Comments on: Good rhythmic poetry?

Question: Good rhythmic poetry?

devilsbrigade — Tue, 31 May 2005 21:30:46 -0800

PoetryFilter: I read Vachel Lindsay's "The Congo" for the first time a few days ago and I love its very, very strong rhythm. What are other poems that share such a strong rhythm and energy?

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Tue, 31 May 2005 23:16:12 -0800

Kipling.

By: blahblahblah

blahblahblah — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:34:17 -0800

Well, you may want to see my old post . There aren't a lot like Lindsay, but Lepanto by GK Chesterton is often considered the best of that kind. Edith Sitwell also does this successfully, but with a little more nonsense.

"How Does a Poem Mean" by John Ciardi and Miller Williams has a good section on rythm as well. You may also want to try Gerard Manley Hopkins, though his beat isn't the same, a lot of people like the alliterative energy.

By: blahblahblah

blahblahblah — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:35:10 -0800

An addendum: definitely read Lepanto and Sitwell's poem out loud - the beat becomes instantly clear, and accelerates rapidly.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:54:57 -0800

Sea Fever, by John Masefield

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 02:34:15 -0800

Perhaps a bit obvious, but I'd nominate The Bells, by Poe.

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 05:13:18 -0800

John Skeltons Philip Sparrow; Coleridges Christabel; Longfellows Song of Hiawatha? Or, for something more contemporary with Lindsay, how about Joseph Moncure Marchs The Wild Party?

By: ibeji

ibeji — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 05:57:02 -0800

Stylistically, it's a far cry from Lindsay, but it's got rhythm and energy for days:

Fever 103
by Sylvia Plath

By: yesno

yesno — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 10:25:35 -0800

Garard Manley Hopkins.

By: steef

steef — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 12:55:00 -0800

I always get Lindsey and Robert W. Service mixed up, so maybe they're similar (to me). I think the one everybody knows is "The Cremation of Sam McGee."

(This is the third time that Ciardi's How Does a Poem Mean? has cropped up for me this week, and I'm starting to get a little creeped out, synchronistically.)