How to Write a Concrete Poem?

What is a Concrete Poem?

A concrete poem can be defined as,

“A form of poetry in which the poet arranges the words or letters so they fit into or form a particular shape. The visual effect, thus created, is supposed to add to the meaning of the poem.”

For this reason, concrete poems are also knows as visual, shape or pattern poems.

History of Concrete Poetry

Concrete poetry was developed in the 1950s, but Greeks have been using it since 2nd century B.C.E. Its etymology id derived from either Portuguese poesia concreta or German konkrete Dichtung.

Learning Steps to Write a Concrete Poem

Select an Object

1. Choose an object about which you want to write.
2. It could be something solid around you e.g. vase, pencil, key, a shape; circle, square, triangle or an imaginary thing; heart, cloud, though-bubble etc.
3. You can use the object as the topic of your poem or select an object according to the topic of your poem.

Brainstorm Ideas, Words and Phrases

1. Let your mind fly and ideas come in for your poem.
2. Jot them down as small phrases, sentences and words come up.
3. Next, start forming small stanzas and sentences out of them.
4. Now, arrange and rearrange them to rhyme. Add, omit or edit more words.

Sketch Out Your Shape on and Fill in Words & Verses

1. Take a blank sheet of paper.
2. Draw the image yourself or trace it out from some book . Start with the top left place of your object.
3. Begin to fit the the words and verses within the shape. Make sure that you do a  clean job so your words themselves look like the outline of the object.
4. You can increase or decrease the size of your shape according to the size of the poem.

Additional Tips for Writing Concrete Poems

• Make sure that the shape of the poem is significant with respect to your poem. If your object is a tree then the poem can be about tree, garden, green-living but not house, family or school.
• The blank space around the shape can be used to add more creative after-thoughts to your poem. You can jot some free and loosely related free verses here.
• Using a blank sheet of paper is not necessary, You can use cored paper or even printed sheets to enhance the visual effect of your poem.