Imitating/Copying Poetry

One of the methods I recommend in tutor training for teaching writing is imitating or copying poetry. I am including here some tips and ideas to get you started.

"Imitation, conscious imitation, is one of the great methods, perhaps the method of learning to write. The ancients, the Elizabethans, knew this, profited by it, and were not disturbed. As a son of Ben [Jonson], Herrick more than once rewrote Jonson, who, in turn, drew heavily on the classics. And so on."—Theodore Roethke, "How to Write Like Somebody Else"

Imitation is the most direct route to mastering a skill—just follow the master step by step and you're bound to get it. There's a long tradition of this in the arts. Go to a museum and you’re likely to find a student tracing someone else's moves. As Roethke alludes, there is a vast history of the practice in writing as well. Imitation is a means by which we can take the past and tradition into account, but build upon, develop, and change that tradtion as well.

One specific exercise for practicing imiation is called "copy change." Bascially, you borrow another writer's structure and use it as the skeleton for your own work. But isn't this plagiarism, you ask? You may find that the new poem takes on a life of its own, and becomes a very different work than the original. If there's no trace of the source, you don't need to give anyone else credit. If, on the other hand, evidence of the original structure remains, you should give a nod to the first writer in some way.

Check out the following student example of a copy change. The source poem, which is by Emily Dickinson, is printed first. Words and word fragments that the two poems share have been put in bold text.

I hide myself within my flower,
That wearing on your breast,
You, unsuspecting, wear me too—
And angels know the rest.

I hide myself within my flower,
That, fading from your vase,
You, unsuspecting, feel for me
Almost a loneliness.
*
Scarves
after Emily Dickinson

I drape myself with scarves
That wearing on my shoulders,
You, unsuspecting, think me chic—
But I know the truth.

I drape myself with scarves,
That wrap me, protect me,
And you, unsuspecting, do not know
I am lonely too.

This writer has mainly copied the beginning of Dickinson's lines, but you don't have to do the exercise this way. You can copy the endings of lines, the stanza structure, the rhyme, the pattern of repetition—select or omit any feature you want.

Imitating the poetry of famous authors can be a great way to practice writing poetry.

In the novel, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, a boy named Jack, who is the narrator of the story, imitates a famous poem by William Carlos Williams entitled "The Red Wheelbarrow."

Read "The Red Wheelbarow" by William Carlos Williams.

Read this excerpt from Love That Dog and find Jack's imitation of the wheelbarrow poem.

As the reader will find out later, an important event occurred in Jack's life related to the blue car, and so Jack's imitation of the Williams' poem works well for style as well as content.

Your turn!

Your first writing task is to find a poem that you like by the poet of your choice, and to write an imitation of that poem. The poem should be at least 8-10 lines in length. If the original poem that you choose to imitate is longer than this, you may choose to imitate just a few stanzas instead. The poem you create should reflect your poet's style, including the following:

• the form or type of poem, whether ballad, narrative, or lyric


• specific words and phrases that create sensory images


• sound elements of poetry that contribute to meaning (i.e. rhyme, rhyme scheme, and rhythm)


• use of poetic devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, etc.


• the use of figurative language (i.e., similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole)

Some imitations are done in a humorous way, and these are called parodies. Here is an example of a poem imitation that is a parody:

Original poem entitled "The Raven" by Edgar Alan Poe.

Parody of "The Raven" entitled "The Reagan" by Frank Jacobs.

Parody of "The Raven" entitled "A School Day" by Penman.

Now find a poem by your chosen poet and create an imitation of it. Your imitation can be serious or humorous, but check with your teacher for his/her requirements. Use this checklist to help guide your final copy of your poetry imitation.

Poetry Imitation Checklist