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.
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.
posted by maggiesong at 9:53 AM
5 Comments:
"While I enjoy reading poetry, I don't like all that I read...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."
That is a very insightful comment that you have made. Indeed, I like some poems of one poet but despise some of their other work...I suppose that the reason for that is that with each poem the poet is in a different state of mind/emotion and his prose comes out in a different manner. Due to that phenomenon, as a reader you will be totally unable to connect with all poems on a personal level. I believe that a poet writes for themselves and is not fully concerned with how the poem will be received by everyone. But I think that therein lays the beauty of poetry!
"Isn't "poetry" a general term? Within a general category, there will be many variables."
Poetry is definitely a homogonous grouping for something so beautiful and unique. I'm not sure why we categorize it in one blob like that...maybe its more energy efficient for non-appreciative people to slam just one genre as opposed to several? Perhaps not everyone is an informed as poetry enthusiasts and are unaware that there are different terms for different poems.
I'm really not sure why it is lumped...it's like those crazy philosophical questions (i.e. if a tree falls in the forest with no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound?) with no definite answer but initiates a slew of debates, comments and questions.
sv
Sue, Greig and Dayzak...thank you for the comments you left with regard to my blog. They were good to receive and to read and to think about.
I think capturing the essence of an idea or describing something using insight or being able to notice detail is what is born through poetry. In some cultures, the poet is thought to be a person who has developed this ability to a higher degree than average, and therefore, through words, is able to make the intangible live in a tangible way. Their words give expression or voice to that which may otherwise not occur. For those who 'write poetry', this is a lofty thought that we may chuckle about when we think about the poetry we have written. I wonder how those poets' work we read in poetry anthologies today thought about their work at the time they were writing it.
Tamara...thank you for telling me about Langston Hughes' poem "Dreams". I found it and read it, and I like it too. The few words in that poem say much. As for Gibran's "A Smile and A Tear", I would be happy to send you the words but I don't have your e-mail, so I will make another comment here and post them for you.
For Tamara:
Kahlil Gibran
A TEAR AND A SMILE
I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of the multitude. And I would not have the tears that sadness makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter. I would that my life remain a tear and a smile.
A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding of life’s secrets and hidden things. A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and to be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.
A tear to unit me with those of broken heart; a smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.
I would rather that I died in yearning and longing than I lived weary and despairing.
I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in the depths of my spirit, for I have seen those who are satisfied the most wretched of people. I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and longing, and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody.
With evening’s coming the flower folds her petals and sleeps, embracing her longing. At morning’s approach she opens her lips to meet the sun’s kiss.
The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment. A tear and a smile.
The waters of the sea become vapour and rise and come together and are a cloud.
And the cloud floats above the hills and valleys until it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weeping to the fields and joins with the brooks and rivers to return to the sear, its home.
The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting. A tear and a smile.
And so does the spirit become separated from the greater spirit to move in the world of matter and pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrow and the plains of joy to meet the breeze of death and return whence it came.
To the ocean of Love and Beauty – to God.
Greig..thank you for telling me about Rumi. I found some of his work on-line. I am planning on going back to have a slow leisurely read.
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