Without a vocabulary better than six-grader poems tend to be boring and boring poems don’t get read. I love to read poetry in general and I read a lot of poetry and have come across some very boring unimaginative poetry with only the most basic words.
Then on the other side you get poems with so many high English words that one has to use a dictionary on every second word and most people just end up skipping these poems as they are hard to understand. If you do not grasp the underlying meaning of a poem and take nothing from it, you lose interest. It is like trying to read in a different language.
It can take hours to find the right word to use in your poem that makes it interesting without making it impossible to read and enjoy. I have found some great websites and programs that can help with this problem. The first problem is in finding these sites and programs if you are new to writing just as many of us have been at one stage. I will give the links to some of these at the bottom of my blog page.
The next problem you can find when you have decided to spruce up your poem with some new words you are not used to using is using them in the right context and this can and has happened to many poets/poetesses at the beginning of their learning curve. I should know as I’m one of them and sometimes it can still happen to even some poets one can find these days on the World Wide Web.
The only way to fix this is by trial and error and of course the help of other poets. I have found that the poetry community can be just as closely knit together as some of them can be harsh to the newer poets trying to find their way.
I love to look for new words all the time when writing poetry words, I don’t know or have not thought of using. I have decided to make a list in the hope of inspiring some poets.
Ambivalent: Having mixed feelings about someone or something. Ambrosian: Anything particularly delightful to taste or smell. Amorist: A person who is devoted to love and lovemaking or writes about love.
Amorphous: Lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless. Amort: Spiritless; lifeless. Anathemise: Wish harm upon; invoke evil upon. Aphonic: Mouthed but not spoken; noiseless; silent.
Appendence: Attached or suspended; annexed. Aquiline: (Of the nose) shaped like an eagle’s beak; hooked.
Aquiver: In a state of trepidation or vibrant agitation; trembling. Arcane: Known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; Archaic: Commonly used in an earlier time but rare in present-day usage except to suggest the older time,
Ariose: Characterized by melody; songlike. Asunder: Apart or widely separated: as wide asunder as the polar regions.
Athirst: Having a keen desire; eager (often followed by for): She has long been a thirst for European travel. Aureate: Golden, gilded, brilliant or splendid.
Auric: Of or containing gold in the trivalent state. Aurify: To cause to appear golden; gild: Dawn came, and sunlight aurified the lead-grey ocean.
Balmily: Mild and refreshing; soft; soothing: balmy weather. Beau geste: A fine or noble gesture, often futile or only for effect.
Bedraggle: To make limp and soiled, as with rain or dirt. Beldam: An old woman, especially an ugly one; hag. Beleaguer: To surround or beset, as with troubles. Belesprit: A person of great wit or intellect.
Beshrew: To curse; invoke evil upon. Blithely: Joyous or merry in disposition; glad; cheerful: Everyone loved her for her blithe spirit.
Burdly: Bold; audacious; defiant. Calix: A cup; chalice. Canorous: Melodious; musical. Capacious: Capable of holding much; spacious or roomy: a capacious storage bin.
Caterwaul: To utter long wailing cries, howl or screech. Chimera: A horrible or unreal creature of the imagination; Clangor: A loud, resonant sound; clang. Collocate: To set or place together, especially side by side.
Corpulent: Large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat. Crestfallen: Dejected; dispirited; discouraged.
Deluge: Anything that overwhelms like a flood: a deluge of mail. Denigrate: To speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame: to denigrate someone’s character.
Derisory: Characterized by or expressing derision; contemptuous; mocking: derisive heckling. Desultory: Lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
Diaphanous: Very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent. Disconsolate: Without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable: Loss of her pet dog made her disconsolate.
Dulcet: Pleasant to the ear; melodious: pleasant or agreeable to the eye or the feelings; soothing, sweet to the taste or smell.
Effusive: unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve: effusive greetings; an effusive person. Egregious: Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar.
Elysian: Blissful; delightful. Empyreal: Pertaining to the sky; celestial: empyreal blue. Formed of pure fire or light: empyreal radiance.
Ephemeral: Lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory: the ephemeral joys of childhood.
Epoch: A particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc. the treaty ushered in an epoch of peace and good will.
Esoteric: Belonging to the select few. Private; secret; confidential. Ethereal: Extremely delicate or refined:
Eviscerate: To deprive of vital or essential parts: The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the leaders of the party.
Facile: Moving, acting, working, proceeding, etc., with ease, sometimes with superficiality: facile fingers; a facile mind.
Fastidious: Excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please: a fastidious eater. Fatuous: Foolish or inane, especially in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly. Unreal, illusory.
Frivolous: Characterized by lack of seriousness or sense: frivolous conduct. Gamboled: To skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic.
Garrulous: Excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters.
Gaunt: Bleak, desolate, or grim, as places or things: Gossamer: Something extremely light, flimsy, or delicate.
Grody: Inferior in character or quality; seedy; sleazy: Impalpable: Not palpable; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch; intangible.
Intricate: complex; complicated; hard to understand, work, or make: an intricate machine.
Inveigle: To entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements (usually followed by into): to inveigle a person into playing bridge.
Jaunt: A short journey, especially one taken for pleasure. Kismet: Fate; destiny.
Knavish: Like or befitting a knave; untrustworthy; dishonest. Languid: Lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow: a languid manner.
Lecherous: Given to or characterized by lechery; lustful. Loquacious: Talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative; chattering; babbling; garrulous: a loquacious dinner guest.
Lurched: An awkward, swaying or staggering motion or gait. Machination: Usually, machinations. Crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.
Maunder: To move, go, or act in an aimless, confused manner: He maundered through life without a single ambition. Motley: Being of different colors combined: a motley flower border.
Nebulous: Cloudy or cloudlike. Nexus: A means of connection; tie; link.
Niche: A place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: to find one’s niche in the business world. Ogle: To look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently. To eye; look or stare at.
Panacea: A remedy for all disease or ills; cure-all. Pellucid: Allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass; is translucent.
Penchant: A strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: a penchant for outdoor sports. Placate: To appease or pacify, especially by concessions or conciliatory gestures: to placate an outraged citizenry.
Puerile: Of or about a child or to childhood. Childishly foolish; immature or trivial: a puerile piece of writing. Puissance: Power, might, or force.
Pyre: Such a pile for burning a dead body, especially as part of a funeral rite, as in India. Quiddity: The quality that makes a thing what it is; the essential nature of a thing.
Quintessence: The most perfect embodiment of something. Quixotic: Extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
Rakish: Smart; jaunty; dashing: a hat worn at a rakish angle. Rancor: Bitter, rankling resentment or ill will; hatred; malice. Ratified: To confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction: to ratify a constitutional amendment.
Resile: To spring back; rebound; resume the original form or position, as an elastic body. Shrink back, recoil. Roquish: About, characteristic of, or acting like a rogue; knavish or rascally
Sapidity: Agreeable, as to the mind; to one’s liking. Semblance: An assumed or unreal appearance; show. The slightest appearance or trace. Seraphic: Blissfully serene; rapt
Slipshod: Careless, untidy, or slovenly: slipshod work. Sojourn: To stay for a time in a place; live temporarily: to sojourn on the Riviera for two months.
Squalor: The condition of being squalid; filth and misery. Susurrus: A soft murmuring or rustling sound; whisper. Svelte: Slender, especially gracefully slender in figure; lithe.
Sylphlike: A slender, graceful woman or girl. One of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air. Throe: A sharp attack of emotion. Any violent convulsion or struggle: the throes of battle.
Tumult: Violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar: The tumult reached its height during the premier’s speech. Ululation: To howl, as a dog or a wolf, hoot, as an owl. To utter howling sounds, as in shrill, wordless lamentation, wail.
Virtuosic: A person who has special knowledge or skill in a field. Vivacious: Full of high spirits and animation; lively or vital. Wispy: Wisplike; delicate, faint, light, etc.
Zaftig: (Of a woman) having a pleasantly plump figure. Virile: Having or exhibiting masculine energy, forcefulness, or strength in a marked degree.
Some of the words shown here have more than one meaning, I did not add all of them so it is worthwhile taking a closer look at them. I also added how they are used sometimes to give you a better idea. There are many more ways to use them and sometimes you have to make sure that you are using them in the right context. I have many more words but don’t want to make the list too long.
Here are a few links to useful sites that can help with writing poetry:
Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/
Here you can find almost any word, the correct spelling, and even a sound file to help you pronounce the word correctly. It also tends to show you how the word is used in a sentence.
It even shows you where the stressed and unstressed syllables are by using bold letters to show the stressed syllables which can be very useful in writing in meter. The last thing that makes this site useful is that it shows you the syllables of the words, again useful when writing in meter.
http://thesaurus.com/ This site gives you all the Definition, Synonyms, Antonyms to your hearts’ content.
The suarus.com content which is also wonderful in the use of poetry. You can easily find another word with the same meaning for a poem if you feel the word, you are using is rather boring. I love this one!
Rhyme Zone http://www.rhymezone.com/?loc=bar another great site that helps in finding rhyming words with different numbers of syllable groups.
Word web: If you find yourself without the Internet while writing this little program is very useful. The only thing I find very lacking is the fact that it does not show the stressed and unstressed syllables.
You can download it here. http://wordweb.en.softonic.com/
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BY LADYSPHNIX
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 15 JUNE 2024
