Poetry Prompt #82 - What's in a Title?

I think we’ll all agree that while we’re wary of judging books by their covers, we often “judge” poems, at least at first blush, by their titles. Sometimes, an amazing title is just what a poem needs to draw readers in.

This week, let’s “play” with an old prompt idea in which you think of a few well-known poems that you especially like. Reflect on the titles and see if there’s one that you can change to keep the “sense” of it similar but the meaning completely different. After you’ve made a change that works for you, write a poem that “goes with” the new title.

Here are some examples:

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20519

might become “Stopping by the Park on a Summer Morning”

Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Graveyard”

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19371

might become “Elegy Written on a City Street”

John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” 

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20325

might become “Ode to a Sparrow”

Carl Sandburg’s “Fog”

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15263

might become “Smog”

T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20220

might become “The Love Song of __________ " (you fill in the blank)

Now, here’s the important part: your finished poem needn’t bear any resemblance at all to the inspiration poem. In fact, the goal is to make your poem entirely different and entirely your own. You might even want to change the title after you’ve written the poem.

The goal this week is to have some creative fun with the prompt idea and, more specifically, to think about how important your poems’ titles can be. Remember that a good title gives your prospective readers a hint of what’s to come without giving too much away. It introduces readers to the heart or emotional center of a poem and invites readers to enter the poem and spend time with you.