Forms: Concrete Poetry

Category: Online Poetry

by Don J. Carlson
September 1998

Concrete Poetry Is Not Too Hard

A modern poetry form of some interest is Concrete Poetry. It is a poetry in which the form is visible in a way that is much more unavoidable than in other forms. Here are two fairly obvious examples also by the author.

As you can see, Belt Butte is written in a perfectly square form that depends on each written character taking the same amount of linear space. There are eighteen characters per line counting letters and spaces. Belt Butte was composed on a typewriter which had regular spaces.

Try Your Own Variations of Visual Poetry

Concrete Poetry has also been called Typewriter Poetry. The effects possible with Concrete Poetry are made more complicated but also more versatile by the computer. A poem may depend upon the font chosen or upon calligraphic lettering or letters cut from a newspaper. Most concrete poetry still has a strong influence of the typewriter. Emoticons on the computer could be worked into a poem as a concrete element.

Remember Whether You Use Variable or Fixed Fonts

In writing concrete poetry on the computer you must both send and receive the poems the same way. If your email is set to receive fixed fonts you will see the words differently from the way they will look set to receive variable fonts. In a variable font the letter “I” for instance will be narrower and take up less width on the line than the letter “W.” In a variable font “W” is usually the widest letter. When you write a poem to go online you must know what fonts can be accepted by your hypertext software and use those fonts. Then you must follow through all steps of the text handling process to make sure they appear as intended. If you do concrete poetry as graphics files you will be more assured they will appear in proper form. You may need to consult a technician if there are problems.

Look for Specific Forms of Poetry Online

In Concrete Poetry, the form takes on illustrative quality in word or picture form. To understand more about Concrete Poetry, check out a book on the form or check out a website of Concrete Poetry. Any form can be found in books or websites with very little effort. Try looking up Haiku, Tanka, Sonnet, Villanelle, Sestina, Limerick, Ballad, Blank Verse, Free Verse. Each of these will give you examples of a well-established form. Form may refer only to the form of print on the page as in concrete poetry or rhyme pattern as in a couplet or sonnet.

Concrete poetry can be very simple or quite complex. You are only limited by your poetic and artistic skills as well as imagination. Spend some time looking at examples in books or online. It will be well worth the effort.