I wan't to master the art of poetry; where do I begin?

Question:I've been thinking lately, and I've decided that I want to take up poetry as a hobby. I want to write poetry like Chris Marlowe, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, etc. How do I become a great poet?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've been thinking lately, and I've decided that I want to take up poetry as a hobby. I want to write poetry like Chris Marlowe, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, etc. How do I become a great poet?

write
read
share
despair
take any critisism
lightly
not tightly
then dare
to be a poet
neither great
or small
its the doing that matters
after all
write
read
transcribe
images and feelings
glowing inside

first words first
onto paper let them flow
dont censor
at first
just let them go
tumbling
from mind to pen
then soak with your eyes
take them back in again.

Painful Experience, Joyous Remembrance, and a Pen.

This thought of yours will make master in poetry. Be a great poet in the world and visualize accordingly.

I am15 and I write poems for magazines. But above all, write a poem 2 yourself! Begin this way and try. I describe poetry as an incessant & powerful flow of emotions. So, let your imagination cross all barriers; choose a topic that is of your interest. Start with whatever u feel like. Then just shuffle the sentences and pick up with the rhyming scheme.
I give u an idea. If u r unable to find a topic, grab a photograph(a landscape...), look for its details and pen down a poem on it!!!

I can only tell you the way I've done it. I began to read as much poetry as I could (my shelves are packed with second-hand poetry books), I began by writing very simple doggerel, and writing to order for people's birthdays, leaving do's etc. Which I found very easy, as I can naturally write in rhyming couplets. I joined a local poetry group (in fact, more than one). I subscribed to a magazine called Poetry Now, and began to send them some of my stuff. I entered their Following in the Footsteps page (writing in the style of established poets). I wrote reams of stuff - which no one will ever see (because it was crap) and eventually, I began to come up with not so bad stuff.
I didn't start writing anything until I was in my 50's and a whole load of poems starting pouring out of me. But, I have to admit the more I read and the more I listened to poetry, the more I realised how far I still had to go to compete with the best.......life got in the way, and writing poetry was put on a back burner. This web page has rekindled my interest, and (when I have the time) I will start writing again.
Best of luck (read all of your chosen poets - note how they do it, practice, then abandon them and develop your own style)

find somewhere to sit and relax for a moment. i take a walk outside or down to park to do my thinking but that is just an example. go anywhere you like, even stay home if that is what you fancy :) then just breathe deep and relax. think about what you want to write a poem about, and have a pen and paper ready. hold the thought and write down anything that comes to mind. sometimes it takes time, others no time at all.

When you have a decent collection of words, start grouping them and finding words that rhyme or match to the type of poem you are looking at doing (afterall not all poems rhyme :) -) these will be the building blocks for your poem.

it is up to you on how you assemble them. it takes a bit of time and patience and sometimes you may even have to toss it out the window and start again. if this happens, try looking at the "story" you are creating thru the words with a different angle in mind. i know ive had to do this a few times :)

have patience and believe in yourself. the greatest poets were not great to start with. everything takes time, practice and effort but its well worth while and rewarding in the end. never forget poetry is an emotion, a feeling and something painted on the eyelid of the one who wrote it. the trick is getting that same feeling across to others.

with this in mind, dont complicate, keep things simple but not too simple. a balance is nice for any form of art whether it be a song, a poem or a painting.

Good luck ^^

I hope that helps you
~Kal

Poetry is not something you just "decide to take up", you either have talent or you don't. If you don't all you can master is versification or an ability to play with words. Well, but if it's just for a hobby, go ahead, there is no harm in trying. At least you'll have somthing to boast to your friends about or impress some guy (or girl?)...

Write from your heart.

All excellent advice here.
The profession of poet used to be a highly trained one. Ancient Celtic poets had to study for 12 years just to become bards and weren't awarded the full status of poet until they had studied 20 years. They had to memorize an enormous body of work - 150 epics, the genealogies of all the leading families, the law code (which was in verse), music, and so on - this before they were allowed to compose.
It certainly doesn't hurt to read a great deal of poetry. I took an historical approach and read all the great epics (well, only some of the Mahabarhata). I then moved on to medieval poetry, Renaissance poetry, Elizabethan, and so on. I read as much foreign poetry in translation as I could. None of this was wasted time. You also need to read books on poetic techniques "Western Wind, When Will Thou Blow" is a classic and incorporates some Bob Dylan. It also helps to join a local poetry group, or one or more online. I've noticed that the online groups are very wary of criticism, and you do need to take criticism. You don't have to believe everything people say - some people are cruel - but have an open mind and accept that some people know what they're talking about.
Finally, life experience counts a great deal. As Ringo Starr sang, "You got to live the blues if you want to sing the blues/ And you know it don't come easy." Writers have to take life adventurously. They need to travel, expose themselves to different cultures, take risks, and in general live life to the fullest.

well you must begin at the beginning.

EDIT:

Begin at the beginning, go on till you come to the end: then stop.