I don’t much toy with rhyme schemes or meter, but I love rhythm. I think it might be my background in music or simply that I love the way words sound. I like to hear them and to think about how they roll around in the mouth or off the tongue. Strange? Perhaps, but I’m not alone in my love of sound and rhythm.
Richard Hugo is one such poet. “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg” remains one of my favorite poems, probably because it was a poem I had to imitate. I spent hours with the poem becoming familiar with its rhythms.
from “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg”
You might come here Sunday on a whim.
Say your life broke down. The last good kiss
you had was years ago. You walk these streets
laid out by the insane, past hotels
that didn’t last, bars that did, the tortured try
of local drivers to accelerate their lives.
Only churches are kept up. The jail
turned 70 this year. The only prisoner
is always in, not knowing what he’s done.
Another poet is Elizabeth Bishop. Her “One Art” is a poem I carry with me.
from “One Art”
Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
I’m sure I could continue listing poets and poems, but I’d like to hear from you. Which poets do you think of when you consider sound and rhythm?
Image: Pierre Metivier (CC BY NC 2.0)