Whats It Like To Write Narrative Poems?
People ask me about the advent poems. How long does it take? Where do you get the ideas? Is it hard? The first thing I want to say is that the advent poems are NOT Scripture. They are not inspired in the sense that the Bible is inspired. They have no authority in themselves. Nor are they infallible. For example, one sharp person pointed out last year that I had Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Chilion married to the same person in two different poems. Every line has eight syllables and four accents, one on every other syllable starting with the second. Each line rhymes with its partner in the couplet. Most of the internal rhyme is happily unintentional, and most of the alliteration is (I think) intentional (“He will unbind and bring the captives from their chains”). Why, for fifteen years, have I used this particular form? Part of the answer is that I like trying to make one form better and better and discover all it can do. Also a shorter line of six syllables would form a rhyme scheme almost
