| I am sure the number of poets (liars excepted) who can truthfully claim to have never used an inverted phrase to make a convenient rhyme are very few. It is something that comes naturally to us and it is tempting to use these rather than do the hard work of trying to avoid them.
But, as applies to every walk of life, the easiest way is rarely the best way. From time immemorial Bush Verse has been the poor relation of Australian literature. Of course I don't agree with this, but it is a simple fact of fife. No bush poet is spoken of in the same breath as Les Murray, Judith Wright, Kath Walker, etc. It is easy enough to adopt an attitude of: who cares? But as entertainers (yes, writers are still entertainers - though vastly different to performers) we have a duty to give our reading public the best we can offer.
I am fond of quoting lines from my own poetry to demonstrate something right. Incidentally this is not because I believe mine is the best, but simply to show that I can put into practice the things I advise others to do. I could easily quote from Paterson, Lawson or Ogilvie, but anyone can do that without being a poet themselves. This time I am going to be the baddie and look back through some of my verse and see if I can find a few examples of inverted phrases.
I don’t think I am setting myself an impossible task. Here goes: "He could fence and shear and timber cut." Of course one would normally say, " ‑and cut timber." But that would bugger up the rhyme ‑or metre, or something ‑ so I do it the easy way.
Another one. "Seeking ever the harshness to tame." Of course one would naturally say, "seeking to tame the harshness." But that would have wrecked my good poem ‑ so I took the easy way out. Again: "Gleaned from a modest education his knowledge all amazed." You would, of course, normally say, "amazed all." But that would have spoilt the whole stanza!
Finally, "a worker great and a sportsman grand” rather than "a great worker and grand sportsman."
I hasten to add these are all taken from my first book. I have got better as time went by!
How to avoid inverted phrases? Good question. It usually means throwing that line, at least, away, and thinking of something else. Not always easy. Sometimes it is necessary to rewrite the whole stanza ‑ or most of it. A bloody nuisance ‑ but ( as a famous? Australian Prime Minister once thought he'd invented) “life wasn't meant to be easy". It can be done, as our top poets regularly demonstrate. Over the years judges have become increasingly hard on inverted phrases. Every time you see that part of your work underlined by the judge you can be assured that you have lost points. With the quality of verse being entered in most competitions today, that point could cost you a place among the prize-winners. I am sure the same applies with publishers. Make your verse flow as naturally as possible and don't handicap yourself! |
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