ANST - Hack? Or Skilled Wordsmithing!

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra suggested:
> (paraphrase) "Any hack can slavishly follow the dictates
> [of] a form already in existence. A true <artist> CREATES."

Dear Amra, though I much respect you as a thoughtful correspondent and as an artist, I must
heartily, emphatically, and passionately disagree!

If you think it's easy or simple to wordsmith so that  you create a new poem so that it
perfectly follows a period form, think again.

For a simple example, try writing 200 lines of perfect iambic pentameter, without ever
introducing a trochee or using more than 10 syllables per line.

Try writing a perfect sonnet -- and if that was too easy, try creating a sonnet so that the
first letter of each line spells a word or name when read down the poem.

Try writing perfect alliterative skaldic verse -- be careful, as it has EXACT requirements for
how many syllables are present and which ones can (or must be) stressed and unstressed, and
don't forget to use layered kennings that can sometimes run four or more images deep.

Any hack can slap together loose verse.  Wordsmithing a poem to the dictates of a rigid form
requires true artistry.  You have to make EVERY word count, you must select the exact right word
to both convey your meaning and to fit the form.  It ain't easy, but it IS rewarding.

::GUNNORA::



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