Hi Jane,
Yeah I do agree with you about the rhyme. Rhyme is not as integral to poetry as it is made out to be. Poetry for me is experience - capturing the truth of experience - which is hidden either because of the forcefullness of our politically correct views or because of merely tend to overlook it. Thats why when we read good poetry we get this 'oh so true!' feeling, or realize that we had always felt or thought in the same way but didnt have the conviction or energy or skill to say it. And moreover there is so must intution involved in poetry that most often we do not analyse a poem the way we analyse an essay or an article in the magazine or even a novel, why, because a poem is so infused with life that the first thing that strikes you or impresses you is the genuineness of the experience thats captured in the poem. 'Beautifying' the poem with rhymes and chimes is a more pedantic in nature, its more like garish embroidery, done primarily for the sake of impressing and has little to
do with craftmanship wherin you try to find the right word to capture the fleeting moment of intutive truth or feeling of intense being. Some of the greatest poems which rhyme are poems which have used the quality of rhymes to induce the 'truth within'. In psychology we call it projection. Any semi structured visual or verbel material will induce us to project 'our unconscious thoughts, desires and impules' upon the semi stryctured material so as to complete it. So long as rhyme aids you in artistic _expression (which is rare) its fine but when it becomes another structure which is imposed on the finer material of 'consciousness of the moment' 'the subtle aspects of experience' it not only denies us the poetic experience but worse makes a wierd cacophony of our experience which is trying hard to achieve the phony harmony of words. The elevation of life which we try through a catharsis of emotions and intensification of feelings in poetry happens only when there is an organic
link between the content of the poem and the rhyming word, the mere use of rhyming words only ends up in creating a sterotypical 'rush' of emotions which is so ofen used by rappers. Poetry happens in music, every word thats written in a poem finds a place there not only because it means something but also because it sounds something. So musical quality is an integral part of poetic _expression which is intertwined with the meaning and spirit of the poem. And the absence or presence of end rhymes doesnt amount to much as long as the poem says what it intends to say. To make it even one of the criteria to assess the quality of poetry is to see poetry in a very superficial way.
Ankur.
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