What type of verse form are Edgar Allen Poe's poems in?

youngcaptainL

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Just curious, what type of verses are poems like The Raven and Annabel Lee? Are they free-form are thus he adhere to a strict style?
 

kborsden

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Poe was a formalist in that his poetry adhered to formal meters and line measures. But he rarely wrote to any explicit verse forms. So while not free form, or free verse, his poetry is heavily structured and metrical. One of the most important things about formal poetry is not specifically writing to a template or established standardised verse form, but the ability to experiment with form and take it to the next level -- creating your own verse forms and patterns; establishing your own style and voice through how you compose that musicality. Standardised verse forms are great in that they offer a crutch or predisposed method for composition, but ultimately poets find themselves in a method that speaks most to them and that enables them best. Poets like Poe and Frost, 'though very different in theme and style, are two of my favourite poets because of how they broke formal molds and created their own scaffolds to work with. Many poets have done this, and I (not pretending to be on the same level at all) also strive toward that same goal.

Poe was a master at using the correct composition to marry with theme. Annabel Lee, for example, is perfectly timed and paced, the rhymes enrich rather than lead the narrative, and the muted words at half line measures provide a softness of voice that carries the weight of the narrators intent. The Raven is yet another example of form meeting purpose and theme perfectly. The pace quickens and bounces like a nightmarish nursery rhyme due the unnatural nature of trochaic meter; its relentless persistence and extended line measures create a breathlessness but pull the reader on in an inescapable lilt. The poem works so well on so many levels because of that. Truth is Poe's poems work because of his metrical compositions; they are constructed from the ground up in tune and time with his themes. Rather than take a verse form and force something to fit it, or write something and tweak it to fit within the constraints of a verse form, Poe created a unique metric and phonic experience for each poem. The craft in that is unmistakable genius.
 
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cornflake

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Do your own homework.
 

youngcaptainL

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;) meanie. It's still a valid point for discussion... Even if perhaps a lazy request for homework help.

Haha I swear this wasn't a request for homework! No, I am honestly just trying to see what forms some of the greats adhered to, but it seems like they sculpted their own paths.
 

poetinahat

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It may be that it's not form, but formula: the poems can be described in terms of type and number of feet per line, and patterns of lines of different lengths. I'm very late to this thread, but I think it hits upon a very good topic: why did they do it like that? And how do I decide how long my lines should be?

In 'The Raven', for example, the trochaic feet (DAH-da) and the eight feet per line (or couplet?) give a lilt to the phrasing in each stanza:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

Then the end line cuts short, being half as long - sudden, though not jolting, as it retains the meter and rhyme:

Poe said:
Only this and nothing more.”


To me, that shortness draws extra attention to the final line, and indeed, it's one of those that is best remembered: quoth the Raven 'Nevermore'

These shorter lines, all ending in 'more', are landmarks - they mark a longer rhythm in the poem, one that it never varies from; to me, the unvaried repetition is deliberate and ominous: no matter which way he turns, what question he asks, the answer comes back in the same tone and the same sound every time -- there is no escape.

So I imagine that Poe developed this format - or form, if you will - to suit this subject. Or, I think more likely, he didn't start with the format. Rather, it evolved as he wrote and rewrote, and it just sounded more like what he wanted.

Someone else here, I'm sure, can put this into words much better than this. Anyhow, for me, this idea is at the heart of poetry for me: how each word sounds and feels is vital, but how they all sound in sequence is at least equally so.
 
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