Poets: Disregarding the "happy medium" blah blah blah, what's your take on the "Form vs. Function" debate?

Question

I had a professor who preached the "Gospel according to Form" for a semester . . . so I gave him this . . . not my best work, but it got the point across.

Function Playing Form's Game

Blank verse itself gives me a bad headache.
I don't know what to say or where to break
The lines. Rhyme doesn't count. My first two lines
Are useless trash, cliche, and even though
Counting to ten means nothing in theory,
The rules still worm my head to little blobs
Of goo. I follow these rules when they don't
Piss me off, and usually they do.
Form and I are neighbors that don't speak
Unless his Pekingese craps in my yard,
(My back to his), but I'm afraid his son
Wants to get with my daughter. Such offspring
Would be much worse than certain death to me,
Although there are those ones that would approve.

Look -- if I stopped there, it would almost be
A sonnet, depending how technically
"A sonnet" is defined -- ten syllables
Each line for fourteen lines, a structure
Designed to make a writing student nuts.
We didn't stop because we couldn't top
Shakespeare, but because we prefer not to
Sprain our minds on form when function matters.
If form really follows function, it means
That all poetry with no form means nothing.
So much for all the gifted writers who
Break the rules whenever they want to,
Daring to purify their craft against
The old crafters who say it can't be done.

Feel free to critique as well, just know that I don't especially like it . . .

Answer 1

I like a challenge, My mind gets a bit bothered and off beat and I feel almost as I am going into a forrest of dementia and her creatures, however I ply my mind with useless trivia or I make it focus on form.



I started on this forum to write free verse, I liked and still do like what I wrote, however I have found that yes, I can still learn when I challenge myself to try. I only learn by doing, that is my biggest challenge, you can tell me or show me but I will ultimately only learn by doing myself what I need to do.



I do not do critiques, I am not a professor nor do I profess to be one.

I break the rules as I choose to do so and see fit.

rules were .. in my mind .. made to be broken.

If we never did we would never have change.. we would be destined to run in the same rut for perpetuity.

Ok my brain is spitting out words and improper spellings now, so I will quit my diatribe and end my answer..

Answer 2

First of all, thanks herf, (you know why).



As for the poem above, I'm so smilin'! Nothing forms a more amusing picture in my mind than that of a fellow scribbler, pen in hand and tongue in cheek, especially when he has a professorial nose to tweak- so to speak.



Assuming that by form, you mean the strict traditional poetic forms, and by function you mean content, meaning and free expression--

I'm one of the odd ones who does enjoy being challenged to write in one of the strict forms, to create around a certain set of words or prompts, even daring to parody famous works. These are ways for my writer's skills to stay nimble and only when my own muse is hiding or napping, which she regularly does- sigh. The challenge is not just to conform , (ew, nasty, repellent word!), to a strict form, but to search for new ways to cover really old ground.



When I'm in a productive phase, form vs. function doesn't even enter my head. The words are like liquid that I pour out into an invisible container. I might be surprised by the shape they take in the end, but- like children, at some point I have to trust that they'll do what's right for them. I've been writing for a lot of years and I have lots of "children". Some I have been very strict with, some have run free. Some are delinquents who will never amount to anything, some have turned out well, and a few are golden.



The debate will go on forever of course, but imo perfectly formed bad poetry is still bad poetry and if it's bad in a freer form, it's also still bad poetry---or to paraphrase, "a skunk by any other name still stinks".



smiles,

c

Answer 3

O.M.G. ( And I never thought I'd be compelled to ever use that particular expression ). What has happened to You !!, once you were the scourge of humankind, merrily exterminating left ,right and center. Lately ,You advice Buk on Selling his Spoons . " Marketing - Marketing - Marketing !!! " . And now you brazenly try to sell your contacts " Mood Socks ". Where will this End ?, You'll be wearing a tie next and sell stuff from door to door!. Madam, could I interest you in, a.s.o. This will inevitably lead to a Dalek " Home Shopping Channel". (Though I'd love to see you dubbed in some very strange languages, hopelessly out of sync ). But....The Shame......The Shame......The Shame.....!

Answer 4

Your point is a serious one put across well, Hef (No relation to the Hof, by any chance?). I like to experiment with different forms just for the exercise, but I hate feeling hemmed in by someone else's rules. Probably because I need to know the reason for rules/laws before I will respect them - got me in all sorts of trouble over the years! Poetic rules though, to me, are there to give different flavours to the banquet, nothing more. You can put the same words down on paper in different formats and subtly alter the impact by something as simple as where a line break goes. This is where, in my opinion, art supplants technique.

Answer 5

This debate is going on full force on a website operated by a professional poet and book publisher. See the following link and join the discussion. You have something to say.

Answer 6

Funky Huns. This is cool, the words in an unusual wall.

Small meaning in a definition. So, What It Isn't.

Do I "not know", what I "do know"? (... way2go)

What if I asked a question, here? Is that a half-breed answer?

I certainly don't know math. This won't help with that crap.

(Left, 50 miles, left....) ...."Hi!"

Answer 7

it's good i for one don't like form the whole point of poetry is expression and it should not be limit ted to parameters