WikiProject Poetry
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Welcome to the Poetry WikiProject! To start exploring poetry on Wikipedia, visit the main poetry page. For information on creating poetry-related articles, please read on.

For poetry-related deletion discussions, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Poetry.

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Recognized content[edit]

Featured articles[edit]

Featured lists[edit]

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Featured portals[edit]

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Developing articles: Suggestions, policies, guidelines[edit]

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Notability

Article naming and title formatting

Unfortunately, Wikipedia's Manual of Style and its Naming Conventions are often in conflict or inconsistent when it comes to the naming of articles on creative works. For more information about titling articles, see: Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Article titles, Wikipedia:Article titles, Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Titles of works, Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Composition titles.

  • Example (short poems): Robert Frost's "After Apple Picking" (42 lines)
  • Example (long poems): Walt Whitman's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (206 lines)

Use of infoboxes

See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes

Citing and sourcing information

See also: Help:Footnotes

Quoting from poems and copyright issues

Style for quoting from poems 

<blockquote><poem>
According to thy word.
They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation
With glory and derision,
Light upon light, mounting the saints' stair.
Not for me the martyrdom, the ecstasy of thought and prayer,
Not for me the ultimate vision.</poem></blockquote>

Style for rhyme schemes

Translations into English of non-English works

External links to material under copyright

Other considerations

Templates[edit]

What to type: What it makes: What it's for
((WPPoetry))
WikiProject iconPoetry NA‑class
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Poetry, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of poetry on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoetryWikipedia:WikiProject PoetryTemplate:WikiProject PoetryPoetry articles
NAThis article has been rated as NA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
 The notice or template to indicate an article is part of the project. Place on talk pages.
((Portal|Poetry)) Provides a link to the Poetry portal for easy subject navigation. To be placed at the top of "see also"/"related topics" sections only.
((User WPPoetryMember))
This user is a participant in
WikiProject Poetry.
 Userbox for members of the project, for display on user pages.
((User:Scepia/poetry))
This user enjoys reading poetry.
 Userbox for readers of poetry, not necessarily members of the project.
((poetry-stub)) The stub template for general poetry articles.
((poem-stub)) The stub template for articles on individual poems.
((poet-stub)) The stub template for articles on individual poets.

Content expectations and article structure[edit]

National poetries

Articles devoted to national poetries should be chronological in structure, beginning with the earliest known poetry from that country in question. The article should cover the principal periods and give brief information on the main poets, groups and movements in each period. Some attempt should be made to indicate factors that link and/or differentiate each period. Any important influences from other poetries should also be mentioned. Where possible, external links to online primary texts and/or critical or historical discussions should be appended at the end of the article. References and pictures are required to bring the article to featured status.

Some assistance may be available through WikiProject Historical Information.

Examples

Well-developed articles:

Other priorities:

Poetry groups or movements

Articles covering poetry groups or movements should cover the main members of the group, the stated aims or poetic and any important dates or key publications in the group's history. Other poets or groups/movements that the group being discussed were influenced by or reacting against should also be mentioned, as should the general cultural context. Where possible, external links to online primary texts and/or critical or historical discussions should be appended at the end of the article. References and pictures are required to bring the article to featured status.

Example

Individual poets

Articles discussing individual poets should adhere to normal Wikipedia biography conventions. The poet's early influences, associations with any groups or movements, and main publications should be mentioned, along with any later poets, groups or movements they may have strongly influenced. Where possible, external links to online primary texts and/or critical or historical discussions should be appended at the end of the article. References and pictures are advised where the intention is to push the article to featured status.

Examples

Individual poems

If the poem in question is quite short, it should be added to the article, per WP:L&P. If it is a long poem, it should be linked, either from WikiSource, or from another website. The text of poems which are not copyrighted should in general be placed in WikiSource.

An article on an individual poem, besides the poem itself, should describe the publication history of the poem, and the critical response to the poem. Other matters that could be covered include: the circumstances in which the poem was written, the structure and style of the poem, and references made in the poem.

Examples

Styles, forms, techniques, lists, general topics

Include definitions, history including dates, notable poets associated and examples where appropriate. Lists should be annotated and illustrated where appropriate. Where there are red links on a list, please consider writing stubs or longer entries. References and pictures are required to bring the article to featured status.

Examples

Poetry prizes

Scansion[edit]

Scansion is the act of analyzing and (usually) graphically representing the metrical character of a line of verse. Ideally Wikipedia will scan consistently across articles. Metrical verse is extremely diverse, especially across languages and over time, so universal consistency of scansion may not be possible or even desirable, but this advice will serve most English verse well, and may be useful for verse in other languages, too.

Binary marks

In a line of verse each syllable should be marked: ictic syllables with a slash "/", and nonictic syllables with an "x" — or preferably a multiplication sign "×". It is vital to distinguish between a metrical scansion (as is recommended here) and a rhythmic scansion (which, alone, leads to perdition). For notes on how to incorporate rhythmic notation into a valid metrical scansion, see Optional 2-line scansion below. The line of text is displayed, with a second line of scansion marks above it. Symbols are placed above the first vowel in each syllable. Both lines should begin with a space, so as to display them as monospaced characters; this allows easy WYSIWYG editing and keeps the verse text intact. The verse reference is placed on the same line as the text. 

 ×   /     ×  /     ×     /     ×  / ×    /
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells [1]

This method of display is used in the article Scansion. For an alternate display method, see Alternate markup below.

Pipes

The existence, function, and explanatory usefulness of feet in English verse is disputed. Also, while syntactic pauses frequently occur within a line, English verse seldom includes a metrically structural caesura. Therefore it is recommended that both these features remain unmarked unless the specific line requires them. Either can be marked within the text by a pipe "|" or, if they are both marked simultaneously, by a single pipe "|" for feet and two pipes "||" for caesura. Words should not be hyphenated when they are broken up by foot markers. 

  ×   /    ×  / ×   /    ×  /      ×    /  ×     /  × /
The princely palace of the sun | stood gorgeous to behold
×    /      ×  /     ×    /      ×   /      ×   /     ×   /     ×      /
On state | ly pill | ars build | ed high || of yell | ow burn | ished gold [2]

As can be seen, a cost of including foot or caesura notation is the fragmentation of the verse text.

Extrametrical syllables

Both positionally extrametrical syllables and elided syllables can be indicated with parentheses. 

 ×  /     ×(×)  / ×  /(×)    ×   /      × / (×)
His acts being seven ages. | At first the infant [3]

The line above contains all 3 types of extrametrical syllables commonly found in iambic pentameter: the first (×) is elided, the second (×) is allowed by a so-called "epic caesura" — a special case in which marking a caesura in iambic pentameter can be useful — and the third (×) is a feminine ending. These distinctions are not made explicit by the scansion, so in cases like this clarification may be required in the article text.

Virtual beats

It is often (not always) conceded that certain meters (specifically the wide family of 4-ictic Ballad meters, including Fourteeners, Poulter's measure, and Limericks, among others) allow some line-final ictic positions to be experienced silently. Depending on the context, it may not be important to scan these, in which case one merely scans the syllables present in the text. But if these "virtual beats" require notation, they can be marked with "[/]" thus: 

×  /    ×  / ×    / ×    /
I taste a liquor never brewed,
  ×   /  ×      /     ×   /     [/]
From tankards scooped in pearl;
 ×  /     ×  /   × /    ×   /
Not all the vats upon the Rhine
 ×     /   ×  /  × /    [/]
Yield such an alcohol! [4]

Note the distinction between brackets here and parentheses above. This helps to emphasize how different the virtual beat is from the extrametrical syllable — the opposite, in fact. Extrametrical syllables are positions that exist in the text, but do not count in the meter; virtual beats are positions that exist in the meter, but not in the text.

(Derek Attridge (who coined the term "virtual beat") would also scan the lines above with "virtual offbeats" (e.g. "[× /]" at the end of lines 2 and 4). This is significant for his system, but is considered counterproductive for Wikipedia; especially since virtual beats frequently pop up in contexts in which one could imagine arguments over whether one was failing to hear 0, 1 or 2 virtual offbeats!)

Alternate markup

If no verse text reference, or any other markup, is required on the same lines as the scansion and text, the scansion can be better integrated within the article text by using this markup:

<pre style="border:none;background-color:transparent;margin-left:1em">
scansion
verse text
</pre>

This method, too, allows WYSIWYG editing of the displayed lines. It is exemplified below, and is used in the article Iambic Pentameter. Unfortunately, no method allowing both this appearance and markup (like <ref>) is currently available.

Optional 2-line scansion

Isn't one line enough? For metrical purposes, yes. But consider these lines:

When Ajax strives, some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labours, and the words move slow; [5]

Many people will find it hard to stomach that not only are these lines metrically identical, but that they are also completely regular: 

  ×  / ×     /      ×    /      ×    /      ×    /
When Ajax strives, some rock's vast weight to throw,
  ×  /    ×   / ×     /     ×  /     ×     /
The line too labours, and the words move slow;

What of Pope's alleged sonic reproduction — through over-weighting the line with heavy syllables — of strain and toil? What of the reader's or listener's real experience of that strain? What is scansion good for, if it doesn't show this? Well, metrical scansion is not good for that. Its purpose is to analyze the meter of the line, and this is a binary proposition: all the syllables either function as a beat (ictus) or not (nonictus), and in verse like this (as indeed in most verse) the number of ictuses per line remains stable throughout the poem. There is no way metrically to notate the "extra stresses" that the reader legitimately experiences. These are an issue of verse rhythm. And while scanning only a verse's rhythm leads almost inevitably to a metrical boondoggle, scanning a verse's meter and rhythm can be very enlightening. 

  2  4 1     4      3    4      3    4      1    4
  ×  / ×     /      ×    /      ×    /      ×    /
When Ajax strives, some rock's vast weight to throw,
 
  1  4    3   4 1     2     1  4     3     4
  ×  /    ×   / ×     /     ×  /     ×     /
The line too labours, and the words move slow;

Here, we've added a rhythmic scansion (1 = lightest stress and 4 = heaviest stress). This closely mirrors the methods used by Otto Jespersen, James McAuley, and Timothy Steele; and serves as a useful informal approximation of the more linguistically technical scansions of Marina Tarlinskaja, Derek Attridge, and Peter L. Groves. Now we can see 1) the variety of stress interrelationships that create the distinctive stress profile of the lines, 2) how these variously stressed syllables realize ictic and nonictic positions within the iambic pentameter, and 3) how, despite the preponderance of heavy stresses, these lines relate structurally to Pope's other heroic lines.

Though relatively objective means can be used to determine fine-grained stress levels like these, they tend to be quite technical. For Wikipedia, these rhythmic scansions may best be left to the scanner's ear.

Text sources

  1. ^ Keats: To Autumn 7
  2. ^ Golding: Ovid's Metamorphoses II, 1-2
  3. ^ Shakespeare: As You Like It II.vii, 143
  4. ^ Dickinson: I taste a liquor never brewed 1-4
  5. ^ Pope: An Essay on Criticism, 370-71

Participants[edit]

Active members

To join the WikiProject Poetry, edit this section and add #~~~~ and any comments to the end of the following list of members.

  1. Sad Lil Artsy Guy
  2. Smmmaniruzzaman
  3. Daniel C. Boyer
  4. Smerdis of Tlön
  5. Kdammers
  6. Stumps
  7. hmwith
  8. User:John Carter
  9. Wrad
  10. ImperviusXR
  11. Albeiror24-Neopanida: Spanish literature and poetry.
  12. Ericdn
  13. Easchiff - various contemporary poets (Kay Ryan, Timothy Murphy, Carl Dennis), some awards articles.
  14. Junius49
  15. Spanglej Mostly US and UK poets
  16. Sir Richardson
  17. Szfski - Classical Arabic and Russian poetry.
  18. Dcattell Poetry that's lovely, good, and beautiful (and that I can understand).
  19. Clevelander96 Middle English Poetry, Irish poets in English, Poetics
  20. Londonjackbooks Works by and about Philadelphia poet Florence Earle Coates.
  21. Mikhailov Kusserow
  22. Bertaut
  23. Christian Roess
  24. hazelnutmeg -- mostly Latin and Ancient Greek poetry, occasionally editing biographical entries on German, US, or UK poets.
  25. JoannaSerah (talk) 05:01, 19 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  26. BanWisco
  27. Damoon4all
  28. Khani100--Pakistani and South Asian poetry in English,Urdu and Punjabi
  29. nmcrae1 -- Contemporary American poets, poetry, and writing culture
  30. SenchaDragon -- Craft of poetry, new and emerging writers, translation
  31. Cfsibley --Contemporary poets, EM and Renaissance poetry, woman poets
  32. MasterOfHisOwnDomain (talk · contribs)
  33. MiltonRoad (talk · contribs) Contemporary female poets, English-language and Spanish-language poets, contemporary poetry/movements
  34. Village Explainer (talk) 18:54, 9 February 2013 (UTC) Poet, critic, scholar of prosody[reply]
  35. Hillbillyholiday adds poetry to random articles. Also, recently compiled and organized 60k rhyming words in an intuitive multi-colour format with notes. Email me for a free copy as a word.doc. or if you can help wikify it!
  36. Drmies
  37. Thebaitgoat (talk) 03:02, 28 October 2013 (UTC) -- contemporary American poetry, especially Kay Ryan[reply]
  38. Rosario Berganza English Romantic poetry
  39. Voltaire&Leibniz Voltaire, satire and English romantic poetry.
  40. ColonelHenry - 2 FA and 8 GA poetry articles. Writes on many poetic traditions, will translate passages for articles, specializes in Eliot, Bunting, Whitman, Rilke, Metaphysical poetry. Planning to write more on Persian poets
  41. Gairmscoile (talk) 20:26, 25 January 2014 (UTC) - Scottish Literature (specifically Hugh MacDiarmid), Postcolonial Theory and Literary Modernism[reply]
  42. RodneyJ English Romantic Poetry
  43. Kelseyplum10
  44. Lynn Hamilton
  45. Mercurywoodrose improving the poetry portal
  46. Perry Middlemiss (talk) 23:40, 10 January 2015 (UTC) Australian poetry[reply]
  47. RatRat (talk)
  48. Fatcat2 (talk) 22:28, 22 August 2015 (UTC) Classical poetry in general, especially Greek tragedy, Latin and Greek epic[reply]
  49. Josh a brewer (talk) 02:09, 24 August 2015 (UTC) Caribbean, Romantic, Modernist, Postmodern, prosody[reply]
  50. Daphne Lantier (talk · contribs) English Romantic and Victorian poetry.
  51. It's Harrison! (talk) 22:47, 20 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  52. NotAJF Classical poetry, especially Sappho and Catullus
  53. ch (talk) 19:07, 20 May 2016 (UTC) Chinese classical poetry and 19th century American.[reply]
  54. Cogswell Crowell
  55. Strawberryfields77 (talk) 04:19, 18 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  56. Peter Folsaph (talk) 19:42, 3 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  57. Ekartha (talk) 17:46, 3 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  58. Ænēās Québécois
  59. On Tangled Paths 23:42, 9 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  60. Kwsherwood (talk) 19:03, 1 March 2018 (UTC) Modern, Postmodern, Ethn0poetics American and Experimental[reply]
  61. Maxim Stoyalov
  62. JoeZelazny (talk) 13:16, 28 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  63. Timothy.robbins
  64. Anthologetes
  65. Ozywomandias (talk) 05:27, 6 May 2019 (UTC) Indigenous and feminist poetry[reply]
  66. GeneralPoxter (talk) 15:22, 25 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  67. Jake78541 Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Whitman baby
  68. Yitz (talk) 05:38, 25 September 2020 (UTC) working on improving pages related to Robert Browning[reply]
  69. Wah lao eh... (talk) 18:48, 15 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  70. Amir Ghandi (talk) 23:37, 11 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  71. Eddie891 Talk Work 15:03, 12 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  72. Defwe12 Interested in Gujirati poetry and Beat Poetry, Favorite poets are Tagore, Wilde, Ginsberg, and (Dylan) Thomas
  73. Otherart (talk) 11:59, 5 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  74. Paracelsus888 (talk) 09:59, 20 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  75. Musophilus (talk) 13:28, 29 May 2021 (UTC) Early modern English poetry. Working on increasing recognition of Samuel Daniel[reply]
  76. small jars tc 09:52, 17 August 2021 (UTC) Working on a template for scansion, interested in Imagism and eastern poetry as a reader[reply]
  77. Heilprin (talk) 22:34, 5 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  78. CivilianArthur (talk) 19:06, 3 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  79. A0630! (talk) 23:16, 18 March 2022 (EDT)
  80. Geoffroi American and English poetry.
  81. Gabriel سلیمی
  82. Squidditas
  83. Goldenrod42 (talk) 23:45, 8 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  84. Novo TapeMy Talk Page 22:37, 16 January 2024 (UTC) Hope to start working on expanding English modernists (in particular Crane, Moore, Eliot)[reply]

Inactive members

  1. Tegalad
  2. Anshul
  3. sjc
  4. Wikipedius
  5. WayneRay
  6. Sam
  7. Moonbug
  8. *Rianon Burnet
  9. William P. Coleman (talk) Modernism, Classical Chinese Poetry, Classical Greek Poetry
  10. Thehumuslayer
  11. Survivalism (talk) 16:04, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  12. Kalindoscopy
  13. Zorba the Geek (talk) especially Russian poetry
  14. Vergency
  15. Erik the Red 2 (AVE·CAESAR) 17:05, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  16. Evb-wiki (talk) 13:57, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Smileypirate (talk) 15:06, 29 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  18. mrathel (talk)
  19. Ottava Rima - English Civil War to Victorians.
  20. TheGeniusPrince
  21. Ida-Marie's Father - German and German-writing Poets
  22. Lordknave
  23. Aclayartist
  24. BarbaraSta
  25. -- Daniel Jones (talk) 11:26, 13 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  26. MaximilianT
  27. Ink Falls -What Dcattell said ^_^
  28. BlackMarlin 20th Century Poetry, mainly British or from the North of Ireland. Currently writing a PhD thesis on Paul Muldoon.
  29. Josette
  30. Amartya Ray
  31. Brucewhealton (talk) 12:35, 10 July 2010 (UTC)Brucewhealton Interested in poetry online, poets, and poetry communities[reply]
  32. Sigauri
  33. Weatherby551
  34. Mschwer2

Member userboxes

You may place ((User WP Poetry)) or ((User WPPoetryMember)) on your user page to display one of the following userboxes:

Either of these templates will add your user page to:

For other poetry user templates, please see:

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