Do you think poetry has to rhyme?

Question

Personally, I'm a fan of poetry that doesn't rhyme or even have a specific beat to it. I like more traditional forms as well, but I find poetry that breaks the rules to more in tune with the modern world. What do all you people out in answers land think?

Answer 1

No, I don't think poetry has to rhyme. That is the reason why I don't think poetry that does not rhyme breaks the rules in any way. There were already debates about rhyme in sixteenth-century England, and many traditional forms in other languages did not rhyme either.

Answer 2

No,no...on the contrary...i enjoy non-rhyming poetry better. Rhyming poetry seems a bit cheesy to me...a bit like a childs rhyme. Although if it is pulled off well it is enjoyable.

I think a poem doesn't even have to have a certain rythym...however it can be easier to read and good...but sometimes it just seems like it should be a song! I mean it makes the poetry flow better and it is true that it can show the degree at which the poet is...i mean it's hard to find an accurate rhyming word! But still.

I enjoy rule-breaking poetry as well....most of the subjects poets write about are not about following the rules...many are about pain, love and chaos.....very unruly subjects!

Well yeah....if they are done well any peom can sound and read great. But i am more of a fan of the unstructured kind!

Answer 3

I like poetry with a certain beat to it but it doesn't have to and it definitely doesn't have to rhyme

Answer 4

This is a terrific question because it strikes to the heart of poetry as oral tradition and as written form.  It is much easier to memorize, and consequently recite, rhymed and metered poetry, and indeed our earliest experiences with poetry are likely to be such. Much of my own poetry is rhymed, and all of it is metered.  I prefer to write this type of poetry and have internalized the metrical patterns to such an extent that when visited by my muse my mind is innately informed by the practice...unconscious scansion!  However, I am also a great admirer of Walt Whitman, in fact of any poet who has so mastered the language of rhetorical device, diction, and imagery that his ideas rhyme.  That is the one common denominator, the one unifying thread, that runs through all great poetry.  My own predisposition to write in a manner sometimes reminiscent of 19th century romantic poets is conditioned more perhaps by my indulgence in their music, and the consequent wiring of my neural circuitry, than by any type of conscious decision -- I'm not making a statement, I'm expressing something that is native - central - to my very self.  All poets, all writers, operate from this premise and appreciate its operation in others, even those of a different "persuasion."

Answer 5

98% of the poetry that I write is traditional rhymed poetry. Rhyming brings delight and beauty to a poem, and it's what seperates a good poet from an average one. I do like blank verse aswell, But one with a specific meter.

Answer 6

I do not feel that poetry has to rhyme to be well written,! I guess I like the variety of poetry, and yes like modern poetry as well as the old!  Not all poetry I like some of it can be over challenging!  I don't mind using a dictionary to look up words to better understand what the poet is saying but I don't want my head buried in one either!

I thought  Carnival of Dread was an awesome poem by David Lerner. There is much truth in that piece of poetry!!  Cheers !!

Answer 7

No, it certainly does not have to rhyme, but it has to flow in some way.