So, because of Rob and Gabriel, I am still off my duff and did some spelunking around to see if I wanted to submit more poetry elsewhere. A number of places said “No rhyming poems.”
Actually, it’s a little more snide than that, like this example from Pebble Lake Review:
We do not accept rhyming poetry, greeting-card verse, poems about vampires, etc.
Classy.
Oh well. I suppose I’m grateful for having my choices limited, since my energy is a little suspect. But frankly, this sort of thing is one of the reasons I’ve never bothered to submit in the first place. Hard to work up a head of steam when you write the equivalent of vampire poems.
It’s so pathetic, isn’t it.
It’s not like the stuff they do publish is exactly fiercely cutting-edge.
I really don’t have a quarrel with what they publish. Lord knows it’s their journal and really, people can publish what their hedgehogs type if they want to. I just felt that I was given the finger. Yes, I write some free verse, but if the rest of my work is going to be put in the “garbage” category with Hallmark, what’s the point? “Don’t send us stuff that sucks” would be a great guideline!
Steve tells me I should be glad that these mags are saying not to bother right up front. He’s right, but it’s still rather disconcerting to be dismissed so casually. Bah.
Classing ‘rhyming poetry’ with ‘poems about vampires’ isn’t a sensible warning about editorial policy, it’s an advertisement of their own stupidity and ignorance.
I’ve written two vampire poems to date, and plan to write more in thew future (let’s see what NaPo drags out of me). I see no shame in writing poems about vampires. I think it’s a crying shame that one of the few journals willing to publish previously published materials should choose to exclude work from consideration based purely on form or genre without any consideration for quality. Which phrase describes this ethos better: short-sighted or pig-ignorant?
Hmmm, lets see. . .
There once was a vampire named vlad
who invited chicks to his pad
when he suggested a bite
they put up a fight
leaving him hungry and mad.
or the more formal,
Shall I compare the to a summer’s vampire. . .
Sorry, Julie, I couldn’t resist!
Sigh. Rhyme done skillfully is a thing of great beauty.
best,
lisa
Dang it, Rik, I should have known I was going to insult someone with my vampire crack.
I think anything can be the subject of a good poem, including vampires. I guess I felt that they were trying to use a really sneery example. Sorry.
Don’t be sorry, Julie. I think it is my life’s mission to teach the world that not all poems about vampires suck bigtime …
nridi
I came across your post and thought you might find this discussion on rhyme at another site interesting, especially since one of the people commenting blasted me for suggesting most prestigious literary magazines do not accept rhyme. I changed my phrasing later to read “don’t accept/publish rhyme;” nevertheless, I believe my original phrasing is correct.
My assertion had nothing to do with my opinion of rhyme. I write all types of poetry. I thought I was stating a fact that did not need to be documented in an informal introduction to open discussion because most poets who regularly attempt to submit poetry or who read articles about poetry markets would recognize the statement as true.
Click for on rhyme.
I’ve invited the person who seems to think I don’t know what I’m talking about regarding attitudes toward rhyme at “prestigious” literary magazines to write an article letting poets know which prominent literary mags publish rhyme with any regularity. I look forward to his article if he writes it.
Cool blog here. I’ll add it as a link to NJ Spoken Word
Hey, Nordette. Thanks for stopping by.
There definitely are very prestigious journals that accept rhyming poetry. Poetry itself is probably the biggest.
Here is a thread on a formalist website that talks about ‘zines that publish formal work.
I can’t claim any expertise, that’s for certain. Publishing is a strange new world for me. I think you are right that many journals won’t accept it. I think your critic is right that some very good ones do. And I think that I am grateful that people are having the discussion and brought it to my attention. Thanks!
Thanks for pointing this out to me. I did an update here: “More on the Fall of Rhyme.”
Clearly you would have never bothered to read Kipling, either of the Browings, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickenson or any of the other many, many talented poets of the world. Given that many times the greatest poets accomplished the feat of becoming great with rhyming poetry, I am more than stunned and less than impressed with what appears to be a lack of foresight, (at best), and ignorant discrimination, (at worst). Additionally, to clump several genres of “poetry” into one incomprehensible category is, what seems to me a loud and clear statement of your own, rather unschooled opinion. Just because you may be “limited” in your understanding and appreciation does not mean each of your readers is similiarly limited. This, I suppose is why I don’t waste time on imagined limitations place on me by someone who shows only a profound lack of understanding of their chosen subject. Perhaps someday, when your heart and mind grow up a bit you might be able to converse on the subject of “rhyming poetry” and be backed up by actual knowledge rather than what is apparently simple ignorant prejudice.
Sandra, I hope you’re speaking to a general “you” and not to me. If you’re addressing me, you’re a tiny bit off base.