What is good poetry? What is bad poetry?

I have to begin by saying that these questions, to me, at first looked academic, but have become a mystery. Both "good" and "bad" are comparative adjectives, and as such, need to be defined using a benchmark. I have been thinking about what this benchmark would look like, because I don't know. The questions themselves are presumptuous in assuming there is a benchmark. (Since I cannot imagine Professor Kuin being presumptuous in asking these two questions of this class, I need to assume I am missing something. Perhaps I am only missing my mind at this point in time.) The benchmark would have to have specific parameters of self-description, i.e. it would contain qualities that could be used on some sort of scale that would lead to a definition.

Floundering around in the dark eventually becomes tedious, and this is where I have been this week. This is also why I picked up my Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms and read what was said about poetry, as follows:
"poetry, language sung, chanted, spoken, or written according to some pattern of recurrence that emphasizes the relationships between words on the basis of sound as well as sense: this pattern is almost always a rhythm or METRE, which may be supplemented by RHYME or ALLITERATION or both. The demands of verbal patterning usually make poetry a more condensed medium than "PROSE or everyday speech, often involving variations in SYNTAX, the use of special words and phrases (POETIC DICTION) peculiar to poets, and a more frequent and more elaborate use of FIGURES OF SPEECH, principally METAPHOR and SIMILE. All cultures have their poetry, using it for various purposes from sacred ritual to obscene insult, but it is generally employed in those utterances and writings that call for heightened intensity of emotion, dignity of expression, or subtlety of meditation. Poetry is valued for combining pleasures of sound with freshness of ideas, whether these be solemn or comical. Some critics make an evaluative distinction between poetry, which is elevated or inspired, and VERSE, which is merely clever or mechanical. The three major categories of poetry are NARRATIVE, dramatic, and LYRIC, the last being the most extensive." [words have been made bold by this author]

After reading this, I recognized that I needed to do some more research on these capitalized terms, just to ensure that I understood what they were when they are used. I flipped the page back to see what else began with the word "poet". I found a new word (to me). It is poetaster. A "poetaster is a writer of verse who does not deserve to be called a poet, despite his or her pretensions; an inferior poet lacking in ability. Trivial or worthless verse may sometimes be called poetastery." (ODLT) AHA! Bad poetry must come from an inferior poet, and is trivial and worthless; therefore, good poetry must come from a superior poet, who writes of things that are meaningful and valuable. But this only leads to the circle beginning all over again! It does not answer the questions that have been asked.

These words are all beginning to look to me like personal perspective has everything to do with poetry being considered either good or bad. And I don't want to believe this! I want to think that good poetry can be recognized as just that - good. I also want to think that bad poetry can be recognized too. I am also beginning to believe this is improbable. Although I have heard it said that it is not in good form to answer a question with a question, I will end by asking three questions. Perhaps someone who reads this may be able to shed some light into my darkness. Is there any such thing as good and bad poetry? If there is such a thing, can't we just live with both "good" and "bad" poetry co-existing in the world? Can't we just let poetry be?

The Iliad - Some Thoughts

I'm not finished reading The Iliad yet. This is my first experience reading Homer, and it's about time. I wanted to read some Homer in my lifetime. As a high school student, 'Ancient History', as it was called, was one of the most confusing classes I took. There were too many gods and goddesses to remember. Mythology was an unknown when I began the course. I wondered why anybody would need to study this.

Because I am a slow reader, I opened The Iliad in early summer, and got to page 23. I closed it. A week went by. I opened The Iliad and got to page 25. I closed it. I opened The Iliad and flipped through it. All those gods and goddesses, after all these years, were back 'to haunt me'!

I was in Chapters Book Store one day in July, rummaging around, and came across a book that I thought might give me some background before I attempted to read The Iliad again. Not being a History student, I had no idea whether this author was any good or not, but I liked the title of his book: Sailing The Wine-Dark Sea Why the Greeks Matter. It's by Thomas Cahill. The book captured my attention, and found I was anxious to get back to it when I had to put it down to do something else. After I read Cahill's book, I decided I could read The Iliad. I received what I believe was some good advice from a friend who said: don't try to start from the beginning of The Iliad figuring out all the characters because you will go mad - just read the book through, and you will be surprised how it will come together for you. This was my approach to begin reading, and it worked for me. Normally, I want to have the characterization clear at the beginning, because it makes me feel like I'm actually understanding the book.

I have been enjoying The Iliad immensely! This epic is packed with action. The movement reminds me of that game played at picnics - 'tug-of-war' because it is back and forth. When it's going well for one side, it's going very well, and when it's going badly, it's going very badly. There is so much detail about the action I find I can't sit and read it for hours at a stretch. I get tired because I'm caught up by it and feel like I'm actually there in the war. I tend to read for awhile, take a break and do something else, and then read for awhile again.

I have some observations I would like to share.
I find myself drawn to be in favour of one particular side winning this war.
I cannot believe that one woman could possibly cause this much blood to be shed.
The longer the war goes on, (because the violence angers me), the more I wish to get inside Troy and 'shake the bejeebers' out of Helen. Oh, that really makes sense doesn't it? I don't like violence, but I feel like being violent! (Yes, we humans are full of paradox).
I think the characterization in this book is amazing to have had this effect on me.
I have asked myself whether other people who read The Iliad might be drawn to hope for the other side. Further to this thought, I have wondered whether Homer intended for the reader to be drawn to one particular side. It's an interesting thought, because writers do not write without motive. Perhaps by the time I finish the book this question will be answered for me.
How many years ago did Homer write this? And I can still get excited about this? All I can say is WOW!

The "Why" of Poetry Likes and Dislikes

Preamble:
I'm not sure whether I owe my fellow students an apology by publishing this blog or not. I am aware that we all have much required reading, and what I have written this week is not short. I suggest for those who are pressed for time, that they read only the "Body" of this blog.

I've been allowing this question we have been presented with, some time to float around rather than actively work at it. I needed some of that floating this week, as more and more puzzle pieces have been tossed into the air from new courses, new professors, new fellow students, and a new school year. I suspect that neither they, nor I have settled down into any pattern with which I, at least, am yet comfortable. Perhaps the non-pattern is what I need, and only the time to see what will become of the bits and pieces.

I think I'm secretly hoping that blogging is going to be one of the highlights of my time spent at York. I can see already that this design will allow community to develop. I have already appreciated what I've read thus far. When I think about all the other courses I have taken at York, there has been for me, only one or two students in each course with whom I have had any amount of conversation. For all of us, both students and teachers, time is compressed and pushed.

Political systems demand results, but I have often asked whatever happened to the original meaning of "school". School: This word finds its origins in the Old English word "scole," the Latin word "schola" and the Greek word "skhole," which mean "leisure spent in the pursuit of knowledge" or "a place for acquiring knowledge and mental training." This original idea sure beats the reality of most of my experience at York - perhaps it is only that my idea or ideal of mental training does not demand running on a treadmill. Could this be (blogging) an oasis that we have found?

Body:
I'm now ready to post something on this week's question. One of the thoughts I have had this week is that I like open-ended questions. What I write today will not be what I would write again. Ideas change as I live, and I like that idea. I don't have any definitive answer for the question.

While I enjoy reading poetry, I don't like all that I read. I don't like blue cheese. I prefer cheddar cheese. I have read some poems by one poet that I like, but other poems by that same poet that I don't connect with on a personal level. As I have thought about this, I have asked myself whether it's important that I connect personally with a poem. I have an idea that poetry likes and dislikes have unfortunately come to mean personal preference at the expense of appreciating the actual crafting that has gone into the creation of a poem. If so, I can say that I have been sucked into that mythical vortex of common understanding too.

Each poem one reads has a need to stand in its uniqueness. Perhaps the seemingly well-balanced and symmetrical rhythm of a poem may initially catch my attention, but it has often been those that are 'different' that challenge me to slow down and try to see all those tiny details that make it interesting. For many years I looked at unsymmetrical coniferous trees too, and determined that they were quite ugly. I have since changed my mind. I deliberately look for ugly trees now, and appreciate that they have a history that has caused them to look the way they do.

Perhaps the difficulty with the question asked comes if we continue to allow ourselves lump poetry into one concept. Isn't "poetry" a general term? Within a general category, there will be many variables. When one thinks of the word "table", for example, the initial picture in the imagination may be a horizontal slab of smooth wood or some other material, supported by four vertical pieces of material of equal length and shape. Tables, however, come in many shapes and sizes, and are not always supported by four pieces of material. I suspect that our human imagination gets all dirty and tired out sometimes, and in the rush and crush of living, there is some belief that the initial image in the imagination when asked whether someone likes or dislikes something, should be waved off with a quick "yeah" or "nay".

The following are comments I received back this past week when I asked some people whether they liked poetry. All presented what was seen as 'the problem with poetry' which rather surprised me. Words used were as follows: "it's too ambiguous because I don't know what meaning is behind the writing", "it's too time consuming to try and read and understand", "it only seems to be enjoyable to me if I hear it read well out loud by someone else", "I get suspicious when I hear people say they like poetry because I think it's connected with being pretentious", "I think poetry has snob appeal". and finally "I like poetry if it's read out loud by a naked woman - then I can get interested".....oh please!

Addendum
Although Kahlil Gibran's writing is not contained within Norton's Anthology, nor is any of Leonard Cohen's, these are two poets I enjoy. Leonard Cohen is a Canadian poet who lives in Montreal (at least my last knowledge of his residence is in Montreal). He just turned seventy this past week, and I just hope he lives to write more! Some of his poetry pieces have been made into songs. Two of my favourites are: Love Itself, and, Joan of Arc.

Kahlil Gibran's life span was 1883-1931. He was a poet, philosopher and artist. He was born in Lebanon. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. During the last twenty years of his life, he made his home in the United States. One of my favourite pieces of his is called A Tear And A Smile.

First Assigned Question - What Is Poetry?

Poetry is a genre of literature older than any written language, because language is originally, found to be an oral tradition. Poetry is comprised of words that often 'see' and 'speak about' more than a passing thought or a surface look at the subject of the poem. Poetry is therefore, not written without an objective in the mind of the composer, and it seeks to capture the reader's or audience's imagination.

Poetry is often able to express what is behind what is seen with the eyes alone, and 'sees' with the eyes of imagination, and sometimes with the eyes of wisdom. The words of poetry often give intricate details that draw pictures, like snapshots, in the reader's imagination. The words of poetry try to capture what is in the imaginative thought and/or feeling of the writer about particular idea(s). The ideas expressed cover the whole range of human drama. Poets, through poetry, are neither afraid to show the 'dark side' of humanity, nor to tackle ideas that may be the highest ideals of the human imagination. The subject of poetry could be about a person, an object, an ideal or an expression of human feeling.

The sound of the human voice reading or singing poetry, whether by another person, or by oneself, can trigger different human and personal responses. The response may be an emotional one that touches upon human nature and emotion. The response may cause the reader's imagination to reflect on something previously or presently experienced in their own life and be given words that seem to describe this almost to perfection.

Because of personal identification, poetry often has the effect of letting a reader know that they are not alone in what they have experienced or thought about. Poetry can foster community. It may give expression to the social culture of a particular time and place, or it may give expression to the larger human struggle to understand life and its meaning. In this way, the response is one of awakening a reader to a new and deeper way of observing and thinking about objects, people, or life itself.

Wow! I Finally Got Here!

After some amount of frustration, I'm finally here, and ready to begin a new learning experience. I am looking forward, not only to this course, but also to the dynamics that should result from the interactive communication that will be required. A good year to all of us!