# If you wish to post a poem, stylistically you must roam **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 30, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193 "2012-01-30T15:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/1 "2012-01-30T15:15:37Z")
Name the style of poetry previously posted, then post a differently styled one. The first one is in the title. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/2 "2012-01-30T19:44:26Z")
Maybe I should have started with a limerick? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/3 "2012-01-30T21:25:55Z")
Couplet. You gave me water but I wanted beer, and now I don’t want pizza anymore. Just go, please leave me here alone. The work is done, so I’ll sit by myself and write a poem. I’m no great shakes, I know, but hey, at least I tried, okay, and hey, it’s not haiku. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/4 "2012-02-04T20:30:41Z")
Free verse? I’m not terribly sure, so I’ll wait. If I am correct, I will post my poem. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/5 "2012-02-04T20:57:19Z")
> [@furt](#): > > You gave me water but I wanted beer, I think I’m out of my depths, but I’m going to go with Iambic Pentameter. For ever alone Unrelenting passion Chastity should be a choice not a prison Kisses are at the ready, but she wants a handshake! ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/6 "2012-02-04T21:02:46Z")
I don’t think it is iambic pentameter, since the second line has 12 syllables. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/7 "2012-02-04T21:18:05Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I don’t think it is iambic pentameter, since the second line has 12 syllables. I knew I was out of my depths… I thought the daDum daDum daDum pattern was more important than the actual syllabic count. Poetry can be confusing Or its effects can be amusing Odes and verses, what a chore! Perhaps I should have studied more ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/8 "2012-02-10T01:40:31Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I think I’m out of my depths, but I’m going to go with Iambic Pentameter. Blank Verse = unrhymed iambic pentameter. the “shakes” was meant as a clue, as it’s what shakespeare wrote in … obviously not a good one … > [@](#): > > I don’t think it is iambic pentameter, since the second line has 12 syllables. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/9 "2012-02-10T02:07:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you wish to post a poem, stylistically you must roam **Unrhyming couplet** He wants a poem written in a style; A style of poetry that we should guess. The kind of thing that made me run a mile Enduring school with all my books a mess. The first example makes me scratch my head. I’m English, see, and thus it doesn’t scan We say it with two syllables instead - Disbelieve? Ask any English man. And neither does the morpheme rhyme with “roam” “Is rhyming it impossible?” I cry My hands stretched up to nature’s perfect dome, Then see the answer coming from the sky. Descending borne by shining elohim: The only rhyme in my accent for “poem”. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/10 "2012-02-10T02:24:55Z")
> [@furt](#): > > [T]he “shakes” was meant as a clue. Sometimes it takes awhile for the point to get across to me, see, I didn’t know I should give a clue. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/11 "2012-02-10T14:00:04Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > **Unrhyming couplet** > > He wants a poem written in a style; > A style of poetry that we should guess. > The kind of thing that made me run a mile > Enduring school with all my books a mess. > The first example makes me scratch my head. > I’m English, see, and thus it doesn’t scan > We say it with two syllables instead - > Disbelieve? Ask any English man. > And neither does the morpheme rhyme with “roam” > “Is rhyming it impossible?” I cry > My hands stretched up to nature’s perfect dome, > Then see the answer coming from the sky. > Descending borne by shining elohim: > The only rhyme in my accent for “poem”. Sonnet. Oliver Perez Always does what he says “Pay my huge fee And I’ll screw up my knee.” ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/12 "2012-02-10T17:27:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Oliver Perez > Always does what he says > “Pay my huge fee > And I’ll screw up my knee.” Clerihew. Higgledy Piggledy Marian Anderson Eleanor Roosevelt Asked to perform (Unconstitutional Hall having reckoned her Coloratura not Up to the norm). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/13 "2012-02-10T19:35:14Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Clerihew. > > Higgledy Piggledy > Marian Anderson > Eleanor Roosevelt > Asked to perform > > (Unconstitutional > Hall having reckoned her > Coloratura not > Up to the norm). Double dactyl A wish. Alone in darkness, seeking touch, A hand to hold, of which to beg a dance. This wish, merely momentary, for grace, For one who might–oh, briefly–pause and dream Of me. Of my desire for one to love. But who would love when loving leads to death? What hope then for me, lonely restless Death? To wait and pray that one might risk my touch And stand too close and merely breathe, “My love,” Then move with me in ageless steps. Our dance, A waltz of longing. Two who meet in dream Then waking, part. A memory of grace. (This is only one-third of the poem; it should be enough to identify the form, though.) ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/14 "2012-02-12T00:16:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A wish. Alone in darkness, seeking touch, > A hand to hold, of which to beg a dance. > This wish, merely momentary, for grace, > For one who might–oh, briefly–pause and dream > Of me. Of my desire for one to love. > But who would love when loving leads to death? > > What hope then for me, lonely restless Death? > To wait and pray that one might risk my touch > And stand too close and merely breathe, “My love,” > Then move with me in ageless steps. Our dance, > A waltz of longing. Two who meet in dream > Then waking, part. A memory of grace. > > (This is only one-third of the poem; it should be enough to identify the form, though.) Arithmetic suggests “sestina”. Let me now check if that is right… Edit: Ok, it seems that it is, so my turn. I’ll need a little time, though. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wish-to-post-a-poem-stylistically-you-must-roam/611193/15 "2012-02-14T08:19:12Z")
This poetry business is hard. I wonder how the pros do it. Here you go, at last, though I think I will stick to limericks, clerihews and double-dactyls from now on: To write a poem, first I need a drink. Though alcohol may not improve the brain, I want to spur my feelings, not to think. To bathe this blank papyrus in blue ink Seems not too grandiose an end to gain I vow to gain that end but first, a drink. To any toast, my glass I’ll gladly clink Then sip, though fellow toasters may abstain. I only want to feel, though they may think. How is my health? Hale, hearty, in the pink And in the pink I plan to long remain But let’s be sure. So to my health, a drink Now to my poem. I am on the brink Of feelings bursting forth, it feels so plain What are these feelings, though? What do you think? While slowly into decadence I sink Remember why, so I don’t sink in vain. To write a poem, first I need a drink. I want to spur my feelings, not to think.