ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Details are not merely presented, they are presented from a particular point of view. They help us to see what the characters see, and they may also lead us to rethink our place in the story. Sometimes things that appear trivial or cosmetic or even ornamental provide the key to the story."Coomera" (Lawson)

A good description not only creates a vivid impression; it also raises questions and opens up new possibilities.
"Bellbirds" (Henry Kendall),"Sweeney" (Lawson)

The larger purpose of descriptions helps us understand how the world looks and feels to the characters.
"Song of the Old Bullock Driver" (Lawson)

Yep.

Manfred,
Is there such a thing as 'too much' detail in a poem. I know we must often set a background, or give an explanation of the relationship between the characters. However, on occasion I find myself thinking that a poem may suffer from too much 'background music'. What do you think.

Sometimes detail sometimes not depends on the poem.

I like to make the reader think a little about the scenario. how did this happen or where was it or is it a true story or not.

Then if you are writing on an historical subject or character detail is important.


Bob

I think Zondrae that detailed " explanations ' could be too much in a poem. Detailed explanations belong to prose I think.

But in poetry, from my searches , it seems that details such as naming things can make a poem much more vivid and lively. For example in a recent poetry competition that I was involved with, many of the entries were about the local area and people talked about trees, the river, the mountains etc , without precise detail, without naming the river or naming the varieties of local trees or names of mountains.

And if this makes sense, I think it is best to look at the small picture, use what Les Murray calls " dense detail " for the small picture and make the small picture stand for the bigger picture. If you try to make a poem too broad and fill it with detail I think you will get lost. e.g. don't try and do a poem describing the whole of Corrimal , all the escarpment, the sea, the beaches the roads, the people the houses etc. just take a small beach and do that in detail and let that show the reader what Corrimal is like

Know what I mean ?? ( I could be wrong, better check with the experts )

Go for it Zondrae.

A certain frugality with words can work to the poets advantage I think - not always easy to do especially if writing about something historical but then again Ozymandias has proven that a historical theme can be shared brilliantly in a sonnet of 14 lines.

Perhaps poets need to be more imaginative with the use of words - one good thing about Haikus - love them or hate them - is that they pare your words to the bare necessities to paint the picture, a good exercise in itself.

I think some people are just natural story tellers?

Terry

Is that the same as a bullshit artist

Terry

Bob

In some cases - that's it In a nut shell mate.

Mind you it's not everybody who can make Bullshit sound so fascinating.

Terry

Frank was a great story teller.