Poetry Potpourri
by James E. Tate

Find Your Voice

Poets and novelists must establish a voice for themselves and their characters. Just as a child bonds with his or her mother's voice, so readers bond with the writer's voice. In poetry we note that a strong voice was established by Longfellow in A Psalm of Life; Poe in The Raven; Helen Steiner Rice in Another Chance, and Frost in A Road Not Taken. Each of these found their voice, as did others.

In fiction and nonfiction, it is not only important for the author's voice to be prevalent, but the character's voice as well. See if you recognize these characters:

"No, no, my dear W..."
"Exactly, Well, now W..."
"Admirable! W..."
"My dear sir, ..."

If these cryptic expressions are not enough, here are more hints—

"Elementary, Watson."
"Well, well," said Holmes.
"Dr. Watson is my partner."

Many readers recognize Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from episodes written over a century ago. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in his masterful style, brought detective stories to his followers by the score. Readers could visualize and almost hear the clip-clop of horses pulling buggies on the cobblestone streets of fog-enshrouded London. This setting is where the clever Holmes often shared his flawless observations and deductive reasoning with his straight man, Dr. Watson.

Other authors won acclaim by building characters with distinct voices as well:

John Bunyan, the highly gifted writer of The Pilgrim's Progress, developed his characters wrapped in biblical allegories. Who would not recognize these characters, Christian, Obstinate, Pliable, and his descriptors, Slough of Despond and Vanity Fair?

Peter Marshall, the Chaplain of the US Senate during WW2, augured his way into the hearts of Senators and Congressional leaders with his Scottish voice and inspired messages. After his demise, his widow, Catherine, perpetuated his words in her book, A Man Called Peter. She not only shared his most interesting life with the readers, but also included some of his sermons. A worthy read indeed.

Harper Lee articulated her characters, Atticus, Dill, Jem and Boo in her masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Dale Carnegie's voice came through in his book, How to Win Friends & Influence People. Not only did he quote case examples but he spoke in his own voice throughout the book.

Harold Bell Wright developed many characters such as Mr. Howitt, Little Pete, Aunt Mollie, Old Matt, and the romance of his son Young Matt with "Sammy" Lane, in Shepherd of the Hills. Other books written by him are equally gripping, such as The Eyes of the World.

Mark Twain, the creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, carries the voice of his characters through to the finish in fine fashion with, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Eugenia Price's inspirational fiction brought love and faith into her book, Lighthouse. She wrote many other character-flourishing stories based on St. Simons Island, and the Deep South.

As readers become familiar with your voice, hopefully, they will seek more from your pen. Personally, I have chased after "a voice" in my writing, and have, through the years made changes, adapting to the mood at the time. Early on, I leaned toward more formal language, having worked for decades in a technical field. Now I try to adapt to the subject matter using appropriate language for the occasion.

Hopefully, my "printed voice" comes through in poetry, but whether readers recognize it is still in question. See if it comes through in this poem:

A Sunbeam Journey
By James E. Tate © 2006

Catch a shuttle, ride it to a star,
Span the wide chasm across the bar.
Check the travel time of photon streams;
Climb on board and ride sunbeams.

Glowing Pluto, your destined flight,
In five-and-one-half-hours at the speed of light.
One might think to cross the Milky Way,
At a rate-per-second of one-eighty-six K.

It would take thousands of years to span
This misty nebulae admired by man.
But it's a mere fraction of the size
Of dim galaxies in distant skies.

Our perspective from down here on earth
Of the expanding universe girth,
Is limited more than what appears—
Crossing it would take millions of years!

How can we, God's created, keep pace,
With the enormity of trackless space?
Overwhelmed by vast immensities,
We're awed by clusters of Pleiades.

Transfixed with keyboard, or hand-held pen,
Moved by galactic adrenalin,
Writers and poets take special delight,
Capturing these dazzling scenes in the night!

Once writers have settled on voice and style, he or she should charge forward, serving their readers well. As mentioned earlier, the voices of all fictional characters must be developed, however it's the author's voice alone in poetry unless characters are speaking. Poets are wordsmiths, and words, of course, are the root element with which we work. Selection of words should be thought out carefully in all types of poetry, and this is more significant in traditional poetry than most other types. The writer must find ways of rhyming without seeming to force them upon the reader, with an objective of saying it naturally, thus cruising through the verses more professionally.

The poem above has nearly 12 percent of three or more syllable words. This seemed appropriate for the subject matter, however simplicity works well in most poems. Ask yourself this question, which works best, the word indefatigable with its six syllables or the three-syllable word, untiring? Here, I allude to the answer in poem form:

Poets put words to work,
Being careful what they do.
Few with multi-syllables,
Mostly with one or two.

Pitch them to a fifth grader;
Unmask the obscure Darth Vader,
Then, enrich both young and old
With a great story told.

Now, go out there and express your message in a convincing voice, uniquely yours. And may God bless your efforts.