Monostich

A monostich is a poem which consists of a single line.[1]

Form

A monostich has been described as 'a startling fragment that has its own integrity'[2] and 'if a monostich has an argument, it is necessarily more subtle.'[3]

A monostich could be also titled; due to the brevity of the form, the title is invariably as important a part of the poem as the verse itself: [4]

Some one line poems have 'the characteristics of not exceeding one line of a normal page, to be read as one unbroken line without forced pauses or the poetics of ceasura', and others having ' a rhythm, (as with one-line haiku), dividing easily into three phrases'.[5]

History

Almost all examples of monstich are imported from other languages, the Russian and the French.[6] Modern monostich,itself was started in Russia in 1894 [7] when Valery Bryusov published the single line of pretty absurdic essence:

О закрой свои бледные ноги.
(Oh, cover your pale legs.)

Perhaps the first to re-introduce one line poems was Guillaume Apollinaire with his "Chantre" (1914) in his collection 'Alcools' (1913), mentioned by Leroy Breunig in 'Apollonaire and the monostich' followed by Bill Zavatsky with his 'Roy Rogers'article(1974)[8] in which he made clear 'one line poems 'are not at all foreign to Western poetic tradition, and also including therein some from Jerome Rothenberg's 'Technicians of the Sacred'(1969),[9] all of which are referenced in William Higginson's 'Characteristics of Monostichs'.[10]Another, one Emmanuel Lochac published in 1920 'one-liners' under the title 'Monostiches'.[11]

Later, John Ashbery in '37 Haiku' demonstrated the Haiku in the monostich form.[12] The 'tien' is a modern monostich variation, being a ten Monosyllable single line poem derived from the first line of Chidiock Tichborne's famous monosyllabic Elegy. [13] Ian McBryde's 2005 book 'Slivers' consists entirely of one line poems.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/monostich
  2. ↑ Hahn, Kimiko, 'A Broken Thing :Poets on the Line'
  3. ↑ Martin, Camille, 'The Humble Monostich' , Rogue Embryo, 2011 .
  4. ↑ http://www.poetrydances.com/monostich.php
  5. ↑ Higgison , William 'Characteristics of One line poems and Monostichs' Haiku Clinic, Simply Haiku.com
  6. ↑ Kacian, Jim 'The Shape of Things to come: From Past and Future' Juxtapositions, 'The Journal of Haiku Research and Scholarship'
  7. ↑ Strahkovsky, Leonid 'The Silver Age of Russian Poetry:Symbolismand Acemeism' Canadian Slavonic Papers vol 4 1959
  8. ↑ Roy Rogers ,article , Winter issuse, New York Hospitality House 1974
  9. ↑ Higginson, William 'One line poems to one line Haiku' Haiku Clinic
  10. ↑ http://www.simplyhaiku.com/SHv2n5/haikuclinic/haikuclinic.html#return_7
  11. ↑ Breunig Leroy, 'Apollinaure and the Monostich', 'Roy Rogers' , New York House, 1974
  12. ↑ Ashbery, John '37 Haiku':A Wave: New York:Viking 1984
  13. ↑ http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/my-prime-youth-frost-cares
  14. ↑ Hirsch, Edward 'A Poets Glossary' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , Boston 2014ISBN 9780151011957

External links


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