The good/bad of it

A relevent and necessary appreciation exists for the work of "bad" poetry. Often the education of bad poetry leads to better poetry, simply by realizing fault within the work. Bad poetry is often so entirely ludicrous that there are many essential elements that can be examined, in hopes to lead the way to more sensible material.

Elements of bad poetry can be found in the rhyme scheme- poets do not have control over the metre, and in return find their rhymes stressed and somewhat incomprehensible.

Often metaphors are stretched or "too far fetched"; in the attempt to describe something quite simple, some poetry becomes overly ambitious and 'describes something to death'- trying to paint the picture to the point of extinction. The initial image goes from being easily understood to something obscene and loses the effect of the narrative in the process.

Other times, bad poetry is incredibly evident within the ryhme, when the writer desperately attempts to create a union or a commonality in the rhyme scheme and in return, makes something quite silly instead.

This is evident in Nash's "Requiem" poem:

"There was a young belle of old Natchez.
Whose garments were always in patchez.
When comment arose
On the state of her clothes,
She drawled, When Ah itchez, Ah scratchez!"

Trying incessantly to create a pattern can in turn create an abominable piece of writing. There is humour evident in his poem, which is likely what the poem weighs itself on, but it is a bit far fetched and, again, silly.

But who is to say poetry has to be professional, articulate, immaculate, or academic?

In writing poetry, there are rules, otherwise poetry would exist in almost anything written. Free verse is not poetry, and in a sense, Nash's poem is similar to free verse as it is not well controlled.

Another example of poor writing is evident in a poem by Solyman Brown entitled, "The Dentolgia":

"Whatever wealth and false refinement reign,
The pampered appetites compose their train
Remotest climes supply the varied feast,
But wisdom never comes it welcome guest
The gormand-folly bids the poison pass,
And drains destruction from the circling glass..."

A poem like this, when read aloud, would sound almost foreign as the rhyming words chosen are not ideal (i.e. reign, train...) and each sentence refers to very different images which do not relate. It is not a matter of fact that the words chosen Do indeed ryhme, it is rather the context that they are desperately trying to rhyme within, to house meaning somewhere inside, when really such basic and unaffecting words, hold no substance and no contribution to the poem, accept that they do rhyme in their silly and simple manner.

There is something to be learned within the technical components and the context of bad poetry. By recognizing poor structure and compostion, it is evermore evident how great good poetry is when this difference is noticed. The quality of a poem is captured in its essence. The essence of poetry can be compared to that of the sound and mood a great piece of music can create. Its structure and its sentiment can create great passion, and great feeling. Ideally, poetry should be created from, and create in its audience a sense of great feeling.

Bad poetry creates poor imagery. Its over-use of poorly fitting analogies, and over-emphasis of misplaced or misued words with equally stretched meaning, is often exercised regularly throughout bad poems. Sometimes a good writer can attempt to search for the perfect word or rhyme scheme and get "on a roll" and instead, fall victim to bad poetry as their writing becomes more and more unnatural as the absurdity of the description becomes one long, run-on idea, becoming somewhat nonsensical. By 'over doing it' the writer can end-up analyzing to pieces, leaving the audience with nothing to imagine for themselves, and taking their description on a descent from decent, to embarrassing.