LINE LENGTH
Lines that make wings
In George Herbert's Easter Wings, published in The Temple in 1633, lines shrink to two words and grow again, so each stanza takes the outline of a pair of wings.
Compare the shapesTEXT AS A DRAWING
Words that
draw.
Some writing is meant to be looked at first.
READ IT, THEN look at it again
2 × 10 lines Stanzas and lines in each
- Line length makes the outline
- Spacing makes the shape
- Words fill the picture
- The layout carries meaning
In Spanish, a garabato is an irregular stroke made with a pen or pencil: a scribble. Shape poems do something more deliberate, arranging the words so the page itself becomes a picture of what the poem is about.
THE SHORT ANSWER
The layout is
part of the poem.
A shape poem is still read word by word.
Its shape adds a second meaning you take in at a glance.
A PUN IN PRINT
A tale like a tail
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), the Mouse says its tale is long and sad. Alice pictures it as a tail, and the poem is printed in ever-shorter lines winding down the page.
See the numbers
CALLIGRAMS
Letters as the drawing
Apollinaire's Calligrammes, published in 1918, gave the form a name: poems arranged typographically to make visual, figurative shapes.
Try oneA QUICK SHAPE CHECK
How far do the words
leave the line?
Pick a kind of text drawing. The bar shows how far the words move away from ordinary left-to-right lines to make the picture.
Examples from the texts themselves (Poetry Foundation, Project Gutenberg) and the Poetry Foundation glossary.
MAKE A SHAPE POEM
Start with the shape,
then find the words.
You only need a pencil. The trick is to let the outline decide where each line breaks.
Pick a simple outline
Choose a shape tied to your subject: a wing, a tail, a raindrop, a tree. Sketch it lightly in pencil.
Write it plainly first
Draft the poem or sentence as ordinary lines so the words make sense on their own.
Break lines to fit
Rewrite it inside the outline, ending each line where the shape narrows or widens, as Easter Wings does.
Rub out the guide
Erase the pencil outline. If the shape still shows, the words are doing the drawing.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Old shapes,
still in print.
How a 1633 shape poem is built,
and how popular its book was.
2 × 10 lines
Stanzas and lines in each
Each stanza narrows from a full line to just two words in its fifth and sixth lines, then widens again. Two stanzas, two pairs of wings.
EASTER WINGS · 1633
11+ editions
Editions of Herbert's book in its first century
The Poetry Foundation notes there were at least 11 editions of The Temple, the 1633 book that includes Easter Wings, in the 17th century.
THE TEMPLE · 17TH CENTURY
Apollinaire's Calligrammes was published in 1918 and gathers poems written between 1912 and 1916, arranged chronologically in six sections.
THE WORD GARABATO
From a scribble
to a drawing in words.
The Real Academia Española defines garabato first as an irregular stroke made with an instrument for writing or drawing. It lists synonyms such as garrapato and borrón, a blot.
The same dictionary gives garabato other meanings too, including an iron hook for hanging or grabbing things. A shape poem sits between the two ideas: a scribble on purpose, with the words hooked onto a picture.
Questions
Questions people ask
What is a shape poem?
The Poetry Foundation calls it concrete or pattern poetry: poetry where the visual arrangement of text and space forms a meaningful shape or image.
What is a calligram?
A poem whose words are arranged typographically to make a figurative shape. Apollinaire's collection Calligrammes, published in 1918, is the best-known example.
Is Easter Wings really shaped like wings?
Yes. Each of its two ten-line stanzas narrows to two words in the middle and widens again, so the centred lines form a pair of wings.
Where is the tail in Alice?
In chapter III of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice mixes up the Mouse's tale with its tail, and the poem is set in shorter and shorter lines down the page.
What does garabato mean?
In Spanish it first means an irregular stroke made with a pen or pencil, a scribble. The RAE dictionary also lists hooks and tools under the same word.
Where the facts come from
Updated
- Poetry Foundation glossary: Concrete or Pattern Poetry
- Poetry Foundation: Easter Wings by George Herbert
- Poetry Foundation: George Herbert biography
- Project Gutenberg: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (chapter III)
- Project Gutenberg: Calligrammes by Guillaume Apollinaire
- Real Academia Española dictionary: garabato