Poetry Contest 6!

[Tharius]

Previous Contests
Poetry Contest 1 [Mer De Noms]
Poetry Contest 2 [hortononon]
Poetry Contest 3 [Monsterous]
Poetry Contest 4 [Halo_king116]
Poetry Contest 5 [Tharius]​

And so it begins... Poetry Contest 6, that is.


Topic and Rules:

The topic for this contest is the elements. How you interpret that is entirely up to you.

• You may submit any type of poem, as long as it relates in some way to the topic stated above.
• Any submitted poem must be at least 4 lines in length. There is no maximum limitation.
• Only one poem may be submitted per contestant.
• The poem must be written by YOU. You cannot take another person's work or have anyone write it for you. Anyone caught violating this rule will be permanently banned from these contests.
• Any entered poem must be written specifically for this contest. Even if you wrote it yourself, if it was written previous to the beginning of this contest, it is not allowed.
• Winners can not enter the next contest. They must either host and not judge, or host and judge. If they choose not to host, they may not judge, either.
• Do not edit your poem after you've entered it. You have until the deadline to work on it, so if you feel you might not be completely satisfied with it, take your time. Once it's entered, if you edit your poem, you can and will be disqualified. We cannot take the risk of someone getting "inspired" by someone else's poem and basically copying them.

Judging:

Head Judge - Seth Cross
2nd Judge - Tharius
3rd Judge - Demonwrath

Submitted poems will be judged using the following criteria:

1. Clarity and Emotional Impact [40 points] - Is the meaning behind your poem clear? If you are describing something, does the poem paint a clear picture? Does your poem make us feel what it is intended to express?
2. Grammar/Spelling [15 points] - Grammar and spelling should be taken care of without having to be told. Although poems can get away with certain grammatical infractions where prose cannot, if poor grammar obscures the ideas being expressed without reason, it makes it extremely hard to read. Poor spelling, of course, is unforgivable in this age of spellcheckers. This applies to 1337speak nad AOL tlak 2.
3. Flow and Rhythm [25 Points] - Does your poem flow smoothly, or are there pauses and jolts, making it choppy and difficult to read? This is separate from rhyme - poems do not have to rhyme, nor will be they be penalized if they do not.
4. Word Quality and Choice [20 points] - Does your poem have only basic vocabulary, or have you used a larger selection of words? On the other hand, have you used difficult or obscure words with no other reason than to confuse people or show off? If you use the same word several times when you could have switched it up, or if you use words so long and unwieldy that they break the flow of your poem, this is where you'll lose points.
5. There is no fifth criterion.

Naturally, if you add up all the possible top scores in each category, you will get 100. Your score will, obviously, be X/100 for each judge. The three scores will be added and then divided by three (assuming that we still have three judges by the end), to get the average of the three scores. Highest score wins!


Deadline:

The deadline for Poetry Contest 6 is three days before the end of December, ending on December 28th at 12:00 PM EST (GMT -5). Nobody cares what time zone you're in.

This contest is now closed, and no further entries are allowed.


The Rewards:

As always, winners will most likely receive a bundle of reputation from other contestants and people watching the contest. They will also be named the host for the NEXT contest and get to name the contest's theme.

Poetry Contest 5 was the first poetry contest to use the Award system. As there were over 10 contestants in Poetry Contest 5, there were three awards given, for first, second, and third place finishers. Assuming that we're once again using the Award system, there will at least be a gold award given for first place, and possibly second and third place awards as well depending on the number of contestants we have that actually enter poems.

Entrants into the Ring of Fire:
Rheias
hortononon
Ninva
Technomancer
Monsterous
Mizuio Ken
esb​

Good luck, and happy holidays!

 

[Rheias]

I'm in.
Good luck everyone!

 

[U are a noob]

Im in.

 

[Tharius]

We still need a third judge - bear in mind that judges cannot compete in the contest.

 

[Miz]

elements as in earth, fire and water, etc.
or elements as in iron, gold, hydrogen

and I can judge again if you guys still need a judge

 

[Ninva]

Ugh, I hate that theme with a passion. It's not new to me, though. There was a writing contest that went way too fast (they probably didn't want me to join in the first place) which was themed "The Elements".
I'll join if I can think of something decent.

 

[Jindo]

elements as in earth, fire and water, etc.
or elements as in iron, gold, hydrogen

The topic for this contest is the elements. How you interpret that is entirely up to you.

.

 

[Halo_king116]

I'll join.

Good luck to any and all other contestants.

 

[Demonwrath]

Hmm I don't kno, I want to join, but at the same time I would also like to be judge #3 if you guys don't mind

If I can't judge then I will gladly enter...hehehe Elements...you dare enter my realm XD

 

[hortononon]

im in

 

[Ninva]

Well, I came up with something after all. Once looking at the description of element I read an old poem I wrote a long time ago. It's title is Peaceful Hermit. The base of my current project.


Peaceful Hermit

Spoiler

I’m walking around, like everyone else. Screaming and biting my way out, while I sit here doing nothing at all.
In the wind, I hear a whisper calling me out to them, but I can’t answer with the wind shouting loud. I’m left out in the gust, with a sacrificial trust that no one will come at all, and I’d be left here all my life with the shotgun’s barrel in between my eyes.
People say, they know me. People say they love me too. Well, it could be true, but there really is no truth, because we’re all the same after all.
Don’t cry, don’t whine, we know this story now, it’s ok, because death will fall again. There’s no stopping him now, but we all care that we’re all the same after all.

I edited the heck out of it, so I guess this would be legal to post.

 

[Demonwrath]

Nice poem Ninva, but simpel question...

How does it relate to elements?

BTW I think when a poem is entered they should say how it is they enterpreted the meaning of 'Elements'

 

[Ninva]

How does it relate to elements?

To be honest, I don't want to defend my poem. I don't like to think that art needs to be defended because it already states itself within the text. Again, to be honest, you wouldn't need to ask the question "How does it relate to elements?" when the answer is within the text. This is my only problem with contests and judgment upon literature.
Now just so you won't say I avoided the question I'd answer vaguely, but that's only because I can't say anything more about my statement within that poem. The poem is about this statement found in the dictionary:
"a component or constituent of a whole or one of the parts into which a whole may be resolved by analysis: Bricks and mortar are elements of every masonry wall." - dictionary.com
It's about the human's view of the world, and that all human beings are the same, but they all want to be different and "themselves". It also says that the humans hate death, and fight against it for it brings them together at last. The second thing humans can relate on is death and the first is birth, which should have been added...
I believe I have every right to post this a poem in this contest for I was told to interpret the elements in my own way.

 

[Tharius]

Well, so far both Mizuio Ken and Demonwrath have said that they are somewhat interested in being the third judge.... I have no idea if there are any restrictions on judging or not, though (Mizuio Ken having already been third judge in the previous contest, and Demonwrath questioning... something, I don't know exactly what).

Anyone know how the third judge was picked in the other contests? PC5 was the first one I joined, and I came in comparatively late.


P.S. Demonwrath, I feel that questions like that should not be brought up until the contest is over and all the poems are graded. If someone wants to include some clarification with their poem they're free to do so, but on the other hand, if someone feels that their poem needs no further explanation, that's up to the judges to decide.

EDIT: Bah, seconds late. I think it still holds true, though.

 

[Ninva]

EDIT: Bah, seconds late. I think it still holds true, though.

Oh, I'm sorry. ^_^" My current poem is still valid, correct?

 

[Demonwrath]

I didn't mean any offense with my question, sorry people.

I wasn't trying to make it so you had to defend your poem, sorry for that Ninva. I just wanted a verification of how you were enterpretting the topic into your poem, I mean I like to know what people think when they write poems and any form of literature for that matter.

Again..sorry..

Concerning judging, I have no problem with Mizuio judging again, however as you put it he was 3rd judge for the last contest so maybe someone else should be able to try

Either way I want Seth's opinion

 

[Miz]

Really, I say Demon should be judge because he knows this topic, if i'm correct...
I have never written an elements poem so I don't think I would make a good judge for this one

 

[Tharius]

If Demonwrath's fine with judging I'll put him down as the 3rd, then.

 

[Halahan]

I will judge as third judge if everyone else is kind of iffy on it still. Is that cool with everybody? If not, I'm sure Seth can work it out somehow...¿


edit: either you just posted that Tharius or I didn't read that one.
second edit: dang like five people posted something at the same time concerning judging! or maybe I'm just blind. idk. oh rotflcopter I posted something on first page and didn't read anything on the second, oopsy daisy. well, my err.... hand? ticket? is in for judging to be considered. I'm more for novels but I can judge a poem just fine.

Oh, and if I'm not a judge I guess I'm in.

 

[1)ark_Knight]

Ill join.

I havn't spent much time in the other areas of TH besides WC area but now that I've looked through the forum its nice. I accualy write poetry quite often and I've made many people cry from emotion

So I think I migth stand a chance in here, however the previous poems i have read were very good. I like a challenge though

so ya.. im in. Good luck to everyone else.