A Field Guide to Poetic Form

Here is a paradox: freedom is restriction. The idea that the removal of structure or form produces a kind of freedom is the very opposite of what poetry is; poetry is the intentional arrangement of words on a page, a container, and to be so it requires a structure. Even ‘free verse’ is never exactly formless, since the decision to write in such a style is as important as any choice of form. The greatest writers of free verse are not writing without form, but rather choosing to shatter form into pieces in order to use the fragmented effect it produces. The choice of form is as important as the choice of words.

A good analogy is to think about writing music on the piano. Anyone can sit at a piano, and anyone can make notes by pressing keys, and anyone can begin to connect forms of harmony together within those notes. But to write music requires you to go through the chores of learning scales, learning childishly basic pieces and climbing the ladder of skill with your hands and knowledge of both the cannon of piano music, as well as all of the musical systems of time signatures, notes and styles. The same is true with poetry, putting any words on a page that sound pleasing is a good place to start — but to begin to make poetry that moves beyond that requires you to learn, think about and master form.