Does poetry just plain suck in general?

it gets you

Yes it does ... but it gets you a woman!

BF,



So should I be offended at the title . . . Naw, I’ll just chalk it up to slap stick humor. As for poetry . . .



Poetry is a vast field of emotions. Emotions from within your own experience, those you have not seen, and the ones you dream about. I write poetry (and fiction) based on a multitude of feelings and events—sometimes centering the pieces on one event or conversation but frequently merging life’s pitfalls together.



Poetry resides in emotions—whether they are your own or someone else’s. That notion, I think, goes with any piece of writing—fiction, non-fiction, etc. Every piece of writing brings forth emotion. A factual article brings forth emotions of knowledge and understanding, fiction takes you to another world (so to speak), and poetry is just an extension of these concepts.



That my dear are just a few of my thoughts. But in reality, any writing should come from somewhere within you. If you have no passion about the subject, or genre, it will show through in your work—i.e. it will be dull and lackluster.

A

aspier said:

Yes it does ... but it gets you a woman!

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but i haven't had this yet . . . ahh to dream.

there's another thing: sometimes i write to create a feeling or series of events that i wish could happen. fantasy has it's purposes.

For me, poetry is not about writing verse, though I often use verse like structures for my poetry. My reason for writing, reading and critiquing poetry is best defined by the viewpoint of the ancient Greeks who considered a poet to be an "athlete of the word".

I embrace the act of having my poetry critiqued in the same way a golfer might ask for advice on their swing--the analysis can only improve my game! A very wise poetry professor once told me that some people fear that the analysis of a poem destroys the poem, but his logic was that if drawing a diagram of a bird doesn't kill the bird, a critical analysis of a poem shoudn't ruffle a poet's feathers!

I'm confused by poets who can't take any scrutiny of their work, I feel they may be writing poetry as therapy--which is actually a great idea--but that's not the same as writing poetry as a means of "pumping up" their writing muscles and/or ultimately seeking publication. And on those rare occasions when a poet can strike the perfect balance between 'seeking therapy" and "flexing their writing muscles", well that's art in it's purest form!

JAlpha

Robert Frost: The Man and His Work - 1923

"Sometimes I have my doubts of words altogether, and I ask myself what is the place of them. They are worse than nothing unless they do something; unless they amount to deeds, as in ultimatums or battle-cries. They must be flat and final like the show-down in poker, from which there is no appeal. My definition of poetry (if I were forced to give one) would be this: words that become deeds."

"All poetry is a reproduction of the tones of actual speech."

"There are two types of relists: the one who offers a good deal of dirt with his potato to show that it is a real one, and the one who is satisfied with the potato brushed clean. I'm inclined to be the second kind. To me, the thing that art does for life is to clean it, to strip it to form"

"A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words."

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..and I may add that people may not understand this, as well as the readers and writers of poems, in addition to the general population of this planet.

brokenfingers said:

I agree that poetry comes from emotion – but what about ballads and odes and all those old epic poems? They were more story than emotional anecdotes. Yet from what I remember from school they seemed to have had an impact – through the use of words to form a graphic impression instead of an emotional one. Would that mean poetry is possible without the manipulaiton of emotion?

What do you think?

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that's just it BF . . . all writing contains some element of emotion, but it is the lyrical and word connotation that continually pull someone in (or out) of the story. poetry is no different from a good book/ sotry/ novella. think about the last time you sat and read a really, really good book. didn't you walk away thinking about it? did you wake up in the middle of the night pondering something? did you wake up to read more before finishing your slumber? poetry can also do this to you . . . anytime a piece of writing can touch someone on a deeply personal level, now that's good writing.

but then again--good is subjective and just my opinion. maybe someone else has a more concise answer/reasoning.

(and i apologize for any misspellings. i failed spelling in school.)

I write very little poetry as I don't feel it's something I'm good at.

I do however enjoy "spoken word" poetry more than written poetry.

I think Haskins summed it up nicely.

BF, you asked: Are you a poetic soul who feels the need to express themselves through poetry?

I have 2 forms of poetry. One is the emotional rush, have to write it or I will lose it, full of feelings, full of me, poetry. The other is because of Janet (Aka: JAlpha). I've been trying to play with my WIP through poetry. It's clarifying issues that I thought I had in the plot line and keeping me focused on the main story. I love that! (THANKS JANET!! You are SO cool). So this second type is more structured and well thought out, where as the first type is more free verse and emotional vomit. Ewww!

Great set of questions, great thread!

brokenfingers said:

Quote:
Battlechaser said: I may add that people may not understand this, as well as the readers and writers of poems, in addition to the general population of this planet.
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brokenfingers said
Hmmmm, what do you mean? Would you care to elaborate on this?
Wow, I really like those quotes from Robert Frost. I think I might check out one of his books(?) next time I’m at the bookstore.

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It was in relationship to Frost's quote-

People, whether they are a poet or not, may not understand Frost's insight on poetry. In this contemporary world though, when someone doesn't understand a poem, they either don't say anything, or respond with hard criticism that can no way help the writer. I found that one must understand a poem from the writer's prospective first (this can be hard) so that they can fully understand what it means. Example of this is “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas. To read it, it sounds quite good, but it can be hard to fully understand. (He wrote this to his Father on his Father’s dying bed) –With that said, some people will imply that a good poem stands alone. To me, a good poem is like a fine antique; when you know the circumstances of it, it can be very precious. I should also state that this does not mean there connot be any good poems without knowing the background of it.

Sara,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm so glad you decided to give my "poetry as a revision tool" method a try. I admit on the surface it sounds crazy , but it really works! A while back, I submitted a poem titled The Perfect Kitchen, it was a fine stand alone poem, but in fact it was the opening scene of my WIP.
You said it all when you stated the method adds clarity to your writing. I wanted to give you rep points for trying the method out and then actually admitting it in public , but apparently I think you're pretty cool too, because a pop up told me I have to spread the love. Here's your IOU rep points pledge

Also, I was wondering if you've tried the process in reverse yet, converting something that started out as a poem into a longer prose piece?

Janet

Janet,

I have tried, but nothing has come together yet. Did you read my Lake poem? I'm working on expanding that. So far, it's all been drivel and sappy. But I'm still trying. I'll post in share your work when I have something that is decent. Thanks for giving out such great advice. I can rep for that

~Sms

I have been writing poetry since I was a teenager, and it has always been simply therapy. I am sorry to admit, I don't know twit about the actual mechanics of it, meter, styles, and don't care. It's really for me or a message I want to share with others. Besides, I don't see many wealthy poets, and after all, I am a realist, I want to make a living from writing, and though I enjoy it more than anything in the world, poetry will always remain for me a way of communicating my feelings to the rest of the world, or the spew out things that need to find another place to be besides in my heart.

I write the kind of poetry that justifies Mr. Haskins judgment of all poetry in general.

Why do I write it? Because there's something I really need to say and I want to get it out fast and I don't have time to bother with punctuation and transitions and finding just the right word (see my 1st sentence above).

On a related note, I write a lot of poetry in Spanish because I love to write in Spanish but don't have the time or ability to exploit the power of punctuation and transitions and finding just the right word.

One more comment - I enjoy reading poetry, but usually don't "get it." That hurts, because I like to feel smart!

it's the quiet of the moment

still
a silent grasp
comes to me
without warning
a sudden change
in directions unknown
chilled
like a moment when i was with you
in a room
filled with others
that wanted something
and all you wanted
was to ask why me?

this is good,,,keep it up

i don;t know how to play..any teachers out there???

how do i get to the next page?

ok..how do i get to the next message...sorry..but i am new here

Go to the bottom of the page and click on top, then click on the left where it says Absolute Write Water Cooler and you will see all the different forums.

call me foolish...

ty..i meant for this forum..i've been admiring it all day

i hate being new

new
as teh day
as a child born
crying for comfort
attention
that we seldom get
but receieve, silence is not so
golden
as the sun that cross the sky
as when you walked into my life.

dang it

can't type either

what??

no one out there???