnets, and nary a good one.
2)Paradelle. It's excruciating to compose, and nigh impossible to edit. Any change affects multiple places in the poem, and the original composition has to anticipate future use in multiple places. I'm not sure it's actually possible to write a good one, which on the one hand affirms its difficulty, but on the other hand makes it easier to deal with than the sonnet, where you know it's possible to write a good one because you've read Shakespeare and Milton. You read a bad paradelle, you just say, well, it was a paradelle, of course it sucked.
3)Sestina. It's possible to write a good sestina, it's just really hard to juggle. Everything hinges on picking the right word bank. You have to balance interesting words and simple words, words with multiple meanings with words whose single meaning can be reused and repurposed. If you can figure out the right word bank, the sestina falls into place.
4)Pantoum. Is not so hard to write, but is tricky as anything to edit. Any edit requires you to read it forwards and backwards at the same time to make sure you haven't broken something.
4)Villanelle. Like a sonnet, but the repetitions mean that the lyricism of each individual line doesn't need to be as delicate. If you do it right, the rhythm carries the poem.
5)Haiku. Super easy to do badly, moderately easy to do moderately well.
6)Double Dactyl. The hard part's finding the single word double dactyl. For the rest, just be goofy and you're fine.
7)Clerihew. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever written a clerihew, but it seems easy.
8)Limerick. Super easy. Super boring.
Today is the fifth day of the Omer
1)Sonnet. Okay, it's actually pretty easy to write a bad sonnet, but there are no crutches when you're writing a sonnet. The poem's lyricism needs to stand on its own, you can't rely on cheap rhythmic trickery to make the poem more entertaining. I've probably written a dozen sonnets, and nary a good one.
2)Paradelle. It's excruciating to compose, and nigh impossible to edit. Any change affects multiple places in the poem, and the original composition has to anticipate future use in multiple places. I'm not sure it's actually possible to write a good one, which on the one hand affirms its difficulty, but on the other hand makes it easier to deal with than the sonnet, where you know it's possible to write a good one because you've read Shakespeare and Milton. You read a bad paradelle, you just say, well, it was a paradelle, of course it sucked.
3)Sestina. It's possible to write a good sestina, it's just really hard to juggle. Everything hinges on picking the right word bank. You have to balance interesting words and simple words, words with multiple meanings with words whose single meaning can be reused and repurposed. If you can figure out the right word bank, the sestina falls into place.
4)Pantoum. Is not so hard to write, but is tricky as anything to edit. Any edit requires you to read it forwards and backwards at the same time to make sure you haven't broken something.
4)Villanelle. Like a sonnet, but the repetitions mean that the lyricism of each individual line doesn't need to be as delicate. If you do it right, the rhythm carries the poem.
5)Haiku. Super easy to do badly, moderately easy to do moderately well.
6)Double Dactyl. The hard part's finding the single word double dactyl. For the rest, just be goofy and you're fine.
7)Clerihew. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever written a clerihew, but it seems easy.
8)Limerick. Super easy. Super boring.
Today is the fifth day of the Omer