Poetry with Stephen Fry
Mar. 18th, 2009 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonionayCurled up in my beanbag chair this evening with Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Traveled." I expected an informational book, not an interactive one! But Fry pushes you along and orders you to read things out loud and mark up the sample verses with a pencil. And it's Stephen Fry, with his jovial, conversational, gentlemanly voice, and so you can't disobey. As a result, I can't let Audrey borrow it when I'm done, but will have to buy it for her as a gift. She needs her own to mark up. Definitely, because she's the only other poetry person in my group.
It includes exercises, which Fry does along with you for reassurance and example. He stresses having fun and writing poetry as a hobby. You can tell he writes his examples spontaneously, just as he wants you to, as they're full of mentions of the birds outside his window, and his desktop ashtrays overflowing. They're not masterpieces, but they're honest and show how lovely everyday things can be when you write them in iambic pentameter. They encourage everyone to join in.
I've done three of the exercises, and my brain feels pleasantly worked out. He suggests doing similar exercises regularly, and I agree. It's a good way to keep your brain working and feeling out rhythms. Most useful was the exercise that required you write two couplets in iambic pentameter, each about the same topic (he provided five--simple things like what's outside your window), one without (to simplify the jargon) punctuation, and one with. It forces you to write with different styles and think about what you're doing.
It includes exercises, which Fry does along with you for reassurance and example. He stresses having fun and writing poetry as a hobby. You can tell he writes his examples spontaneously, just as he wants you to, as they're full of mentions of the birds outside his window, and his desktop ashtrays overflowing. They're not masterpieces, but they're honest and show how lovely everyday things can be when you write them in iambic pentameter. They encourage everyone to join in.
I've done three of the exercises, and my brain feels pleasantly worked out. He suggests doing similar exercises regularly, and I agree. It's a good way to keep your brain working and feeling out rhythms. Most useful was the exercise that required you write two couplets in iambic pentameter, each about the same topic (he provided five--simple things like what's outside your window), one without (to simplify the jargon) punctuation, and one with. It forces you to write with different styles and think about what you're doing.
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Date: 2009-03-19 05:20 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-03-20 03:23 am (UTC)