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Do you live in a world of darkness? Always finding yourself standing in themiddle of a crowded room screaming, but no one hears you? Does yourpain seem endless? Gothic poetry will work for you...Steps

1. Start with a topic. This expansive genre encompasses a hugerange of topics. A Gothic poem can be about anything. It's just adark twist. Stereotypically, gothic poetry is usually about only pain,death and tragic love. This isn't always true. So don't let yourself befooled by stereotypes.

2. Think of a title. The title is one of the most important parts ofgothic poetry. It helps the reader gather the emotion of the poembefore they read it, and to understand the poem while reading it. Agood title will catch the person's eye. Just make sure you can keep

their attention afterwards. It's a good idea to keep the title short,either words or syllables.

3. With the hard part out of the way, outline the poem. Anythinggoes in this step, as you'll soon revise it. A short example: "mytwisted soul can no longer fly/darkness rips at my blinding eyes"

4. Capitalization isn't a big part of gothic poetry. Some poems actuallycome across stronger when words aren't capitalized except for thenames of people, gods and goddesses.

5. Punctuation is important. Another stereotype is that punctuationis absent from gothic poetry. But that's not true. Any poem, no

matter the genre, would do well with punctuation.6. Because gothic poetry is dark and mysterious, it means there can't

be a hint of hope and happiness and the like. Be afraid to makereferences to such. Work with this fear. This is another stereotypethat many tend to believe. Because you write gothic poetry meansyou don't have some kind of happy moments, or else you barely feelthem. In the most of cases gothic poets see happiness as a foreverlost thing from their past or as a lifetime unachieved ideal.

7. Most people like rhyme. If you wish to rhyme then great!Don't TRY to make your poem rhyme though. The rhyming should

always come by itself. Trying to rhyme is forcing it to rhyme, andthe poem won't flow and it'll be... well not a good poem. If you wantit to rhyme but have to force rhymes, then do so, but revise reviserevise!

8. Modern gothic poetry tends to be free verse. Do what you wish withthe design of the poem. But make sure it's comfortable to you andyou can work with it.

9. Don't take yourself seriously, no matter how serious you want to be.If you write poetry that includes anything similar to "incarnadine,""blood," "torture," or any "gothic" words, you will be laughed at.Gothic is a style of architecture and a Germanic race of people whoconquered most of the Roman Empire.

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Tips

Gothic poetry is not always dark, no matter what they say! Reference Persephone (who was kidnapped by Hades and forced to

live the winter of every year in the underworld), Orpheus (a poet

who tried to rescue his wife from Hades), eEurydice (the wife ofOrpheus), Tantalus (doomed to forever sit in pool of water withgrapes hanging overhead but not be able to touch them), theCimmerii (people who lived in eternal darkness), or other ancientGreek/Roman tragic stories are good for Epic Poetry.

The Dictionary and Thesaurus are your best friends. Blood and Black aren't strong words because of their overuse in

today's society; if you want something stronger, then refer to thethesaurus. Adding darkly, disturbed, literate, and twisted synonymssuch as these for black: ebon, ebony, onyx, sable, dark, or pitch-

dark. For blood you could use words such as vitae and gore; for redcrismon, russet, carmine, bloodshot, cherry,blush, brick, cardinal,and scarlet.

Other synonyms, if you are writing something about death, you mayuse:

Massacre-- blood bath, bloodshed, blood letting, butchery, carnage,pogrom (always a jerker), or slaughter.

Similar to this is bloody-minded: murderous, bloodthirsty, bloody,cutthroat, homicidal, sanguinary, sanguineous, and slaughterous.

If you choose to add something from a foreign language, especiallyLatin, make sure you know what it means and that you'll rememberit.

Never throw out any of your poems. They're your keepsake. Yoursoul. Your future.

Numbers are stronger if written out. Use intricate and dark words like: morbid, meloncholy,

phantasmagoric, macabre, torment, eternal, decrepit, futile,deliberate, and delapidated. Try flipping through a dictionary andlooking at random words, you'll most likely find some you like.If youdon't know some of the words above,look them up. They are used

alot as descriptions of society in gothic literature Try not to let your parents find any of your poems.

Warnings

Do not give in to stereotypes! If your parents aren't comfortable with the Gothic subculture or any

of it's counterparts, make it scarce. Do not flash it in their presence.It isn't cowardly, it's self-preservation.

Also, if they despise the "darkness" of your poetry, protect it!Parents are notrious for throwing away "trash." Chances are, that's

what they think of your poetry. Suggestion: At school, carry it with

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you in your bookbag. All other times, keep it somewhereinconspicuous.

Don't take criticism personally unless it goes against your beliefs. Try hiding them in places like under your mattress or other places

nobody would ever think to look. Like in a phone book in your room. May be called an emo. Unless you want to, don't show your poetry to anybody in school.

You might get into trouble and/or rejected. May come across as an "emo" and not gothic.

Related wikiHows

How to Write a Love Poem How to Publish a Poem How to Become Inspired to Write Poetry How to Start a Trench Coat Club How to Be a Poet How to Write a Poem How to Explicate a Poem How to Write Dark Poems How to Dress Goth How to Be Dark How to Be Goth at Church

Sources and Citations

DarkPoetryArticle provided bywikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the

world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and

find author credits at the original wikiHow article onHow to Write

Serious Gothic Poetry. All content on wikiHow can be shared under

aCreative Commons license.

How to Write Dark Poemsfrom wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can EditDark poems are loved by a lot of people, both for reading and writing. Ifyou do them the right way, you will get a lot of people interested.Steps

1. Think of dark things. What do you consider "dark?" Things such asdeath, blood, negative thoughts, depression, and the supernaturalare good things to start off with. Add in anything else not listedhere.

2. Draw from life experiences. Has anything sad or spooky everhappened to you? If so, then write about it.

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3. Do your research. Go to paranormal websites, read depressingstories,research horror writers. Do whatever you feel is necessary tomake your poems amazing!

4. Read some poetry or prose, look at the paintings, listen to music toget you in a "dark" mood.

5. Think of a tragic event that has happened in history. For example, amassacre. You can even write a poem about a serial killer.

6. Think more about "mood" than gore. Your poem doesn't have to beoverly graphic, but it should engage the audience.

7. You can make your poem about something beautiful and happy, likea flower, but then add in a very dark twist to shock your audience.

Tips

When it's raining, be sure to take a look out the window instead ofcozily shutting yourself away from the gloominess. Clouds coveringthe entire sky and showers of rain can often provide dark thoughts.

Try to put to paper your negative emotions or terrible worries aboutsomething.

Try to see life only black and white with black color domination.Warnings

Don't be cliche. Don't overdo it.

Your poem could be immoral. Realize that some people may be uncomfortable.