The Art and Craft of Poetry

He has published multiple volumes of poetry, novels, short fiction, and scholarly studies of such contemporary writers as Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, and Orson Scott Card. He is now retired and lives in his native state of Idaho.

Michael R. Collings is an Emeritus Professor of English at Seaver College, Pepperdine University, where he directed the Creative Writing Program for over two decades.

Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Full Rhyme
Slant-, Skewed-, Half-Rhyme
Others
In general, I am
Satisfied with the directions and expertise my poems demonstrate
Satisfied, but am eager to expand into new modes and explore new means of creating art
Frequently unsatisfied with the level of my poetry, especially in terms of
My use of language
My understanding of structure
The limits I impose—consciously or unconsciously—on my Imagination
The limits I impose—consciously or unconsciously—on my Ideas
My technical and mechanical Proficiency
Other
Deeply dissatisfied with the level of my poetry
About to give up on writing poetry at all

I frequently and consciously use the following in my poetry:
Simple sense imagery, usually visual
More complex imagery that attempts to elicit several sensory responses simultaneously
Similes, primarily to convey sense impressions
Similes, primarily to convey more complex responses than simple sense impressions
Metaphors, in which the poem spells out the relationship between both the tenor (the abstract thing or idea I wish to talk about) and the vehicle (the concrete thing or idea to which I compare the abstraction)
Metaphors, in which the tenor is implicit or assumed, while the poem appears to focus exclusively on the vehicle
Symbols within my poems
More complex symbols, in which the principle theme or ideas of the poem—considering individual poem as an integral whole—is communicated indirectly, through the mediation of the poems
I frequently and consciously use the following sound devices in creating the music of my poetry:

count
Relatively regular line-lengths
Sonnets
Quatrains and/or Triplets
Ballads
Other
Syllabic poet, i.e., I frequently use forms based primarily on syllable count, including
Stanzaic syllabics
‘Nonce’ syllabics
Haiku
Tanka
Cinquain
Other
Open-Form Poet, i.e., I consider myself primarily a ‘free verse’ poem, creating my own fundamental forms but using such structures and devices as
Controlled but varying line length
Repeated syntactical structures, such as anaphors (repetition of an initial word or phrase over several lines)
Breath units as a primary means of determining line length
Non-metrical stresses as a primary means of line length

consider myself a
Formalist, i.e., I frequently use traditional forms and structures, including
Rhyme as a primary musical device
Meter as a primary rhythmic device
Stanzas of pre-determined line

heaters froze in engines; sewer lines burst;

thought incapable of peace or panic

This poem has undergone several transformations, both in form and in content. Which of the three works most effectively to communicate subject, tone/atmosphere, image, and theme:

sighs and dies into black nothingness, when
[“the executioner’s sword descending with languid grace”*]