IMITATIONS

THE ART OF POETRY
ENG 221

Dr. David B. Axelrod

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IMITATIONS: WHAT, WHY, WHO AND HOW

WHAT:

You are required to do two poems in imitation of at least one contemporary author. Send your imitations to me. You need not send your imitations to the class list.

You may do two poems by two different contemporary authors (and possibly learn more in so doing).

WHY:

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. No less than Ralph Waldo Emerson also said that imitation can be intellectual death! I know that curling up with a good author can be a super way to learn more. So by "imitation," I mean that you should become familiar with an exemplary author's style and is so doing, learn some new tricks.

In formal studies a student might be asked to read work, analyze and draw conclusions about the main attributes, virtues, faults of a particular author's style. Such understanding would be expressed in an essay that essentially listed and exemplified major points. My approach, however, is more "intuitive," or perhaps "osmotic!" I think you can learn as much or more by rubbing up against an author. Something good may even sink in.

WHO:

Thus, I'm asking you to pick a contemporary (living) author whose work is not just popular but has been judged to be worthy. There are many schools of poetry and as many authors who can't readily be placed in one category or another, but the prevailing style in American poetry is Imagistic. I am predominantly an imagistic poet.

Most of the America's poets laureate have been imagistic poets. Most of what you find in academic journals is imagistic. Some is what we call "language poetry" and less is formal. Much of what you find among "unjudged" ezines and periodicals is abstract or "Hallmark" riming verse.

I hope students will use either my own poetry or any other poet whose style is typical of the "contemporary" American poems being published on line and in print magazines now. Of course poet laureates and Nobel poets are prime examples.

HOW:

Pick someone and get familiar, even comfortable with that poet's style. Then try to write something the same way that poet would write a poem. The result is a kind of osmotic learning where you absorb style. I am being intentionally "vague" here, which is to say I do not want to impose any specific rules for your attempt at learning from the style of the author you selected.

1. You could be so business-like as to make a list of attributes that help "define" the poet and then use those when you imitate.

2. You could be so literal as to "paraphrase" an existing poem though that is probably an invitation to danger! The last thing I want to do is teach you to plagiarize! Certainly "rewording" or changing just a few words in a poem by someone else does not make it your own. Hence, you need to understand that imitation is not a license to steal!

3. You could be so relaxed as to read a lot of a poet's work and then just say "Now I'll write like that" and see what comes out. (This happens to be what I do, myself. I often buy a book by someone and read until I feel I am ready or even "inspired" enough to write. What comes out is influenced by them but not closely derivative.)

When you send me your work, be sure to tell me not the just author you are imitating but any specific poem. If you want to be careful, or even more so, to be sure you are honest, you can place this little note in italics under the title of your own poem: (after reading Author's Name). Thus no one can question your integrity and the poem is still your own.

NOTE: Please send me a copy of the poem you are imitating, particularly if you have paraphrased as a way of imitating. Without a sample of the poet's work or the specific poem I may not see the merits of your own exercise in imitation.

Click here for Sample Imitations