2006-05-11

radfrac_archive_full: (Ben Butley)
2006-05-11 10:08 pm

starter poetry

[livejournal.com profile] rm wonders about excessive rhyme in spellwriting.

I wonder if this phenomenon has the same wellspring as gratuitous rhyming in poetry in general, if we consider spells a special form of poetry, or alternatively, poetry a generalized form of spellcasting?

There's a form I think of as the 'starter poet' structure. Think of a funnel. It begins with long, liberating, casting-off-convention free-verse lines, which acquire rhyme about halfway down an 8-1/2 x 11 page, then gradually contract into a tighter and tighter rhyme scheme until every word rhymes with the next, which is how you know the poem is done.

For example: )

There must be a reason it shows up. Maybe it's a protostyle: what you do on your way to getting a grip on form.

I have Spellcraft somewhere, but most magical language I've come across was in the form of ritual song. When I've, you know, Cast Stuff, it was usually more incantatory than rhymed. [livejournal.com profile] inlandsea has heard some of the rhymey bits. I don't think anyone else has.

{rf}