Day Five of Poetry Week: Epic Poems

I really enjoy epic poems! I like to read them and I like to write them. Of course, I have never written something as long or amazing as The Iliad. However, the romance of heroes and heroines is never lost on me.

Definition: Epic poems are long, serious poems that tell the story of a heroic figure.

Famous Authors: Homer (?-? Perhaps 800s or 1100s) and Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

Form: There is no specific form for all epic poems. It generally changes depending on what's popular during the era or depending on who is writing it. Usually, just choose a rhyme scheme, if any, then a number of lines in a stanza, and a general length or meter for each line and just stick with it through out the whole poem (unless you have a good reason for mixing it up along the way.) I feel that readers seek a pattern, perhaps even unconsciously. It may help them become familiar with the poem and more at ease while reading it, especially for an extended period of time if your poem turns out to be quite long.

*****Example*****

Solitary Dancer in the Night

By: Aubrie Anne (2009)

A rolling fog spread like butter

Across the silent waves of water.

Not a single sound was heard,

Not a whisper, nor a word.

The moon’s brilliant light did lie.

It’s lights could no longer be the guide.

She heard music from across the shore.

It was a melody from a book of lore.

She tried to follow her one true heart,

Prayed, “Angels don’t let me fall apart!”

Her safe haven was not very far away.

Lit candles and a blue star led the way.

Yet, in fear she ran from the hunter’s gaze,

Screaming, “I’ll be lost in all this haze!”

The hunter’s wolves were getting tired.

They would have the girl they required.

This solitary dancer would fall in their hands.

It was their mission, his one and only demand.

If only she had seen the silver owl in tow,

The one her love had sent in woe.

But she did flee from the awful sight.

She would not give to pride nor might.

This little girl was one to survive,

Divorced from vice, born to strive.

It may be the first time the hunter will lose

A pray so delicate, his one and only muse.

For still the solitary dancer does run;

For she yields to no one, nothing, none.


*****Questions*****


Have you ever read an epic poem?
Which ones?
Have you ever written an epic poem?
Please share.