I attribute the following quote to Christine Hamm, English lecturer at Rutgers University and author of The Transparent Dinner.
“The reverse poem exercise consists of taking a poem, breaking it down line by line and trying to write the opposite of each image and word. After you’re done you can play with it anyway you want.”
Suffice to say I’ve had far too much fun doing this. Beneath the cut is one example I’ve been working on.
Below is an example I’ve been working on:
| I have killed him! by Charles van Lerberghe |
Dr. Frankenstein by Tim Hamilton |
| I have killed him! I have killed him! He is falling. Listen. In the evening a voice has cried over the dark sea: You have killed him!How have I created him, my god, with these white hands which would not have wounded a dove or killed a flower? Ah! Nothing knew that he was alive, Without my thinking of it, |
I have created him! I have created him! Watch him as he rises. This morning a voice will cry over the land: What have you created?How did I create him, this promethean? With my calloused hands which were made to rend and tear. Now you will all know! By the sweat of my brow |
does my version of ‘if poetry’ count as this? 🙂
Hey,
Good example. You seems to really get it! It’s fun to play around with, isn’t it?
Much fun. For some reason though I always seem to find myself inspired to try this when I’m reading French poetry. I think it’s the feeling that the translation doesn’t quite match anyway 🙂