Best Form?

[BitterHermit]

So what is the best form for Spec Poetry?
I've seen mostly free verse (not vers libre, just to quibble here) and variations of the haiku.
What other forms are folks seeing for Spec Poetry?
What do you think is the best form? Why?
I'm seriously considering an article on this, so I am very much interested in your feedback.
Thanks


Poetry Blog: www.fringemonkey.org
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
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Poetry Collection Co-authored with Sio --
After the Vows: Poems Between Lovers
"We read, frequently if unknowingly, in quest of a mind more original than our own." -- Harold Bloom

[SJHigbee]

um... what's rhyme royal?

www.sjhigbee.com

[BitterHermit]

Rhyme Royal
seven lines (preferably) in iambic pentameter
rhyme scheme a-b-a-b-b-c-c
could be broken into terza rima a-b-a and quatrain b-b-c-c
or quatrain a-b-a-b and tercet b-c-c
standard narrative mode (in sequences) during Middle Ages
basis for Dryden's magnum opus (O Faerie Queen)

Poetry Blog: www.fringemonkey.org
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
Copyeditor and Writing Coach for hire (PM me)
Poetry Collection Co-authored with Sio --
After the Vows: Poems Between Lovers
"We read, frequently if unknowingly, in quest of a mind more original than our own." -- Harold Bloom

[BitterHermit]

The Ballade is a tricky form in English, but well worth the effort if adequately executed. It consists (typically) of three eight-line stanzas (octets) followed by a concluding four-line stanza (quatrain) called an envoi. The rhyme scheme is: for the octets a-b-a-b-b-c-b-C, and the quatrain bcbC, with the cap-C being a refrain (usually repeated ver batim, but there is flexibility as with the Villanelle).
The tradition was to address the envoi to a person of royalty, usually a prince. Cyrano composed an impromptu Ballade during his first act duel in the playhouse. Rostand was notable, Villon likely the more famed for them.

For English, I highly recommend going mustang on it and adding at least one more end-rhyme. But be consistent about it. I've played around with this a little, but not much noteworthy has come of my own meager efforts.
(of course, now I feel I've thrown a proverbial gauntlet at the foot of my own reflection . . .)

Poetry Blog: www.fringemonkey.org
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
Copyeditor and Writing Coach for hire (PM me)
Poetry Collection Co-authored with Sio --
After the Vows: Poems Between Lovers
"We read, frequently if unknowingly, in quest of a mind more original than our own." -- Harold Bloom

[RHFay]

I voted for free verse because of its freedom. I think most of the speculative poetry I've seen, outside of speculative haiku and cinquains, has been free verse. Any form can work, but I think free verse gives you the most flexibility to do whatever you want to do, go wherever you want to go.

That being said, most of my own longer-form speculative poetry tends to be a mutated form of blank verse. It would probably be called free verse due to an imperfect meter, but I do try to keep the syllable count constant. I think it helps give the poems some sort of form.

I attempted a ballade once; it turned into a rather emotionally flat villanelle.

Now, I've heard it said that there is a tendency to rhyme in speculative poetry. I think it really depends on the venue.

"I'm going to do what the warriors of old did. I'm going to recite poetry!"

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[BitterHermit]

http://unguarded--utterance.blogspot.com/
This guy left a comment on one of my poems - very flattering compliment, actually - so I checked out his blog. Cool stuff. Can't seem to single out posts, though. Anyway, scroll down to 'Salvage Worker . . .' and check that out. I think that's a pretty darn good spec poem written in free verse.

Poetry Blog: www.fringemonkey.org
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell
Copyeditor and Writing Coach for hire (PM me)
Poetry Collection Co-authored with Sio --
After the Vows: Poems Between Lovers
"We read, frequently if unknowingly, in quest of a mind more original than our own." -- Harold Bloom

[Meriall Blackwood]

I'm writing blank pentameter now, but I wouldn't say it's the universal best form. It turned out to be the best form for this particular work. If I write another verse narrative, it might need another form.

What if a dragon decided you were the enemy? -- Dragon Winter
Fantasy Poetry