I want to use this post to introduce you to one of the best and most underused features on Hello Poetry – the WordCloud!
Go to the
WordCloud and you’ll find the most common words on the whole site. You can find a poet’s most common words on the bottom of their profile. You can also find the most common words in a poem at the bottom of the poem page.
Apart from giving a fascinating statistical insight into what we tend to think about most when we’re writing poetry, you can use the WordCloud to research the most common uses of words, to help you avoid using cliches, or to find amazing images related to the word in question to inspire your own writing.
The most common word on the WordCloud is ‘Like’. It’s there because as well as people liking to tell us what they like in verse, ‘like’ is obviously used a lot in similes.
So I thought I’d use today’s post to go on my first WordCloud adventure, fly-fishing for similes.
So click on the word ‘Like’ and it brings up the list of poems that use that word. I don’t think it’s an exhaustive list, but it’ll do very nicely for now. You can find
all poems with the word ‘Like’.
Ignoring the ‘I like x’ uses of the word, here are some of my favourite similes I found (I’ve purposefully not given the context, so you’ll have to go and read the poem for yourself if you’re intrigued!):
Like Butter by Alex Erkenbeck
Like butter turning oil.
Soul Food by Valerie Garcia
I taste it like you see a rainbow
Days by Matthew Lohan
Days are like telephones / Dreams are like earwax
Lust Like Love by Joseph Perales
Hair like mint / lips like lust / cries like thunder / with every thrust
Short and Sweet by Anthony Jarell Alexander
It sounds like the winds- feels like a kiss ...
Poetry is like sculpture by Perig3e
Poetry is like sculpture; / one removes everything, / that is not poem.
The toad! by Kobayashi Issa
The toad! It looks like / it could belch / a cloud.
I by J
Like water through the pores / of the land / I run through you
August 24. 4:13 pm. Thinking about her. by Ryley Wilson
Eyes like oceans, washing through me
Valediction by ephemera
I shook you from me like water, / like sleep.
The Wind Shifts by Wallace Stevens
Like the thoughts of an old human, / Who still thinks eagerly
I am Ill by brian carlin
I am drained like a mud-baked reservoir in / The longest of hot summers
It’s like the Light by Emily Dickinson
It’s like the Light— / A fashionless Delight
song by Dayna Casablancas
this song is like / lighting up forever / like my bad posture / it curves over the skin
just like that by charlotte
just like that time you got punched in the stomach. / all your breath was gone.
Remind Me Again by Marley ONeill
You look at me like love just / Like you used to and / For a minute I fall
Possible uses for the word cloud:
- As a fun route through the huge amount of poetry on this site. It’s like your own instant collection of poetry themed by any given word.
- If you’re underwhelmed with one of your own images, use the soundcloud to research the key word and see how other people have looked at it – it may inspire you to see things from another angle!
- If you want to avoid using clichés, a little WordCloud fishing expedition gives you a very quick overview of whether you’re the first or the thousandth person to write something.
So – there you go. Time to go fly the WordCloud!
I hope you enjoyed my first proper post. Let me know with some comments – had you used the feature before? Are you going to try it now? Let me know what similes you find with it!
Best,
Daniel