The Basics of Love Poetry
Published under Wedding Vows
Here you will learn how to write your own love poem. This article provides you with the basics of poetry writing and some samples to follow. If you get stuck, try to figure how many syllables a word has (i.e. together= to*get*her) go to www.dictionary.com. Type in your word, and you will see how many breaks/syllables are in it.
Uses for a poem are endless. They can be used before, during, or after a wedding. If standard invitation wording is not for you, then think about using a poem; just remember to include all the important information your guests will need. (For standard invitation wording read, "Wedding Invitation Formality and Styles" by Amena Harris.) You can include a wedding poem in the programs at the wedding. The groom can use a poem as a speech to his bride when they are standing at the altar. The best man, the maid of honor, the parents of the bride, the parents of the groom or any other party attendee can use a poem as a toasting speech to either or both the bride and the groom. When thinking about how to thank your guests for coming to your wedding, use a personalized poem instead of just plain text. Your guests will truly appreciate the time you put into thanking them for attending. More clever ways in which you can use a poem include seating cards, introduction of the wedding party, or goodbye speeches. Unless your wedding theme is based on poetry or you want to bore your guest, try not to overdo the ways you decide to use poetry for your wedding, keep it simple and to the point.
Rhythm
The best way to describe rhythm in poetry is: The pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in accentual verse or of long and short syllables in quantitative verse. (Dictionary.com)
Before writing a love poem with rhythm, you need to first know about feet, iambs, trochees, spondees, dactyls, and anapests. Other than the word "feet", the others may be hard for you to pronounce. Do not worry about it; I will not give the definitions. The examples below will explain them best. (If you really want to know how to pronounce any of the words, you can visit Dictionary.com. I use this site a lot, as you can tell.)
Look at the samples below; you will see that words with more than one syllable are separated (i.e. say ing). This way you see all the syllables that make up a line and understand how to correctly write and pronounce iambs, trochees, spondees, dactyls, and anapests. All groups in the [] brackets are either made up two or three syllable units, which are called "feet".
Different types of feet: (Note: Stress only words that are underlined.)
Iambs: Feet composed of two syllables with the second syllable stressed.
[My love] [for you] [can not] [be true,]
Trochees: Feet composed of two syllables with the first syllable stressed.
[Just by] [say ing] ["I do"]
Spondees: Feet composed of two syllables with both syllables stressed.
[To day] [in front] [of every] [one now]
Dactyls: Feet composed of three syllables with the first syllable stressed.
[I give my] [self to you] [love with all] [com pass ion]
Anapests: Feet composed of three syllables with the third syllable stressed.
[And wish that] [you take me] [though all time] [as your love] [here to day]
Sample Poem written by myself, Amena Harris
By pronouncing the syllables that were stressed and unstressed within the feet, a rhythm formed. When there are one or more feet, a "line" ("verse") is made.
Different types of lines (verses):
Iambic Trimeter: A verse containing three iambic feet.
[Just by] [say ing] ["I do"]
Iambic Tetrameter: A verse containing four iambic feet.
[My love] [for you] [can not] [be true,]
Iambic Pentameter: A verse containing five iambic feet.
[And wish that] [you take me] [though all time] [as your love] [here to day]
Other variations are: Trochaic Trimeter, Trochaic Tetrameter, Anapestic Monometer, Anapestic Tetrameter, etc.
Rhyme
Love poetry does not always have to rhyme. A poem that does not rhyme is called a "Free Verse." Instead of using rhythm, free verse uses imagery to express its ideas.
This poem by William Shakespeare is a good example of free verse:
Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Over time free verse has changed, and many free verse love poems do in fact have some rhythm. However, rhythm in a free verse poem is only achieved when sounds are repeated within a verse, or at the end of two different verses. By changing the number of verses, or the type of word pattern ending used, the type of poetry changes. If you ever get more skilled in poetry, you will find there are a multitude of ways poetry can be written. Below are the names of some different types of verses, including samples, which are great to use as a reference to write your own love poem.
Couplet: Commonly known as a "Stanza" (2 verses)
When you were away,
I missed you all day.
Triplet: (3 verses)
Unto this day
Love has guided us
Along the way.
- Donna M. Huntley
Quatrain: (4 verses)
I love thee, I love thee,
'Tis all that I can say;
It is my vision in the night,
My dreaming in the day.
-Thomas Hood
Quintet: (5 verses)
Soul, heart, and body, we thus singly name,
Are not in love divisible and distinct,
But each with each inseparably link'd.
One is not honour, and the other shame,
But burn as closely fused as fuel, heat, and flame.
-Alfred Austin (from Love's Trinity)
Sestet: (6 verses)
Diaphenia, like to all things blessed,
When all thy praises are expressëd,
Dear joy, how I do love thee!
As the birds do love the spring,
Or the bees their careful king,-
Then in requite, sweet virgin, love me!
-Henry Constable (from Damelus' Song to Diaphenia)
Septet: (7 verses)
Though thou loved her as thyself,
As a self of purer clay,
Though her parting dims the day,
Stealing grace from all alive;
Heartily know,
When half-gods go,
The gods survive.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Give All to Love)
Octave: (8 verses)
Deare, when I from thee am gone,
Gone are all my joyes at once;
I loved thee, and thee alone,
In those love I joyed once,
And although your sights I leave,
Sight wherein my joyes do lie,
Till that death do sense bereave,
Never shall affection die.
-John Downland-
Nine-Line Stanza (9 verses)
Cling with life to the maid;
But when the surprise,
First vague shadow of surmise
Flits across her bosom young,
Of a joy apart from thee,
Free be she, fancy-free;
Nor thou detain her vesture's hem,
Nor the palest rose she flung
From her summer diadem.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Give All to Love)
Ballad Stanza: (Alternating verses of Iambic Trimeter and Iambic Tetrameter)
[As fair] [thou art,] [my bon] [nie lass,]
[So deep] [in love] [am I:]
[And I] [will love] [thee still,] [my dear,]
[Till a'] [the seas] [gang dry:]
- Robert Burns (from A Red, Red Rose)
Limerick (5 verses; 1st and 5th ending words the same; 1st, 2nd, and 5th verses rhyme; 3rd and 4th verses rhyme)
Their once was a woman I loved
Who was as pretty as a rose bud
I told her, "You are beautiful and fair."
Then she laughed and replied, "You can't you old bear!"
And thus my heart broke for her I loved!
-Amena Harris (I could not fine any good examples of a love limerick, so I made this one. I am not a guy but it did not sound right when "woman" was man.)
Sonnet: (14 verses - rhyming patterns are varied)
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need; by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath.
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning-
Pattern and Word Choice
Rhythm and Rhyme are made up of patterns that make up a poem's technical side. Imagery decides the word choices you can use, and that is a love poem's creative side.
Poets use words like an artist would use a pencil. To both a blank sheet of paper can be transformed into a beautiful imagery of feels. Therefore, when you are thinking of what to write, first make notes of what you are trying to express and how the person you are writing it to, or about, makes you feel. Imagery is a very successful way to get the point across. Here is an example:
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune!
- Robert Burns (from A Red, Red Rose)
You may be saying, "Love's like a rose and a melody? What is that suppose to mean?" I will break it down and explain:
O my Luve's like a red, red rose - A brilliant red rose is beautiful to the eyes, my love is that beautiful.
That's newly sprung in June: - A rose is most brilliant when it's new, my love is new.
O my Luve's like the melodie - A melody is beautiful to the ears, my love is that beautiful.
That's sweetly play'd in tune! -A melody is most beautiful in tune, my love is in tune.
Simple, right. This example was an easy one to follow. There is a lot more complex imagery out there. Take your time when writing your own poem(s), and keep it simple enough for everyone to enjoy. Remember that if you decide to write your own poem, it will take time, it will be difficult at first, and you will need to rewrite a lot. Do not haste now that you learned the basics; with some practice you can do it. Even pro's get lost for words, scrap great ideas for better word choice, rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite. If you want to read more love poems you could get some ideas by reading, "Wedding Poems" by Amena Harris.
If you still do not think you are up to writing a poem, you can always commission a writer to write one for you. Your poem will be specifically designed for you using the ideas you provide to the writer.
