Some people baulk at the idea of having to read poetry, let alone write it; writing poetry is not for everyone. A poet is someone who has the courage to wear his heart on his sleeve—like the eagles of the classical writers, they look directly at the sun.

     With Euphony of words I have attempted to take the sting out of mastering the art of writing poetry. It covers most of the basic terminology used on poetry websites and will give you an insight as to how certain poetic forms are constructed. I also discuss some of the poetic devices at the poet’s disposal, but these should never be obtrusive when used. Content is more important than labels.

     For those who wish to take a more scholarly view of writing poetry, I help the reader differentiate between vowels and syllables, and how the latter affects the poetic metre; how to identify stressed and unstressed words; and lastly, illustrate how to perform scansion for the edification of the reader. Much like we should not overanalyse why a relationship is working, one should steer clear of dissecting a poem to the point of rendering it a meaningless jumble of words on a page.

     Since 2012, I have researched hundreds of poetic forms and have mastered a total of 180 poetic forms and designs to date. I could not always find suitable references online that elucidated the poetic forms which piqued my interest. Many prolix discussions are mere cut-and-paste efforts, regurgitating glaring errors, or they contain lacunae that are misleading, for example, Jueju, Cascade, Diminished Hexaverse, Kelly lune, etc. I put my newfound knowledge to the test and wrote an example of each form that warranted in-depth research, and the flagship website Suzette: Poet & Author, was born to keep track of my progress as a poet. My second website, Suzette: Poet, was also well received. Both are now defunct. I was nominated as one of the Best Poets (past or present) on World Poetry Day, 21 March 2013, in the Dazed magazine, UK. My poetry is shared worldwide (some even translated). Suzette Prime has been referenced in publications such as ©The Really Useful Maths book: A guide to interactive teaching, by Tony Brown, Henry Liebling 2014.

     This book is the result of my journey as a new poet—I strove to bear in mind what my questions and frustrations were at the beginning of my quest for knowledge. Poetry is a medium that lends itself to kick over the traces and challenge the status quo. You might not agree with my philosophy expressed in some of the poems, but hopefully, it will give you a new perspective on various topics. In Royal (overleaf) I refer to the circumstances that surrounded Queen Elizabeth II during April 2021.

 

ROYAL

Reining in jet-black steed;

Rangle for her falcon.

Repugnant mudslinging,

Risible in content,

Rankled those in the know.

Recent loss of soulmate;

Ravens smudge the teal sky.