Poetry... Elusive... Fascinating... Compelling... Absorbing... Whimsical... Simply beautiful...
You either love it, or you don't understand it.Yet its presence in our lives, from classical reading to song writing, is an ever present force.
Poetry... Do any of us really know its true nature? I've been writing poetry for most of my life, and feel that I've only really scratched at its surface. Professors and scholars will tell you they know, when in truth they're merely articulating an opinion, in essence, just like most of us do. On line I've been involved in many discussions and debates over poetry style and quality, and have been disappointed in the results of these discussions. There are just too many styles of poetry for any one to be better than the next. So most of these conversations inevitably turn into heated arguments from which nothing is truly learned.
Poetry that rhymes is generally looked down upon these days, where freeverse is more acceptable... and yet, all the many other forms of poetry are hardly ever used, let alone discussed.
First, I believe the quality of any poem should be based on one simple factor, was there a message? And was this message delivered? Period... Because first and foremost Poetry is communication... We can argue "Forced Rhyming" in poetry, or a lack of metrical fluidity in freeverse all we want, while missing the whole purpose of writing all together. Quality shouldn't just be down to style, it should be down to interpretation...
My objective is, in a set of articles, to try to uncover the nature of the beast that is poetry... Poetry, what is it actually?
I open my Websters:

Po-et-ry: n 1.a : VERSE b : the productions of a poet : POEMS
2 : writing in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm
3 a : a quality that stirs the imagination b : a quality of spontaneity and grace (her dancing is pure POETRY)

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Po-em: n (to make, create) 1 : a composition in verse
2 : a piece of poetry communicating to the reader the sense of a complete experience
3 : a creation, experience, or object likened to a poem

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After reading this I was surprised how the very definitions were open enough to encompass all forms and styles of poetry, but still maintained certain consistencies. The first being "VERSE". So I then looked up verse.

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Verse: n 1 : a line of metrical writing
2 a : metrical writing distinguished from poetry esp. by its lower level of intensity
2 b : POETRY (Elizabethan verse) (has written both verse and prose)
2 c : POEM (read the group some of her verses)
3 : STANZA
4 : one of the short divisions into which a chapter of the Bible is traditionally divided.

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Okay now I was confused a little. Verse is the foremost quality distinguishing poetry for what it is. So why then in 2a did it say: "metrical writing distinguished from poetry esp. by its lower level of intensity"?
Well, I then looked up prose and found my answer...

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Prose: n 1 a : the ordinary language of men in speaking or writing
1 b : a literary medium distinguished from poetry esp. by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech
2 a prosaic style. quality, character, or condition : ORDINARINESS, MATTER-OF-FACTNESS (the prose of everyday life)

So, prose and poetry are two different styles of writing, poetry being metrical and in verse designed for creating a certain emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm, whereas prose, though still incorporating rhythm, is more irregular and more focused on the common use of whatever language is employed.
This would end a lot of the arguments I've seen on line. Poetry has to be verse like and metrical in nature. That doesn't mean that it must rhyme or must not rhyme... but it must have metrical integrity, and should be in verse.
I've seen a lot of freeverse that in reality is prose, passed as poetry. Before we argue style and critique another's work, we should at least understand the nature of poetry.
For beginners, forced verse isn't wrong. It's helping them grasp the metrical aspect of what they're trying to do. They could be advised on better word choices, but that will come as they grow in poetry. The most important thing is, was a message conveyed? An experience that moved us emotionally? This is where critiquing should begin, though certainly not where it should end.
Poetry... fluid graceful verses in metrical flow. This is the beginning of understanding the nature of poetry.

This article contributed by Whittler