Looking for inspiration in nature has become an old tradition for poets. This tradition began to be carried out since the time of the ancient Greek poets and continues to this day. Spending time in nature can provide peace and inspiration for future poetry.
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Part 1 of 3: Looking for Inspiration
Step 1. Read the available nature poems
A great writer is one who reads many works. Reading nature poems by successful poets that have been released can give you ideas, inspiration, and open your eyes about what nature poetry can do.
- The Academy of American Poets website can be a good place to find nature poetry. You can search for the poet you want, or use the filters on the website to find all the poetry in the nature category.
- Look for poems by poets known for their work on nature. For example, Gary Snyder is an American poet who has spent most of his life creating works related to nature. Poets from the Romantic period (a period of European artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that began in the late 18th century) such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats are well known for their nature-telling poems.
- Check your book collection for books on nature poetry, poetry collections, and literary journals with nature themes.
Step 2. Spend time in nature
If you're interested in writing poetry about nature, the best way to get started is to go to nature. Whether it's a short walk, camping for a long time, or both, going outdoors can help you find inspiration and imagery.
- Nature can be a variety of things in this modern era. You don't have to go to the countryside or into the woods for inspiration. You can visit the city park if you can't go to the outdoors.
- Consider seeking inspiration in a place where nature and the city meet. Even remote forests can not be visited without using the road that leads you there. You may find inspiration in the transition zone where nature and the city meet.
Step 3. Write down the observations
When you're out in nature (you can decide for yourself what kind of place is nature), you can start to feel inspired or creative when you observe your surroundings. It won't be a problem if inspiration doesn't come right away. You can analyze the thoughts and feelings you get while in nature at another time.
- As you observe the nature around you, pay attention to what you see, hear, smell, and feel.
- Next, try to draw associations from the things you observe. What do you remember from life when you were making observations? Why do you pay attention to what you do in nature?
- You can pause to reflect and think about where you first learned to interact with nature.
- You don't have to worry about the process of writing poetry first. Try to pay attention to things that exist in nature, write down the observations, and describe your understanding of the observations.
Part 2 of 3: Start Writing
Step 1. Use imagination
Poetry certainly contains many images. You may have written a lot of observational images while spending time in nature. However, do you know how to turn it into a line of poetry? One of the easiest ways to start writing is to use your imagination and observations.
- Read all the observation lists that have been compiled.
- Try to imagine the different images that come to mind while contemplating each observation.
- The imagined image does not have to be directly related to what you see or hear in nature. It can be formed from associations made in the mind.
- Write a description of the image or association.
Step 2. Find the theme
Before you start composing your poem, you should think about what theme you want to include in the poem. Of course the poem will tell the story of nature, but how to present it? Why do you go to nature, and what do you get from it? Maybe a trip to nature makes you reflect on the things that happen in life. Perhaps you are reminded of the long journey you traveled with relatives who died when you were young. Whatever your understanding of nature, write it down and try to explain it in as much detail as possible.
- Theme can be defined as a combination of your ideas and opinions about the idea.
- Review the observations, and read all the images or associations that have been developed. Which part impressed you the most? What does that mean?
- Does visiting nature make you reflect on life? Or death? Or loved ones who have left? Or recent events, whether in your life or in politics, society, and culture?
- Ultimately, the theme you choose will affect not only what is written, but also how you write it.
Step 3. Arrange the poems based on the chosen theme
Once you've decided on a theme, develop a poem based on the chosen theme so you can have several interrelated ideas that can be described in the poem. If no ideas come up, developing a poem based on a theme can at least give you a few words or phrases that can enrich your writing.
- Try making a list of three columns: senses, objects, and thoughts.
- Think about what you have observed in nature from the point of view of the chosen theme. In what ways do observations, thoughts, and descriptions relate to the chosen theme?
- Choose the word, phrase, or line that is the most descriptive, contains the most imagery, or has the most emotional power you can create. After that, save the word, phrase or line as material that can later be used to make a poem.
Part 3 of 3: Making Poems
Step 1. Decide whether you want to compose a poem that rhymes or not
Poetry doesn't have to be rhythmic, but rhyming words can add musical value to the written word. Poeming words can also help you emphasize certain words and ideas in the poem. Think about whether you want to compose a poem that rhymes or not. After that, also decide where you want to place the rhyming word in the poem.
- Note that it's possible that you'll put in too many words that rhyme so that the poem sounds like a nursery-rhyme. Experiment with pronouncing different words to determine which one you like. Keep in mind that you can continue to improve your poem, including adding or subtracting words that rhyme.
- Poeming words can also narrow the choice of words. For example, it's easier to rhyme with "tree" or "flower" than "chlorophyll" or "chrysanthemum."
Step 2. Choose a form of poetry
Poetry takes many forms. You can write it in free-form which means there are no "rules" in determining line length, structure, or arrangement. There is no right or wrong way to write poetry. The form you choose depends on your writing style as well as what you want to convey through the poem. Here are the general forms of poetry:
- Haiku - consists of three lines. The first line consists of five syllables; the second line has seven syllables; and the third line has five syllables.
- Tanka - consists of five lines. The first three lines follow the Haiku structure (five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five in the third), and the last two lines have seven syllables.
- Lantern - a poem whose writing structure does not really resemble the form of poetry in general because the structure imitates the visual form of a Japanese lantern.
- Couplet (Couplet) - consists of two lines that rhyme with each other. Usually couplets are not categorized as rhymes, but they can be classified as such.
- Quatrin (Quatrain) - consists of four lines that have a specific rhythm pattern. The poem usually uses one of these four rhythm patterns: AABB (rhyming first two lines, last two rhyming lines), ABAB (rhyming first and third lines, rhyming second and fourth lines), ABBA (rhyming first and fourth lines, second and the third is rhyming), or ABCB (the first three lines are not rhythmic, the fourth and second lines are rhythmic). Quatrines are also not categorized as rhyme, but they are often used to create certain forms of poetry.
Step 3. Write a rough draft
Once you've determined the form of the poem you want to write, your draft should combine the imagery, description, and memories that have been compiled into the structure of the poetic form. If you're writing free-form poetry, you don't have to worry about the structural "rules" of the poetry form so you can experiment while creating it.
- Choose concrete words over abstract words. This can reinforce the content of the poem and the imagery it contains, so you can avoid ambiguous concepts or ideas.
- Don't worry about the rhyming of words on any line, unless you've determined a form of poetry that requires a certain rhythm scheme. Poeming words in contemporary poetry is often considered an old-fashioned or rigid way so that if you do not have a sufficient understanding of word stress, the rhythmic poetry that is made can become irregular in structure.
- If you are interested in using the form of poetry in your work, try experimenting with various forms of poetry until you find a form that fits the theme and image.
Step 4. Integrate similes and metaphors into poetry
Similes and metaphors are what often make poetry stanzas poetic. Both figures of speech often use concrete words to describe abstract comparisons, such as "His eyes are fiery" to describe the expression of someone who is angry.
- Simile is a comparative figure of speech that uses the words “like” or “like.” For example, the phrase “Andre and Lestari's relationship is like water and oil” uses the word “like” to compare their relationship with water and oil because they can't be together.
- Metaphor is a figure of speech that does not use the words "like" or "like". On the other hand, it is a figure of speech that makes one thing (to give it a literary effect) as if it has the properties of something else. For example, "He rules with an iron fist" compares his ruling with a hard iron.
Step 5. Find and enhance cliches
Cliches can be interpreted as boring or overused choice of words and literary elements. It may appear in your work easily when you are writing your first draft. However, cliches can discourage readers from reading your work. Instead of writing something in a boring or overused way, try using another way that has never been used by other people to convey the meaning of a cliché. Even if a poem made in this way is a bit confusing or nonsensical, it will surprise and grab the reader's attention. That's better than using clichés and keeping the reader from reading it.
- Look for cliches that appear in the work.
- Try to figure out what you want to convey through a cliché.
- Explain what the cliche is trying to convey in your own words.
- Rewrite cliches in a more descriptive and original way.
Step 6. Review the poem that has been written
Every writer knows that revision is an important part of the writing process, including the process of making poetry. Revisions don't just fix typos (although you should, too). The following strategies can be used in making revisions:
- Get rid of prepositions, adjectives, adverbs and any lines that explain unimportant things
- Playing the placement of line breaks (the method in poetry used to divide lines) in the poem
- Read the poem aloud and think about how it sounds (not only the rhythm, if you use it in poetry, but also how the words sound when pronounced together)
- Reorder lines of poetry to adjust word stress, and place sounds and images
Tips
- By going to nature, you will find it easier to write poetry about it.
- Don't get in the way of the feelings that come up when you're trying to write. If a feeling comes up suddenly, don't hold it in. Try to write it down and see how that feeling helps you compose your work.
- Writing poetry is a difficult thing to do and it takes practice. If you are not satisfied with the results of your first job, don't be discouraged. Try again and keep practicing.
- Have a journal as a place to write poetry. Keeping all of your work in one place can make it easier for you to reread previous works, review revisions that have been made, and get new ideas from old observations.
