ENGLISH 491 - POEM ASSIGNMENTS – Fall 2007

Poem #1 – Write a poem that works through a pattern of repetition of any kind. Bring in some (at least 2) examples of other poems that do this successfully and hand them in with your own poem.  

Poem #2 – Write a poem in the style of any U.S. Poet Laureate. 

Poem #3 – Write a poem of at least five quatrains with a discernible rhyme scheme—for the most part using slant rhyme with, if you wish, a small mix of exact rhyme. For useful models: see Wrigley’s “Conjure” and “Star Dust,” among others. 

Poem #4 – Write an elegy.  

Poem #5 – Write a poem that explores your vision of a Big Concept; e.g., art (you know—music, dance, painting, sculpture, etc.) or Nirvana, or paradise, or death or puberty or, well, just about anything. Pay particular attention to finding a form germane to presenting your thematic intentions. At least 14 lines. 

Poem #6 – Write a blank verse poem in couplets or tercets with 10-syllable lines. Use at least some enjambment. The poem’s focus must be on—[drum roll!]—any body part.  

Poem #7 – Write a poem of any length or form, but one that is musical—a poem that pays close attention to sounds, a poem that sings. It should make ample use of assonance, alliteration, and meter—perhaps repetition, too. The poem must mention a European city, two trees, and hair. (Suggestion: Blank verse would work well.) 

Poem #8 – Write a sestina. 

Poem #9 – Write a poem that works, for the most part, in either iambic or trochaic meter. Include at least one line of spondees and at least one anapest OR one dactyl. Subject matter is your choice. 

Poems #10, etc. – Up to you!  But you should strive for variation of subject matter and form and continue experimenting with various kinds of rhythm and rhyme.  

PLEASE LABEL YOUR POEMS WITH THE NUMBER OF THE ASSIGNMENT.