#pattern poems

[voyniches]

Easter Wings, George Herbert

[triviaproofing]

#1531: “In the seventeenth century it was the vogue among some English poets to write poems in the shape of ships, hourglasses, crosses, flowers, human beings, stars and other objects. When a couple was married their respective families often hired a poet to write a wedding poem in the shape of an altar; to commemorate a death a funeral poem might be written in the shape of a skull. The following poem, “The Pillar of Fame,” by the English poet Robert Herrick, is a representative example:”

Read the poem here so its shape is preserved: The Pillar of Fame

True. Not plausible.

The trend of pattern poetry seems to have been limited to English poets. Dick Higgins writes in Pattern Poetry that the trend had faded by the eighteenth century. I didn’t see anything about those types of poems being commissioned in English.

Plus the forms were fairly simple for the most part. The most elaborate ones were in the forms of lover’s knots and one was in the form of a tree. Compared to most of the other pattern poems during the seventeenth century, the more elaborate ones were rare. If you looked at other languages, you might have more luck finding unique shapes.

In Germany, you could find pattern poems commissioned for weddings.

Source:

Higgins, D. (1987). Pattern Poems by Language and Literature - British and English-Language Literatures. Pattern poetry: guide to an unknown literature. Albany: State University of New York Press.