Poetics

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Poetics

Arlene Lawson

Why Read Poetry?

Together with Bob W., I developed a course for Writers' Village University entitled, "The Pleasures of Reading Poetry."

We are continually amazed how many people call themselves poets without having read any of the classic poets.

We expect the students to read from a suggested list of poets and participate in discussions. After six weeks an outstanding thing happens. Not only are the students wiser to the techniques of how to read poetry, but almost every student has applied the techniques they've learned to their own poetry and become a better poet because of it.

It's astonishing to find out how many people are trying to enter the poetic circle, by writing poetry. Even more astonishing is the fact these same people aren't devoting themselves to reading good poetry to find out what works and what doesn't.

I believe these same poets would increase their understanding of poetry if they looked for the poetic devices used by established poets. Even those not aspiring to write poetry, but want to read it, should arm themselves with what to look for in a poem. Sound, structure, style and how the poet paints with words. Both groups need to know what works and why it works.

A quote from poet and author, Jeff Mock: "As poets, we read poetry to be entertained, experience the pleasures of its music, catch our breath at its drama and meditate on its reflections. We also read poetry to learn the craft."

You can become a better poet and a better reader of poetry, by reading the works of other poets, by learning to feel the rhythm and language of poetry.

When you read poetry by well-established writers, notice word choices, line breaks, rhythm. Ask yourself what you liked about it. What you didn't like about it. "Listen" to the words. "Feel them."

"Communicate" with the mind of the author. Some research into the poet's history will give you a much better understanding of how and why he writes like he does.

Today's free verse poetry is a long way from Shakespeare's work. Shakespeare was born in 1564 and began his studies his studies in 1571. How different his life was, when his father apprenticed him to a butcher, than the present day U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, a professor of English at Lehman College, City University of New York. How much more deeply you can understand a poets choice of words when you're armed with such basic information as where and when he was born.

Words have both dictionary meanings (denotation) and suggestive implications (connotation). Small differences in meaning can make big differences in the impact of a poem. For example, "I found shelter in the cottage" and "I found refuge in the cottage" are quite alike in one respect—both place the subject in a cottage and out of danger—but for the poet, "shelter" and "refuge" differ enough to make the choice an important one. "Shelter" prompts images of weather, storms, a general sense of physical malevolence. "Refuge" is suggestive of broader sanctuary, political, social or emotional. Either word might be the best, depending on the context of the poem; but they are not interchangeable.

Define what you think the appeal (or lack of appeal) of the poem is; is the poem didactic (preachy), attempting to teach you something? Or does it share an experience, or show you a way of thinking that has a natural, and not a class-room, feel about it? Does it succeed on the force of its aural beauty alone? Does it twist syntax, diction, violate all rules of grammar and still leave a tingling on the brain?

"Take a poem on its own terms. Adjust to the poem; don't make the poem adjust to you. Be prepared to hear things you do not want to hear. Assume there is a reason for everything.

Poets show some degree of verbal control it is usually safest to assume that the poet chose each word carefully."
(The Norton Introduction to Poetry, Seventh Edition)

Norton is reminding us that the very style of poetry, as apposed to writing fiction, requires that the poet make every word count.

Here are some points to consider when reading a poem.

Does the title affect your reading and your response to a poem?
What's the poem about?
What makes the poem interesting to read?
Who is the speaker in the poem? What's his role in the poem and who is he speaking to?
How were you affected by the poem? Did the poet mean to affect you in that way?
What distinguished one poet's language from another's? Which words especially contributed to the poem's effect?

Let your definition accumulate as you read more and more poems. Discover for yourself poetry's many ingredients, its many effects, and its many ways of acting.

If poetry sounds like Greek to you, first read it silently, then aloud. Paraphrase lines. Put them into your own words. A poem is more than rhythms and lines.

One of the most important aspects of appreciating poetry is extensive reading. When was the last time you read works by: Billy Collins, Hayden Carruth, Pablo Neruda, William Carlos Williams, e.e. cummings or Sylvia Plath, to name a few?

Start now. Get yourself a good anthology of poetry, a collection of works of famous and popular poets. Soon you will find the poet that appeals to you the most. Before long, I can almost guarantee you'll be adding poetry to your reading list. I can promise you this newly acquired skill will bring you much pleasure.

About the Author
Arlene has been an active member of Writers' Village University since September of 1998. She and a friend, Bob, developed a poetry course at WVU, "The Pleasures of Reading Poetry." She has helped to facilitate poetry and fiction courses. Arlene has had a number of her poems published, including Leaving Stalag 17, recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Arlene graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Education, Speech and Hearing Therapy and a minor in Literature. She now resides in the outskirts of Vancouver, B.C.