At first this might seem like a strange thing to talk about; horror POETRY? But there's been really good stuff put out over the years. Poe, obviously. And H.P Lovecraft wrote some (but I still don't see what the point behind a "prose poem" is; I always thought that was called a "short story".). e.e. cummings writes stuff that deals w/ supernatural themes at times (although his stuff tends generally to be more whimsical, like "Hist Whist" and "The Troll").
There's also stuff that maybe isn't strictly horror, but is definitely horrifying, like war poems (my personal favorites are "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"; "When I died, they washed me out of the turret with a hose.").
My favorite is a neat little ditty called 'A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor" by Ogden Nash, that I found in an anthology I have long since misplaced. yeah, it's in iambic pentameter with a repetitive rhyme scheme, so maybe it's not the most intellectually challenging poem to get your mind around. But having been forced to write poetry (something I never had any desire to do on my own) in a creative writing class, I can say that composing a rhythmic and rhyming poem, especially one of the length and coghesiveness of story as Nash's, is tough. When blank verse started to get popular in the 60's, Robert frost was asked what he thought of it. He purportedly commented: "It's like playing baseball w/o the base lines." Not that there's anything wrong w/ blank verse. It's a delight if it's done well (cummings bring a good example; there's still a rhythm to the writing, even if it's not regular, and even if it doesn't rhyme). But writing rhyming poetry and songs is a whole seperate talent, and when it's done well is to be admired, IMO. I think beatnik English profs give it a bum rap.
Anyone know of anything else we could maybe get turned on to?
There's also stuff that maybe isn't strictly horror, but is definitely horrifying, like war poems (my personal favorites are "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"; "When I died, they washed me out of the turret with a hose.").
My favorite is a neat little ditty called 'A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor" by Ogden Nash, that I found in an anthology I have long since misplaced. yeah, it's in iambic pentameter with a repetitive rhyme scheme, so maybe it's not the most intellectually challenging poem to get your mind around. But having been forced to write poetry (something I never had any desire to do on my own) in a creative writing class, I can say that composing a rhythmic and rhyming poem, especially one of the length and coghesiveness of story as Nash's, is tough. When blank verse started to get popular in the 60's, Robert frost was asked what he thought of it. He purportedly commented: "It's like playing baseball w/o the base lines." Not that there's anything wrong w/ blank verse. It's a delight if it's done well (cummings bring a good example; there's still a rhythm to the writing, even if it's not regular, and even if it doesn't rhyme). But writing rhyming poetry and songs is a whole seperate talent, and when it's done well is to be admired, IMO. I think beatnik English profs give it a bum rap.
Anyone know of anything else we could maybe get turned on to?
