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allen ginsberg, aram soroyan, Emily Dickinson, frank lima, Glyn Maxwell, lisa jarnot, Robert Frost, ts eliot, Wayne Holloway-Smith, Wislawa Szymborska

Hi Folks, it’s Peter from Australia with my first Meet the Bar for the year.
Tho it’s late in January, I’m still having trouble getting this year started. Languorous days, steamy nights, mosquitoes whining sweet nothings…the drone of cricket on the radio and cicadas beating in the eucalypts: it’s summer in Australia (sunny cheers to all you chilly Northern Hemisphere folk).
So tonight, I thought we’d start on beginnings – particularly that all-important first line (for those of you that prefer this Meet the Bar is available as a PDF).
Ask Siri or Alexa for poetry’s best first lines and in a fraction of a second (without ever asking what ‘best’ is) they’ll suggest gems such as:
- ‘Let us go then, you and I,’ from T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
- ‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,’ from Allen Ginsberg’s Howl
- ‘Because I could not stop for Death,’ from Emily Dickinson’s verse 479
- ‘He came home. Said nothing.’ from Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska’s Going Home
Putting aside the rest of the poem, what is it in these lines that makes them ‘great’? They’re intriguing, they set up the action, they introduce setting or characters and importantly they jump right in, there’s no preamble or throat-clearing here: ‘He came home’ is about as direct as you can get.
The lines also tell us what to expect, what kind of poem follows: Eliot invites us on a journey; Ginsberg’s powerful image tells us the poem that follows is about waste, loss and death; Szymborska intrigues: who is this character who has returned home? from where? and what have they seen that compels such silence? Finally, uber-master of compression, Dickinson tells us in seven words, about a busy life cut short, dying and to expect a dialogue between indefatigable Death and the (now deceased) poet, gothic irony coming up.
So here’s a few reasons why first lines are important.
- A great first line gives the reader a reason to continue reading. Use a vivid image, a striking phrase, or some unusual language and it’s more likely the reader will read further.
There is of course a question of who cares? “I’m a poet dang it and I serve my muse. If you can’t be bothered to read all the way through, then you’re not for me.” Fair enough too, here at the bar we celebrate the individual poetic vision. For some though, poetry is also a form of communication and hooking the reader into travel further into your poem is a good thing. - Tradition. Starting a poem somewhere is a tradition in the English-speaking canon. We normally start reading from top left on a page and progress rightward and down.
One of the interesting things that concrete poetry does it to remind us that traditions can be (and sometimes need to be) broken. Sometimes the shapes words make on a page is more important than the words themselves. There are also poems with only one line and even one-word poems. A wonderful avant garde experiment in 20th Century minimalist poetry in both Paris and New York culminated in Aram Soroyan’s 1965 one word poem ‘lighght’ (which becomes more marvellous the more you read it).
With the internet came the exciting world-wide world of hypertext where links in the poem introduced other texts, images or dead-ends. There are also collaborative efforts where no individual is identified as the poet – traditional forms such as the renga in Japan where two or more poets supply alternating lines in the poem. All just fascinating but the point for tonight is to remember is the first line is part of a tradition in English-language poetry, and sometimes it’s good to shake up traditions.
3(a). It’s part of the method. There are forms of poetry such as collage or dada-ist poems, found poetry and even fridge-magnet poetry where texts are cut up and randomised. Sometimes a great first line emerges from the maelstrom of possible words. (Charlie back in 2013 hosted a session on cut-up poetry here at Dverse).
3(b). It’s part of the method. There’s also a genre of poetry I call ‘Poems-starting-with-a-line-by…’ poetry (or PSWALB). There are way too many to cover here (Alexa or Siri can help if you’re interested) but my current favourite PSWALB is American poet Lisa Jarnot’s “Poem Beginning with a Line by Frank Lima”. Frank Lima (1938-2013) was an American poet associated with the New York school. Jarnot takes the line ‘and how terrific’ from an unidentified poem of his and spring-boards into a surreal tribute full of energy and weirdo imagery.
And how terrific it is to write a radio poem
and how terrific it is to stand on the roof and
watch the stars go by and how terrific it is to be
misled inside a hallway…
PSWALBs can be critical, ironic, show-offy or homages to the original work.
4. It’s about winning prizes. If you’re like me, you’ve got a collection of rejection emails with polite thanks for entering a poetry competition, noting the many hundreds of worthy entries received and what a difficult job the judges had etc. A great first line (and a great title) is a way to get your worthy poem noticed among that tower of other worthy poems. British poet Wayne Holloway-Smith won the 2018 UK National Poetry Competition with this knock-out poem…

The posh mums are boxing in the square
roughing each other up in a nice way
This is not the world into which I was born
so I’m changing it
I’m sinking deep into the past and dressing my own mum
in their blue spandexes…
5. The first line is inevitable. In his book On Poetry, British-American poet Glyn Maxwell talks about a poem’s conception, the poem arising
from the urge of a human creature, once, upon a time – to break silence, fill emptiness, colour nothing with something, anything.
Maxwell describes the opening line as the moment at which the pressure of that silence breaks into an utterance that must be heard.
Maybe this is your creative process. Perhaps a poem will leap from that pressurised silence onto the page, like Robert Frost’s Thought Fox; perhaps it progresses from an image and works its way onto the page; or maybe it’ll hang about like an over-staying house guest or a ripe cheese (or that Christmas ham that you’re still eating) – until the only answer is to write something.
Whew! There’s so much more to say on beginnings but I’ve just got to sit down and start something.
So come on poets, join me at the beginning. Let’s find that best first line:
- see if you can hook yourself a new reader with upfront vivid images and unusual word use
- maybe stick with tradition (starting top left) or forge out in a new direction, maybe even a one line, or even a one-word poem (though please read the article that I’ve linked to Saroyan’s poem)
- perhaps try your hand at some found poetry, make something shapely or striking or something off the fridge
- or perhaps a poem beginning with a line by a poet who’s provoked or enthralled or charmed or annoyed you (don’t forget to link to the original poem in your post).
Yes, your poem is already there waiting for the inevitable wonderful first line.
Whatever you choose, tonight we’re focusing on that knock-out first line (Sorry, I can’t get the image of the boxing mums out of my mind). You know what to do…
- Write your poem.
- Post it on your blog.
- Link it up to our Mr. Linky. (Don’t forget to check the little box to accept use/privacy policy)
- Importantly, visit other blogs, enjoy some amazing first lines
- and above all have fun.
And while you’re busy composing, here’s the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 2018 with Beethoven’s Fifth – one of the best opening lines in classical music …
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Good evening everyone, cheers from Australia where it’s raining and my poor doggy hasn’t had her morning walk yet (she’s not happy). Bar is open, music gently playing and I’m looking forward to a great evening (morning) of verse.
Snap! You had rain too.
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Good evening all and g’day Peter! Thank you for this challenging prompt, which I hope I have fulfilled with my poem. It’s been raining all day here, grey and dreary, and I haven’t been outside at all. It made me think of the days when British pubs closed after lunch and reopened late afternoon, when you’d often see after-work drinkers waiting impatiently. All the pubs are closed now, except for take-away meals.
Hi Kim, and welcome. Here in Australia – in the old days we had a thing called the six-o’clock swill – where our pubs closed at 6pm – so working men would rush to the bar at after work at 5.00pm and drink like crazy until closing time. No time for talking or reading poetry back then.
Coffee for me please 🙂 it’s extremely cold here in Karachi! I so enjoyed writing to the prompt, thank you for hosting, Peter!
Hey Sanaa, a pleasure – stay warm, stay safe and enjoy an espresso or two.
I will! Thank you 💝💝
Hello Peter… I love the prompt and it made me think of when I had a course in creative writing how also a work of fiction in prose should begin with a time and place that sets the scene in just a few words so you got pulled into the story quickly…
Some of the lines I remember well were:
it was the best of times it was the worst of times; from Dickens “a tale of two cities”
and
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again from Daphne du Maurier “Rebecca”
Great lines Björn – I’ve been reading Basho – the haiku master again – he starts The Narrow Road to the Deep North with – ‘Days and months are travellers of eternity.’ Wonderful stuff.
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Hello Peter! Really interesting prompt. And hard.
In Stockholm it’s the middle of winter and we just got hit with a so called snow cannon that have given us at leas six inches of powdery snow during today.
Thanks for dropping by – hope you find some warmth and shelter today – maybe sit by our imaginary fire for a while.
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Hello Peter and All. Great prompt that, as you said before, is a good complement to Laura’s prompt earlier this week. Since it was unusual I decided to turn one of my recent dreams into a poem of sorts. So far behind on things. There has been snow here the past few days but no heavy accumulation. Am sipping on hot coffee right now.
Hey Lisa, so glad you could drop by. Looking forward to reading your piece – stay out of that snow (I’ll have to look that up in my dictionary…I’m not sure they’ve listed that in the Australian edition – 😀)
Thanks for the welcome, Peter.
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Hi Peter and all. I’ve tried to combine Laura’s prompt and today’s–perhaps not doing justice to either. Well, works in progress. . .it’s blustery and cold here, but at least the sun is shining, and we might be able to see the cold Wolf Moon tonight in a few hours.
Hi Merril, yes I did the same (without reading Laura’s prompt properly) – sometimes the muse is impatient with slow thought and sluggish words.
😀
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Well I liked this prompt but I’m afraid I have a migraine coming (which probably wasn’t helped by trying to tweak my poem into shape). I will be back to read in the morning. Best wishes to everyone in the bar!
Feel better, Ingrid.
Thank you, Ali 🙏
+ 1 Ingrid. No hurry, we’ll see you when you’re better.
Thank you Peter 🙏
Peter,
Thank you for this wonderful post with great examples and inspiration. What helpful topic to explore.
I will see what I can offer and look forward to reading those first lines created by the others here. It is such a fun community.
Being that it is winter here, enjoy your summer weather.
Ali
For the first time in ages, Australia is subject to wetter La Nina weather. Walking through my veggie garden is like being in that old TV show Land of the Giants, the rhubarb is as high as an elephants eye and tarzan could swing from the cucumber vine.
How wonderful to see that kind of growth. It sound fantastical.
(it’s a bit creepy)
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Morning Peter, good one! No rain here just endless blue sunshine …
I’ll have a ginger beer and pav please? A bit rich for breakfast but it will add zing to my day
Laughing here.
your waves are lapping in as I type, high tide just now!
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I’m in! Thank you for the prompt. I can’t wait to see the first lines, hooks and sinkers.
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Thanks Peter, this is quite the challenge …….
I’m sure you’re up for it. 🙂
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Sometimes the prompts (and the first lines) write themselves, and sometimes another poet writes them for you. So I’ve gone slightly ekphrastic and channeled T.S. Elliot, for my sins. I did have to pour another glass of wine, you’ll see why when you read this poem.
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Greetings fellow Aussie! I think summer has taken a holiday, and fair enough too after last year, and her brief burst of hard work earlier this week.
My first contribution here is “in-flight entertainment”.
Thanks Kate and greetings from under the long grey cloud – so glad you could drop by. Peter.
Thanks Peter. I’m loving the cloud – I’ll take rain over fire any day.
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Hello Peter, I liked the Posh Moms poem so much that I’ve bookmarked it! Thanks for the wonderful prompt. Today I’ve tried my hand at writing a Triolet for the first time, I hope you’ll enjoy it. ~Jay
It’s good isn’t it (can’t help seeing my mum there in spandex too). I’ll duck over later and have a read – thanks for joining the fun. P
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A thoughtful prompt Peter, thank you.
Glad you could drop by.
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