Ode to a tea bag

A bad poem inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

Fancy a brew?

Once upon a morning dreary, rose from my bed, weak and teary,
Dizzy headed and faint, a reviving teabag of plentiful pour
To the cupboard, I went flapping, searching for the dark blue wrapping,
How very strange was the wrapping, wrapping found behind the door,
"Tis bitter coffee" I uttered, "stuck behind the cupboard door–
Only this, and nothing more."

Between 2009 and 2010 I was at Falmouth University, studying for a Master’s degree in Professional Writing. One of the core units was Business and Features Writing – which included things like marketing and brands, research, structure, media releases, direct mail, web writing, report writing, and more. It was a brilliant foundation for my life as a freelance copywriter. Among the many writing assignments I did that year, was this:

“Write a poem (no more than 200 words) imagining what life would be like for a user of a particular brand if that brand didn’t exist. You can write this from your own point of view, or from someone else’s entirely.”

Now, I don’t consider myself a poet. But in 2009 I knew even less about poetry than I do now, so I felt truly stumped by the task. So I decided to use an existing poem – in this case, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe – and change the words to make it about Tetley tea bags, the brand I’d decided to write about.

The result was… not great. Looking at it again almost 15 years later, I find myself cringing. In particular, the first half of the second line is clunky and really doesn’t work and it trips up the entire piece.

But this piece of writing also shows how far I’ve come as a writer. You see, although the finished result wasn’t as polished as the famous poem I’d used as a template, my approach to the assignment was incredibly helpful. By rewriting Poe’s poem, I learned to notice, and think about, rhyme, rhythm, structure, pace, punctuation, sentence length and language – the essential ingredients that make up anything we write, be it prose or poetry, fiction or fact.

Sometimes, starting with a blank page can feel intimidating. So when that happens, try rewriting something you’ve written, or take a poem or piece of prose written by someone else and try and change it. See what happens when you change the viewpoint or the topic. What does it teach you about your own writing and how you can develop it?

I leave you with the first stanza of Poe’s poem – with apologies to both him and Tetley!

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door–
Only this, and nothing more."

From The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe