The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking The Poet Within

If you read the poem to yourself I think the bracketed caesuras do indicate the faintest of breaths or pauses which would in turn suggest the bracketed run-ons. It is not an exact science despite the claims of some scholiasts and poetasters.¹⁰ Of course, it is only of importance or interest to us here because we are examining the verse as budding poets eager to think about how life and variation is given to an otherwise over-drilled regiment of foot; we are not marking verse up either for performance or for correction by a teacher.

Enjambment and caesura can pack a great comic punch, which Byron demonstrates when he opens his mock epic Don Juan with a savage blast aimed precisely at the Wordsworth of the Prelude above and his fellow Lake District romantic poets, Coleridge and Southey. Byron hated them and what he saw as their pretension and vain belief that theirs was the only Poesy (poetry) worthy of wreaths (prizes and plaudits). Say this out loud:You–Gentlemen! ¶ by dint of long seclusion From better company, ¶ have kept your own At Keswick, and, ¶ through still continued fusion Of one another’s minds, ¶ at last have grown To deem as a most logical conclusion,That Poesy has wreaths for you alone:There is a narrowness in such a notion,Which makes me wish you’d change your lakes for ocean.

I am sure you have now got the point that pausing and running on are an invaluable adjunct to the basic pentametric line. I have taken a long time over this because I think these two devices exemplify the crucial point that ADHERENCE TO METRE DOES NOT MILITATE AGAINST NATURALNESS. Indeed it is one of the paradoxes of art that structure, form and convention liberate the artist, whereas openness and complete freedom can be seen as a kind of tyranny. Mankind can live free in a society hemmed in by laws, but we have yet to find a historical example of mankind living free in lawless anarchy. As Auden suggested in his analogy of Robinson Crusoe, some poets might be able to live outside convention and rules, but most of us make a hash of it.

It is time to try your own. This exercise really is fun: don’t be scared off by its conditions: I’ll take you through it all myself to show you what is required and how simple it is.

Poetry Exercise 3

Write five pairs of blank (non-rhyming) iambic pentameter in which the first line of each pair is end-stopped and there are no caesuras.

Now write five pairs with (give or take) the same meaning in which there is enjambment.

Make sure that each new pair also contains at least two caesuras.

This may take a little longer than the first writing exercise, but no more than forty-five minutes. Again, it is not about quality.

To make it easier I will give you a specific subject for all five pairs.

1. Precisely what you see and hear outside your window.

2. Precisely what you’d like to eat, right this minute.

3. Precisely what you last remember dreaming about.

4. Precisely what uncompleted chores are niggling at you.

5. Precisely what you hate about your body.

Once again I have had a pitiful go myself to give you an idea of what I mean.

WITHOUT caesura or enjambment:1 Outside the WindowI hear the traffic passing by my house,While overhead the blackbirds build their nests.2 What I’d Like to EatI’d really like some biscuits I can dunk,Unsalted crisps would fill a gap as well.3 A Recent DreamI dreamt an airport man had lost my bagsAnd all my trousers ended up in Spain.4 Pesky Tasks OverdueI need to tidy up my papers nowAnd several ashtrays overflow with butts.5 My BodyToo many chins and such a crooked nose,Long flabby legs and rather stupid hair.

With caesura and enjambment:1 Outside the WindowThe song of cars, so like the roar the seaCan sing, has drowned the nesting blackbirds’ call.2 What I’d Like to EatSome biscuits, dunked–but quick in sudden stabsLike beaks. Oh, crisps as well. Unsalted, please.3 A Recent DreamSecurity buffoons, you sent my stridesTo Spain, and all my bags to God knows where.4 Pesky Tasks OverdueMy papers seethe. Now all my writing deskErupts. Volcanic mountains cough their ash.5 My BodyThree flobbing chins are bad, but worse, a bentAnd foolish nose. Long legs, fat thighs, mad hair.

These are only a guide. Go between each Before and After I have composed and see what I did to enforce the rules. Then pick up your pencil and pad and have a go yourself.