30 Poems in 30 Days 2009: Day Twenty-Two
September 22, 2009 by John Hewitt
As I have said before, patterns play a major role in poetry. Repetition of thought, of meter, and of sound generates the patterns that distinguish poetry from prose. Patterns set up rhythms. Patterns organize thoughts. Patterns reinforce ideas. In poetry, isocolon is the term for the repetition of related words, phrases, or sentences of approximately the same length and similar form. You find this in advertising all the time:
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking
I’m a Pepper
You’re a Pepper
She’s a Pepper
He’s a Pepper
You got peanut butter in my chocolate!
You got chocolate in my peanut butter!
You give us 22 minutes
We’ll give you the world
You’ve got questions
We’ve got answers.
If it doesn’t get all over the place
It doesn’t belong in your face
Here is a poem filled with isocolon from Emily Dickinson:
XLIII
Poor little heart!
Did they forget thee?
Then dinna care! Then dinna care!
Proud little heart!
Did they forsake thee?
Be debonair! Be debonair!
Frail little heart!
I would not break thee:
Could’st credit me? Could’st credit me?
Gay little heart!
Like morning glory
Thou’ll wilted be; thou’ll wilted be!
The point of using isocolon is that the repetition includes reflection of the initial thought. The similarities of the statements imply a strong relationship. That relationship may be of agreement or reinforcement, or it may serve to point out the changes or differences between one thought and another. The bond between these statements is strong whether they oppose or reinforce. Using icocolon in a poem sends a message to the reader that the statement is important and could even be the primary point of your poem.
Today’s Poetry Prompt
Write a poem in which a similar or identical phrase is repeated three or more times throughout the poem.
Where did you go?
We’re walking through the supermarket
I’m talking to you about a client
Who has gone slightly off the edge
But I stop talking because you aren’t there
You’re staring at the cereal boxes
Where did you go?
You’re walking through the desert
Every day while I’m at work
Your socks are filled with burrs
Your face has a patchy tan
And your right arm has a thin blood scratch
Where did you go?
I’m walking to my car
It has a full tank of gas
Two suitcases and a roadmap
I want to think about my life
I want to return from somewhere else
Where did you go?
Related links
- 30 Poems in 30 Days (1.000)
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Why you should write poetry (1.000)
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing About Yourself (1.000)
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Writing About Issues (1.000)
- 30 Poems in 30 Days: Poetry of Place (1.000)
Contact John Hewitt
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Email: hewitt@poewar.comPhone: (520) 261-6104
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Oh Dear
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
Being in love
Is no longer fashionable
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
One night stands
Are the in thing now
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
Speed dating
Is done these days
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
Dates last only
For seconds nowadays
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
Women can survive
Without men
Oh dear
Haven’t you heard
Women like me
Survive without men
Like you
Oh dear
Do listen more.
Nice double meaning of “oh dear”!
Dark Sky in Daylight
Once upon a time
this was a lush continent
but that was long ago.
Now we have drought.
Our dry inland “outback”
dry like that for centuries
became that way long ago.
Now we have desert.
Today there’s a haze
thickening the whole eastern sky.
Wind and fire outback yesterday,
now we have dust.
We have it here
far from the red centre,
blown all that way yesterday.
Now we have darkness.
True story folks, happening right this minute.
(Wed. 23rd here, 12.32 in the afternoon.)
PS In second verse, change first “that” to “this”.
I have written a lengthy poem in response to this prompt. I will not post it, however. It discusses the “American Dream” I do not speak of the house, and kids in suburbia, for that “dream” is a misnomer, propogated by the media perhaps. The dream is freedom, as guarenteed by the establishing documents, and for which many have fought. It is along these lines that my poem is written, title “The Dream”
It starts with:
“When, in the course of human events…”
(yes quoting the declaration of Independance)