Contrapuntal Poetry Guide: How to Write Contrapuntal Poems

Contrapuntal poetry involves interweaving or combining two or more poems to create a new poem. Contrapuntal poetry comprises two or more poems that are distinct in tone and subject matter but are, in some way, in conversation with each other. The term “contrapuntal poem” gets its name from contrapuntal music, which features more than one melody playing simultaneously.

Poets might place individual poems side by side, overlap the two poems, or lay them out in another fashion that communicates how to read the poem. When contrapuntal poets read their works aloud, you can hear how each poem is in conversation with or acts in response to the others.

Contrapuntal poems can be read in various ways depending on their expression on the page. Consider the following formats:

• As a dialogue: Tyehimba Jess, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olio (2016), created a conversation via the contrapuntal form in his 2005 poet book, Leadbelly. Two poems in Leadbelly juxtapose two descriptions of the same story.
• As a single poem: In Tarfia Faizullah’s “Aubade Ending with the Death of a Mosquito” (2014), two poems are arranged side by side. You can read the poems from left to right together as a third, unique poem.
• As multiple poems: Brian Bilston’s 2015 contrapuntal poem “At the Intersection” uses a Venn diagram structure: Separate poems appear within the two concentric circles and a unique poem appears in the overlapped middle area. You can read the left and right poems independently, and can read the words in the overlapped area as a third poem.

The writing process for contrapuntal poetry is multi-pronged. Poets will find their way into this poetic form based on their tastes, experiences, and explored ideas, but consider the following approaches:

1. 1. Side by side contrapuntal poem: When crafting the individual poems, consider their relation to each other, and craft each line to create a legible third poem when combined. You can use the right-hand poem to respond to the words on the left side or use a repeating refrain to add a new harmonic relationship to the poetry.
2. 2. Venn diagram contrapuntal poem: When using a Venn diagram approach, try creating the middle poem first (the overlapped circles), which can be shorter and communicate the key ideas echoed in the other two left and right poems. Then, flesh out the words that come before and after that poem to fill out the rest of the Venn diagram.

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