“When thinking about pattern in poetry, many of us first think of rhyme and meter, which are definitely things that can provide pattern. But I’m interested in some of the less obvious, but very common, ways in which patterns arise: line length – why are these these lines longer or shorter than the others? Grammatical mood – what happens when we have a string of statements and then a question in a poem? Tense: if a poem has all been in the present tense, what is the effect of suddenly going into the past or future tense?”
– Carl Phillips, Five Things I’ve Learned about Patterns in Poetry
About this class: Hi, I’m Carl Phillips, I’m the author of a lot of books of poetry, most recently Scattered Snows, from the North, which came out in 2024, and I’ve written a few craft books as well, most recently My Trade is Mystery, Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing. I’m excited to be teaching this class on Five Things I’ve Learned about Patterns in Poetry – I should say, a more accurate title might be Five Things I’ve Learned about How You can Pattern a Poem, and to What Effect – but that would be a bit long for a title…
In this class, we will look at how patterns occur in five different poems. When thinking about pattern in poetry, many of us first think of rhyme and meter, which are definitely things that can provide pattern. But I’m interested in some of the less obvious, but very common, ways in which patterns arise: line length – why are these these lines longer or shorter than the others? Grammatical mood – what happens when we have a string of statements and then a question in a poem? Tense: if a poem has all been in the present tense, what is the effect of suddenly going into the past or future tense?
If this sounds nerdy, that’s because it is! It’s also part of the art of poetry, the thing that makes poetry stand apart from a grocery list or a newspaper article or a post on social media. And it’s actually something that happens in every poem, but we don’t always take time to notice it.
That’s what we’ll do in this class: look at poems closely and take notice of how their patterns contribute to a poem’s meaning. We will also look at how noticing these patterns can lead us to revision strategies for stalled drafts.
I hope you’ll join me!
– Carl Phillips
We’re pleased to offer this class in partnership with Conscious Writers Collective, the online writing platform and global writing community designed around the belief that rigorous writing instruction, a dedicated community of writers, and opportunities to learn from visiting experts should not be exclusive to an MFA. Find out more, and join CWC Poetry or CWC Fiction.
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