Ah, well, there's a lot one could say to that (& a PhD thesis did,
here in Canada, where Phyllis Webb's 'anti-ghazals' have become ever
more influential).
Rhyme is part of the classical ghazal; and some english ones, although
i havent been overwhelmed by the few ive seen. the english language
form, especially in North America is short (10 lines, 5 couplets
usually), loves the jumps between couplets, &, in Canada, has a number
of proponents, though John Thompson & Phyllis Webb are both its first
major poets & still among the best if not the best. I wrote about them
in an essay in my _Lyric/Anti-lyric_.
Also, given the play with line length possible, the Canadian form of
the ghazal, anyway (& I suspect a lot of the US ones), are certainly
somewhat 'free' (& yet working with some interesting constraints)....
Doug
On 23-Jun-10, at 4:42 PM, Uche Ogbuji wrote:
> I strongly agree that rhyme and form are not synonymous. But I will
> point
> out that rhyme is a component of classical ghazal, and that many
> people
> recognize no other sort aa a ghazal.
>
> Also, the refrain characteristic of even a highly idiosyncratic
> ghazal means
> it's rarely something I'd call free verse.
>
> --Uche
Douglas Barbour
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http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
Latest books:
Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
Wednesdays'
http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
because I want to die
writing Haiku
or, better,
long lines, clean and syllabic as knotted bamboo. Yes!
Phyllis Webb
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