Three Approaches to Writing Speculative Poetry

Speculative poetry is a powerful and imaginative genre that invites readers to explore worlds beyond our own, filled with fantastical possibilities, alternate realities, and “what if” scenarios. It merges the beauty of poetic language with the boundless creativity of speculative fiction, allowing poets to craft works that are both emotionally resonant and mind-expanding. Whether you’re drawn to the mystical, the futuristic, or the utterly bizarre, writing speculative poetry offers endless opportunities to break free from the constraints of everyday reality.

In this post, we’ll explore three unique approaches to writing speculative poetry that will help you tap into your creativity and stretch the limits of your imagination. Whether you want to create entire worlds from scratch, reimagine ancient myths, or ask bold “what if” questions, these approaches will provide you with inspiration and guidance. Let’s dive into the art of writing speculative poetry and discover how you can craft poems that push the boundaries of possibility and invite readers to journey with you into the unknown.

What is Speculative Poetry?

Speculative poetry is a genre of poetry that explores imaginative, fantastical, and otherworldly themes. It often delves into realms such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the supernatural. Speculative poetry uses the creative and philosophical possibilities of these genres to explore ideas that go beyond the boundaries of traditional reality.

Some key characteristics of speculative poetry include:

• Imaginative Themes: Topics might include futuristic societies, alternate realities, mythological creatures, space exploration, magic, or post-apocalyptic worlds.
• Mythological inspiration: It can draw from ancient myths, legends, and folklore to create new narratives.
• Exploration of “What If”: Speculative poetry often poses “what if” questions about the universe, existence, or humanity, leading to thought-provoking explorations of potential futures or alternate pasts.
• Exploration of the unknown: It invites readers to contemplate possibilities beyond the familiar.
• Blurring of Genres: It often crosses genre boundaries, merging elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and even surrealism or magical realism.
• Emotional and Philosophical Depth: While it can be fantastical, speculative poetry is often deeply reflective, dealing with existential questions, human emotions, or social commentary through metaphorical and speculative lenses.
• Focus on the human experience: While set in extraordinary worlds, it often explores universal human themes like love, loss, and identity.

This form of poetry is not limited by the constraints of reality or logic, allowing poets to push the boundaries of imagination.

Speculative Poetry Examples

Here are three famous examples of speculative poetry, each offering a distinct approach to the genre through their exploration of fantastical, science-fictional, or philosophical themes:

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Though written in the early 19th century, “Ozymandias” is a prime example of speculative poetry due to its exploration of themes of power, decay, and the impermanence of human achievements. The poem presents a ruined statue in the desert, a relic of a once-mighty king, and invites readers to contemplate the fleeting nature of human grandeur.

“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . .”

Extract from Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

This line presents the speculative element in the poem. It introduces a fantastical and mysterious setting: a colossal statue in the desolate desert. This image invites the reader to ponder a world vastly different from their own, a place of ancient civilizations and forgotten empires. The existence of such a monumental relic in a barren wasteland is inherently speculative, as it challenges our understanding of the past and raises questions about the nature of power and time.

Read Full Poem Here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias 

Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A masterpiece of Romantic poetry, “Kubla Khan” is a vivid and hallucinatory exploration of a fantastical landscape. Coleridge’s poem creates a dreamlike world filled with exotic imagery and supernatural elements. It’s a testament to the power of imagination and the potential for poetry to transport readers to otherworldly realms.

“Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.”

Extract from Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

This opening stanza encapsulates the speculative essence of “Kubla Khan.” Coleridge introduces a fantastical landscape with a river that disappears into immeasurable caverns and emerges into a sunless sea. This otherworldly geography, combined with the mention of a “stately pleasure-dome,” creates a speculative world that defies the laws of nature and invites the reader into a realm of pure imagination.

Read Full Poem Here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43991/kubla-khan 

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

This Victorian poem is a classic example of speculative poetry due to its fantastical elements. It tells the tale of two sisters who encounter a market run by goblins, who offer enticing yet dangerous fruits. The poem delves into themes of temptation, desire, and redemption, wrapped in a surreal and imaginative setting. The goblins and their magical fruit create a world that transcends reality, making it a prime example of speculative poetry.

“Morning and evening 

Maids heard the goblins cry: ‘

Come buy our orchard fruits, 

Come buy, come buy:”

Extract from Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

This opening stanza introduces the speculative element of the poem. The existence of goblin merchants who cry out to buy their fruits creates a fantastical and mysterious world that defies the ordinary. The idea of magical, possibly dangerous fruit sold by creatures of folklore is inherently speculative, inviting the reader to suspend disbelief and enter a realm of wonder and intrigue.

Read Full Poem Here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44996/goblin-market 

How To Write Speculative Poetry

Writing speculative poetry involves blending imaginative ideas with poetic form to create verses that transcend reality and explore fantastical, futuristic, or alternate worlds. Here are three approaches to writing speculative poetry:

Approach #1: Building a World Beyond Reality

This approach focuses on creating an entirely new world or alternate reality through the poem. In speculative poetry, this world can be as fantastical, futuristic, or otherworldly as you want it to be. The key is to immerse the reader in a setting that defies the norms of our current reality, whether it be a far-off planet, a dystopian future, a magical kingdom, or an alternate dimension. The setting itself becomes a central aspect of the poem and often serves as a vehicle for exploring themes such as societal issues, existential questions, or human emotions.

Below are some tips for following this approach:

1. Establish Your World’s Rules: Before you start writing, define the rules of the world you’re creating. Is it governed by magic or advanced technology? Are there mythical creatures or sentient machines? What makes this world distinct from our own?
2. Show, Don’t Tell: Rather than overtly explaining the world, reveal its features and rules through imagery, metaphors, and characters’ experiences. For example, instead of saying, “This world has two moons,” you might describe how “the twin silver discs rise, one after the other, casting parallel shadows on the ground.”
3. Focus on Sensory Details: Bring the speculative world to life by using vivid sensory descriptions. Imagine what the air smells like, how the sky looks, or the strange sounds one might hear. Engage the reader by creating a fully immersive experience.
4. Introduce Conflict or Mystery: The speculative world should have its own conflicts or mysteries to propel the narrative or emotion of the poem. This might be a societal divide in a dystopian world, the appearance of a strange phenomenon in a magical land, or the discovery of a new law of physics in a science fiction setting.
5. Incorporate a Theme or Message: Even though the world is fantastical, it can reflect real-world themes or emotions. You can explore issues like alienation, oppression, environmental destruction, or hope through the lens of this new world.

In this approach, world-building is central. The goal is to create an immersive and imaginative setting that draws the reader into an alternate reality. Through rich descriptions, subtle exposition, and thematic exploration, the speculative world becomes a vessel for poetry that transcends the every day and delves into the fantastical or futuristic.

This method encourages poets to think like both a world-builder and a poet, merging the two crafts to create speculative poetry that is both emotionally resonant and imaginatively engaging.

Example of a Speculative Poem Using This Approach:

The Last City of Glass

Beneath the violet suns of Lunaris,
where skies shimmer in opal hues,
there stands a city carved from glass,
its towers high, unbroken by time’s bruise.

The streets whisper with the wind’s soft cry,
as echoes of past lives hum, refrained.
No footsteps mar the crystal stones—
all who lived here have been reclaimed.

In the heart of the city, a fountain flows,
its water, liquid light, glowing white.
Once it granted wishes and hopes, they say,
but now, it speaks only of endless night.

Somewhere, beyond the glass-bound gates,
a traveller watches the twin suns rise.
She wonders if anyone remains
in this world made of fragile lies.

The poem immediately establishes a world beyond our own, with “violet suns,” “opal hues,” and a “city carved from glass.” The strange, surreal setting is clearly not Earth, pulling the reader into a new and mysterious place.

Its descriptions focus on the visual aspects, such as the colour of the sky, the material of the city, and the way sound interacts with the environment (“whisper with the wind’s soft cry”). This immerses the reader in the world, helping them feel its atmosphere.

The poem also hints at a past catastrophe or abandonment (“all who lived here have been reclaimed”) and introduces a traveller searching for answers in this desolate world. The mystery of why the city is empty creates tension and intrigue.

Though set in an alien world, the poem explores themes of isolation, memory, and the fragility of civilization, mirroring real-world emotions and concerns within the speculative setting.

Approach #2: Reimagining Familiar Myths and Legends

This approach to writing speculative poetry involves taking established myths, folklore, fairy tales, or historical events and reimagining them through a new lens. Instead of creating a completely new world, this method builds on pre-existing cultural narratives but twists them in surprising, fresh, or speculative ways. By reinterpreting familiar stories, you can explore alternative perspectives, expand on untold aspects, or place the characters and events in different settings—such as futuristic, dystopian, or magical realms.

Below are some tips for following this approach:

1. Choose a Myth, Legend, or Historical Event: Select a story that resonates with you. This could be a well-known myth (e.g., the Greek myth of Icarus), a lesser-known folk tale, or even a historical figure or event. The key is to start with a foundational story that already carries meaning or symbolism.
2. Twist or Reframe the Story: Decide how you want to reinterpret the story. You can:
   • Shift the perspective (e.g., telling the story from the point of view of a minor character or the villain).
   • Change the setting (e.g., place an ancient myth in a futuristic world or alternate dimension).
   • Add speculative elements (e.g., introduce magic, advanced technology, or alternate realities).
   • Ask “What if?” questions (e.g., What if Pandora’s box contained the cure for death? What if King Arthur’s sword was made of alien metal?).
3. Explore the Unexplored: Consider focusing on the emotional, psychological, or philosophical aspects of the characters or story that might not be emphasized in the original version. For example, what were Persephone’s inner thoughts while in the underworld? How did Medusa feel after being transformed into a monster?
4. Maintain Symbolism and Themes: While you’re reimagining the story, remember that myths and legends often carry symbolic weight and universal themes (e.g., heroism, fate, morality). Try to retain or reinterpret these themes but with a speculative twist.
5. Blend the Familiar and the Unfamiliar: Part of the appeal of this approach is blending the recognizable with the unexpected. Use familiar imagery from the myth or legend but reframe it in ways that surprise the reader. This could involve blending genres, such as retelling a myth in a science fiction or horror context.

This approach allows poets to tap into the rich symbolism and storytelling traditions of myths and legends but offers the creative freedom to reinvent them in speculative, surprising ways. By reimagining familiar stories with speculative elements, poets can explore new dimensions of old narratives, make them relevant to contemporary issues, or simply breathe new life into timeless tales. This method is particularly effective for engaging readers by offering them a bridge between the known and the unknown.

Example of a Speculative Poem Using This Approach:

The Cyborg Sisyphus

They replaced his arms with steel
after the third escape,
wired his heart to the core of the mountain.
Each push of the boulder charges the battery,
each roll downward drains him dry.

His mind, once cunning,
runs in perfect loops now,
fed by the algorithms of gods bored with flesh.
He calculates trajectories,
fine-tunes the angle of the push,
yet always,
the weight pulls him back to zero.

They say he was a king once,
but his throne is now silicon and code.
In the memory vault,
his past blinks like old data,
a corrupted file of flesh and power.

When the stars rise,
they flicker in binary—
promises of escape,
but he knows better now.
The gods were always programmers,
just better at keeping the bugs.

This poem reimagines the myth of Sisyphus, the king condemned to eternally push a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down every time. In this speculative reinterpretation, Sisyphus has been transformed into a cyborg in a futuristic, dystopian world, where his punishment is mechanized and controlled by technologically advanced “gods.”

Rather than focusing on the original myth’s setting and the ancient idea of divine punishment, the poem reframes the myth in a futuristic context where gods are “programmers” and the punishment is now a never-ending loop, powered by technology. The mythological punishment becomes a metaphor for the endless cycles of labour and futility in a digital world.

The poem retains the original themes of futility, repetition, and struggle but introduces a modern, speculative twist by incorporating elements of cybernetics and artificial intelligence. Sisyphus’ plight now serves as a reflection on the loss of humanity in the face of technological dominance and control.

The reader recognizes the figure of Sisyphus and the core elements of the myth, but the technological and futuristic elements give the poem a fresh, speculative dimension. The blending of the myth with science fiction themes creates an unexpected yet resonant reinterpretation.

Approach #3: Exploring ‘What If?’ Scenarios

This approach to writing speculative poetry centres on the concept of “what if?” By asking a hypothetical question or proposing an alternate reality, you can push the boundaries of imagination and craft poetry that explores speculative possibilities. This approach thrives on creativity and curiosity, where the poem examines how the world—or even the universe—might change under a specific set of altered circumstances. The speculative element is often grounded in a single, focused concept or question that drives the entire poem.

1. Start with a “What If?” Question: Begin by posing a speculative question that alters a fundamental aspect of reality. The question could relate to technology, nature, time, society, or even personal identity. Some examples of “what if” questions could be:
   • What if the stars could communicate with us?
   • What if humans could live forever, but only in dreams?
   • What if emotions were treated as physical commodities?
   • What if gravity disappeared for a day?
2. Develop the Scenario: Once you have your question, think about the implications of this altered reality. How would the world, people, or society change? Develop the scenario by imagining how everyday life, emotions, or relationships would be different in this speculative world. Focus on the specific effects of the “what if” scenario rather than trying to explain the science or mechanics behind it.
3. Create Imagery and Metaphor: Use vivid imagery to bring the speculative scenario to life. This approach often works best when the speculative idea is woven into strong, sensory details that allow the reader to visualize and feel the altered reality. Metaphors and symbolism can also help deepen the meaning of the hypothetical scenario.
4. Infuse Emotional or Philosophical Depth: While the scenario itself might be unusual or fantastical, it should serve as a lens for exploring human emotions, social issues, or philosophical questions. How does the “what if” scenario impact the inner lives of the characters? What deeper questions about existence, meaning, or humanity does the altered reality raise?
5. End with a Reflection or Twist: Many speculative poems conclude with a reflective twist or a revelation that answers—or at least grapples with—the original “what if” question. This could be a thought-provoking image, a surprising realization, or a shift in perspective that leaves the reader contemplating the broader implications of the speculative scenario.

This approach invites poets to start with a speculative question and then build a world or scenario around it. The focus is on exploring the consequences of this altered reality, not necessarily explaining the science or mechanics behind it. By weaving in emotional or philosophical layers, the poem can use the “what if” scenario to reflect on deeper aspects of human nature, society, or existence.

Whether the question is small and personal or grand and cosmic, the “what if” approach can lead to speculative poetry that is imaginative, thought-provoking, and emotionally resonant.

Example of a Speculative Poem Using This Approach:

What If the Moon Were Alive?

What if the moon were alive?
Would she wake to the gentle pull
of tides tugging at her bones,
feeling the earth’s whispers
shivering through her silver skin?

Would she grow tired of our staring,
all those unblinking eyes watching
as she hung, suspended, like a question
in the sky—
a celestial body longing for sleep?

Maybe she would turn away,
curl into her shadowed side,
hide her face from our endless poems
and songs of her light,
preferring the dark where no one sees.

Or perhaps she would smile,
a faint crescent grin,
and send us a falling star
to let us know—
she’s been listening all along.

The poem asks, “What if the moon were alive?” This speculative question drives the entire narrative, creating a scenario where the moon is personified and has thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the earth and humanity.

It explores the implications of this idea by imagining how the moon might interact with natural phenomena like tides or how she might react to being constantly observed by humans. The scenario is built around the moon’s potential emotions and responses as a sentient being.

On top of this, it uses strong imagery to evoke the idea of the moon as a living entity (“tides tugging at her bones,” “silver skin”). These metaphors help bring the speculative scenario to life in a way that feels vivid and poetic rather than scientific.

Through the speculative lens, the poem touches on themes of isolation, observation, and communication. The moon’s hypothetical reactions parallel human experiences, such as the desire for privacy or the need to be acknowledged and understood.

Finally, the poem concludes with a hopeful reflection—despite her potential weariness or desire to hide, the moon might still send a “falling star” as a subtle response to humanity’s constant attention. This leaves the reader with a sense of connection between the celestial and the human, even in a speculative world.

Summary

In conclusion, speculative poetry is a vibrant and limitless genre that allows writers to explore alternate worlds, reimagine ancient myths, and ask daring “what if” questions, all while crafting deeply emotional and thought-provoking work. Whether you’re building entire universes, twisting familiar tales, or contemplating speculative scenarios, each approach offers a unique way to engage your creativity and push the boundaries of poetic expression. Now that you’ve seen these three approaches, we’d love to hear from you! Which approach resonates with you the most, or do you have your own method for writing speculative poetry? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let’s continue the conversation!