Line & Meter 2

meter, from the Greek “metron”—measure; the length, shape, and end of poetic lines

Haiku (VA)

Definition:

Concrete poetry is a form of poetry in which the visual arrangement of words on the page is inseparable from their meaning, so that form and content function as one unified expression. In other words, how the words look on the paper is just as important as what the words say.
- Source: The Princeton Encyclapedia of Poetry and Poetics

History:

Concrete Poetry officially began in the mid-1950s when Eugen Gomringer and a group of Brazilian Poets defined it as a movement. They established the idea that form and meaning should be unified. It had some ancient and medieval precedents in shaped poetry (carmina figurata), it was more clearly defined in the 1950s.
- Source: The Princeton Encyclapedia of Poetry and Poetics

My Response:

I haven't encountered many concrete poems in my academic career, but I think I would find a lot of enjoyment in reading some. It challenges how I think of poems, since I am so used to reading and writing poems that are relatively uniform, with each line taking up similar space and having similar syllabics and rhymes. Furthermore, I work in marketing and social media, and I think someone could connect this to graphic design and advertisement because the words can serve as visual and verbal meaning.

What is this poetic element like?

This poetic element really reminds me of word clouds. These are something that I did back in middle school, and I'm pretty sure I made a word cloud with words associated with basketball (and the words made the shape of the basketball). Both concrete poetry and word clouds find significance in the form and actual meaning of the work.

Example:

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,

Though foolishly he lost the same,

Decaying more and more,

Till he became

Most poore:

With thee

O let me rise

As larks, harmoniously,

And sing this day thy victories:

Then shall the fall further the flight in me.