Welcome! I’m participating in the #BlogchatterA2Z challenge where I’ll share 26 posts on the theme “The Poet’s Alphabet: 26 Secrets for Crafting Beautiful Poetry”. In each post, I’ll offer bite-sized tips and tricks for crafting and perfectly editing poetry. Today’s tip is:
Show, Don’t Tell

“Show, don’t tell” is a common piece of advice in creative writing, and it applies to poetry as well. By using sensory details and vivid descriptions, poets can create a more immersive experience for their readers, allowing them to feel and see what the poem is conveying.
In the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot, the speaker describes the evening sky as “Like a patient etherized upon a table.” This vivid metaphor shows the reader the dullness and lifelessness of the scene, rather than simply telling them that it’s boring.
In the poem “Palanquin Bearers” by Sarojini Naidu Lightly, by the verses,
O lightly we bear her along, She sways like a flower in the wind of our song; She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream, She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Naidu shows the reader the lightness and grace of the palanquin bearers by using vivid similes like the flower swaying in the wind and the bird skimming on the foam of a stream.
In each of these examples, the poets show their readers the emotions, scenes and experiences rather than simply telling them. This approach helps to create a more immersive and engaging experience for the reader, bringing them into the poem’s world and emotions.
Hope you found this tip useful.
See you with another tip, tomorrow.
This post is a part of the #BlogchatterA2Z 2023 challenge.
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I just visited your website a few minutes ago, while trying to find tips that will help me rank the poetry pages on my website. You know, poems can be short, and google doesn’t like thin pages (pages with few words). Lately I’ve been thinking of uploading more poems to my website, but the thought of having thin pages that might affect my overall SEO held me back.
Thanks for the amazing and enlightening tips you shared. I’ll now upload my poems with confidence.
You’re doing an awesome job here, well-done, Seetha.
I am glad you found this useful, Tari. In fact, you can check out this post where I talk about SEO exclusively for poetry blogs – https://www.promisingpoetry.org/blog/5-easy-seo-tips-for-poetry-blogs/
But guess what, I have realised over the years that if you put out evocative poetries on a regular basis, your audience will find you & stick around even if SEO doesn’t work. Keep writing. Looking forward to read your poems.