Almost all poetry traditions use
some form of repetition; in some cultures repetition plays a larger part than meter or
rhyme. Walt Whitman is most famous for the parallel catalogues in the poems from Leaves of
Grass. As in Whitman's case (where he draws on the Bible), repetition often originates in
oral poetry or song forms. Here are some poems making two distinctive uses of
repetition:
1.) Parallelism--Using a Seed Phrase
Maria Sabina (An oral poet from Mexico who composed most of her work while in
visionary trances.)
I am the woman of the great expanse of water
I am the woman of the expanse of the divine sea
the woman of the flowing water
a woman who examines and searches
a woman with hands and measure
a woman mistress of measure...
I am a woman wise in words beneath the water, it says
I am a women wise in words beneath the sea, it says . . . .
Also See Walt Whitman's Salut au Monde.
2.) Permutation of a Pattern
Brion Gysin
I AM THAT I AM
AM I THAT I AM
I THAT AM I AM
THAT I AM I AM
AM THAT I I AM
THAT AM I I AM
I AM I THAT AM
AM I I THAT AM
I I AM THAT AM
I I AM THAT AM
AM I I THAT AM
I AM I THAT AM
I THAT I AM AM
THAT I I AM AM
I I THAT AM AM
I I THAT AM AM
THAT I I AM AM
I THAT I AM AM
AM THAT I I AM
THAT AM I I AM
AM I THAT I AM
I AM THAT I AM
. . . .
_______________________________
John Halveda
What Are Poems For? I don't know what poems are for. Know
what? I don't. Are poems for? For what poems are I don't know. Don't I know what poems are
for? What for? I don't know. Poems are. For poems, I don't know what are. Are poems what?
For I don't know. Poems are for what? I don't know. What don't I know? For poems are. For
poems I don't know. What are? I know what poems are for. Don't.
--------------------------------- (An Abecedarius)
_______________________________
Emmett Williams
DUET
art of my dart
arrow of my marrow
butter of my abutter
bode of my abode
cope of my scope
curry of my scurry
den of my eden
do of my ado
ember of my member
eel of my feel
fort of my effort
flexibilty of my inflexibility
go of my ego
gain of my again
hence of my whence
him of my whim
inky of my dinky
inter of my hinter
job of jy ajog
johnny of my o johnny o
kipper of my skipper
kin of my skin
licker of my flicker
lapstick of my slapstick
mission of my emission
motion of my emotion
nip of my snip
now of my enow
oiler of my toiler
orpheus of my morpheus
port of my sport
patter of my spatter
quash of my squash
quiescence of my acquiescence
raving of my craving
ream of my cream
scent of my ascent
swan of my aswan
tiff of my stiff
top motion of my stop motion
unction of my function
urging of my purging
vent of my event
vocative of my evocative
well of my swell
wallow-tail of my swallow-tail
x-factor of my ex-factor
x of my ax
ye of my aye
y of my my
zip zap zoff of my o zip o zap o zoff
zim zam zoom of my o zim o zam o zoom
TO WRITE:
_________________________________
Decide whether you want to try writing a poem using Parallelism (#1) or Permutation (#2).
Pick a seed phrase from one of the poems above or make one up. Then build off it, either
by rearranging the phrase into different forms or repeating it with a difference, to form
a poem. Don't worry about controlling the sense of it as you move; follow the rhythm
of the pattern, write fast, and see what develops.
Here's one of my attempts:
"I sing the body electric"
I sing the city soiled
I sing the love lost
I sing the insanity of freedom
I sing the breathing absence
I electrify the words' body
I electrify the urban imagination
I electrify the absent erotic
I electrify the liberal mind
I electrify the powered lung
I body the nerves' charge
I body the subway shuffle
I body the lips' residue
I body the labyrinthine escape
I body the resonant voice
. . . .
Ken Sherwood
12/17/96
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