Using any resources available to you now, write a paragraph or two describing what you think poetry is. Be sure to provide references for any resources you use.
Add your paragraph as a comment to this post.
-
Introduction to Poetry:
Envisioning Poetry
ENG 2003, section 1248
Prof Jody R. Rosen
Spring 2012
W 6:00-8:30
Office Hours:
W 4:00-6:00 Categories
Tags
- #PoetryHandbook
- assignments
- Blake
- blogging
- brainstorms
- collage
- comparison
- definitions
- documents
- Dropbox
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Essay #1
- Essay # 2
- experimental poetry
- First Practice
- found poetry
- help
- homework
- how-to
- images
- instructions
- interpretations
- Junot Diaz
- Literary Arts Festival
- love poems
- Marianne Moore
- meter
- MLA
- Nas
- poetry
- questions
- Rap
- reading
- readings
- revision
- Romance
- Shakespeare
- songs
- sonnets
- support
- syllabus
- war
- welcome
- writing
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Blogroll
Archives
Categories
Meta
Poetry is a means to express and communicate, it is an art form, both verbal and written. Poetry for me, personally is release therapy, a way to get things off my chest with the same very emotion and tone of voice, the same rhythm and style. Poetry is a collection of organized thoughts, that compels the readers to interpret and analyze as well as internalize what they have read as their own. Poetry like all other forms of writing allow you to share and relate. through poetry you can see through the eyes of others, feel what they feel and essentially step into their shoes and see life and situations through their point of view. Poetry is not a scattered, its is fine tuned and precise, it evokes the feelings it wants to and allows you to think forward from that feeling, enabling its audience to see different things. Poetry is philosophical!
I couldnât agree more with bxicefire. After reading this comment it just proves that poetry can be used as a universal language for expressing your thoughts and feelings. Poetry was a way for me to express myself through words, so people can feel the way I felt about a certain situation. I remember writing a poem for my girl friend at that time (who eventually became my wife) and having that poem published in a book. It was very satisfying to see my poem there in a hard copy from all to read.
thanks for the comment and you are right, you have actually pointed out something i overlooked, poetry is a universal language. Though i haven’t published any poems, i’m sure that it is an awesome feeling, knowing that someone, somewhere, read your poem and thought “wow! i totally feel this way, i can relate.”
For all we know they were inspired to write their own and publish it, possibly touching hundreds more, in the end you made an impact and its exponentially satisfying. you MUST tell me where i can get a hold of your poem, maybe that person could be me!
What is poetry? Poetry is something that helps people builds their character. Poetry is the way that people see their life. Music, art, and much more is poetry. In my opinion poetry is the way people see things, the way people can express their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes well most of the time is it very hard to say “how you feel?”, but for people who can draw, it is so much easier for them, they can express their feelings on the paper. For people who write music they are expressing their thoughts and ideas to let someone else sing the song and deliver the message. All this is poetry, but the biggest part of poetry is writing. People write because they want their reader to be part of their life that they wrote about. Poems, novels, books, stories, and much more is the best way to express your feelings, and make a reader stop and think and try to figure out writer’s life. Poetry is like math people use it everyday not only on the paper, but also by the way they view one another.
i agree with drsvetic. Poetry is a way of expression feelings and thoughts. Poetry is art, and the biggest part of poetry is wirting. Many persons can’t express their thoughts and feelings by talking. Therefore, they express it by writing novels, stories, and poems. This is the best and most comfortable way of expressing how and what they feel towards someone, something or life its self. There is nothing wrong with expressing feelings in writing. It is more like music, expressing love and passion as well as hate and despise in the songs.
I also agree with drsvetic that poetry is a way to express feelings and thoughts. I find it interesting that drsvetic says poetry can be art and that it can be drawn. I’ve never thought of drawings to be considered as poetry, but this post makes me agree that it can be. Even without words, drawings can most definately tell a message whether its feelings or ideas. I also like the part about trying to discover what the author is thinking or feeling when writing poetry. It helps readers see things from different aspects. I believe poetry has a sort of domino effect because of the way the writer’s ideas may cause new ideas for readers. Then those readers can see things differently and affect someone else’s thoughts and feelings.
thank you guys so much for your comments đ
What is poetry? the real definition of poetry according to a dictionary is âPoetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response.â This statement can be shown to be true and can be interpreted by the reader. Every reader will have a different opinion on a poem or rhythmic language which will trigger all different types of emotion.
If i were to answer in my own words what poetry is, and how i would interpret it, it would be simple a way of creativity, imagination and experience in life. these three are the basic explanation of poetry. i will take each point now and expound on them giving you reasons of what i think and giving direct examples from legit places.
firstly i say âcreativityâ. In my earlier encounter of psychology at BMCC, my professor Bill Roane stated, â when we are creative we use our left side of our brain, and this is where creative ideas are triggered.â i would like to add that poetry is a language of creativity for the reason some poems has to match like in the âABBAâ or âABABâ stanza formatting. this is creation to the highest level, because to come out with similar ending onomatopoeia, it is very difficult.
secondly i say imagination, imagination is what we have to do with poetry. because we sometimes has to put ourselves in the writers shoe to see how he/she is thinking. therefore poetry is defiantly imagination
thirdly poetry can also be defined as experience in life. with experience in life comes understanding of what the writerâs point of view is. I believe that experience in life is necessary and a great part of how our thinking of a poem is, it affects us if we would agree or disagree with writers view.
in conclusion poetry is a combination of experience, great imagination, and a very creative side of thinkingâŚâŚâŚ
below is the definition of poetry from the dictionary
âhttp://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/poetry.htmâ
What is Poetry Alicia Parris-Daley
The word poetry is a verb that dates back to ancient Greek. It means âI create.â To create anything in
itself is an art, so poetry can be considered as an art form where words are used like paint, with emotion
and or rhythm to create and evoke a powerful feeling, a sense of association and imagery to the reader
or listener.
Poetry is what it is⌠to whom it is. It is many things to many people. Woodworth said âitâs a powerful
overflow of feelingsâ Emily Dickinson defined it as âIf I read a book and it makes my body go cold that
no fire can warm me, I know this is poetry.âThomas Dylan said âPoetry is what makes me laugh or cry or
yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing.â
So poetry cannot have a definition other than a form of creation or art. According to Mark
Flanagan âPoetry is the chisel marble of languages. It is paint splattered on canvas and the canvas is
you.âIt relies on conscious, intentional choosing and delivering of words and how the canvas received
it. Creation in itself cannot be defined with boarders and limits or characteristic other than itâs
unwillingness to be defined or labeled.
Flanagan believes that the definition of poetry lies in its purpose and form. Poetry considers emotive
qualities, musical values and even the relationship to the page it is written on. He states that poetry
often has an underlying and overarching purpose that goes beyond the literal.
It is literature used with consciousness, clarity and innovation to seemingly render significance out of
thin air.
What poetry means to me? I would like to think that poetry is a form of an expression. When someone could express how they feel or think without any judgement. I believe they are many types and forms of poetry, you poetry though music, paintings and words. You have poetry that is sad full with emotional feelings, then you have the aggressive poetry that is filled with so much anger. They also have poetry that shows how much you could love or be in love with something or someone, and there just some that I can’t make any sense of at all. But overall poetry is just ART…
I agree fully with moriama. I too believe that poetry is an art form of expression. Through poetry, whether written or verbal, a poet is able to express and convey emotions of joy, sadness or even frustrations in ways that may possible through prose. Even prose that have these elements of expression or emotions are described as having “poetic essence.” In addition to expressing one’s emotions, poetry can be therapeutic for both the poet and the reader. I believe that it can be a positive outlet of the emotions for the poet.
In all simplicity, poetry is a form of art. A way that the “artist”, or author if you will conveys his/her emotions, feelings, experiences, and creativity. Some word paint, where they describe a scene in a poem and some tell a story. So poetry to me is whatever the author wants it to be as long as it follows some sort of poetic structure. Whether it is a haiku or a rap, as long as the piece has some sort of rhythm or flow, it works. There are free-verse poets that write without any restrictions but some of it just sounds like a paragraph from a random blog.
also agree with drsvetic that poetry is a way to express feelings and thoughts. I find it interesting that drsvetic says poetry can be art and that it can be drawn. Iâve never thought of drawings to be considered as poetry, but this post makes me agree that it can be. Even without words, drawings can most definately tell a message whether its feelings or ideas. I also like the part about trying to discover what the author is thinking or feeling when writing poetry. It helps readers see things from different aspects. I believe poetry has a sort of domino effect because of the way the writerâs ideas may cause new ideas for readers. Then those readers can see things differently and affect someone elseâs thoughts and feelings.
Poetry is a form of art where one can express feelings or ideas about different things. Poetry is special because it can be written in so many different ways. It is a very safe type of writing because one can never be wrong because it is what is considered as self-expression. As an individual I really appreciate poetry because you can really understand the emotions of an author when reading it. It is very amusing analyzing poetry because the connection that each word has to each other creates a whole story waiting to be told. Poetry is beautiful and any simple writing can be turned into a meaningful piece.
There are several definitions and interpretations for the word poetry, as well as for its content. In some dictionaries the word poetry is define as âan art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its national and semantic content.â; others define it as â The art of writing stories, poems , and thoughts into verseâ. When I was little to me poetry was anything that rhymed. As time passed I learned that poetry was more than that: Art, colors, a collection of the 5 senses to into words use to convey an idea, emotion or point of view. Edgar Lee Masters once said âPoetry is orientation of the soul to conditions in life and that like great waters it may murmur or ripple or roarâ In other words poetry is pure emotions that can be transmitted in different tones and with or without rhythm. It is important to take into consideration that the definition of poetry might vary for a person depending on oneâs age, period of time and place. So do not be surprised if your definition or interpretation of poetry changes 10 years from now.
I find it interesting that rosasjs compares “the definition or interpretation of poetry to that of a person’s age and position in time and place.” It seems to be very accurate from the perception I myself shared during my elementary school days, poetry being anything that rhymes. Of course that seems to also relate to our powers of critical thinking, as mentioned in class. As we grow up our reasoning abilities increase and with it our ability to structure and interpret emotion and our surroundings, it only makes sense that just as our age and location determines everything else about it, it defines to us what is poetry.
“There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;” Emily Dickinson said, “If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;” and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: “Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing.”
As described above in the excerpt from http://www.About.com, Poetry means many different things to many different people. To me, poetry is a form of self-expression, it is an art form similar to that of sculpting, painting, and singing, however to me it requires more intelligence than others. Poetry does not include visual aids or a pleasant melody; it is constructed with pictures and symbols created using words and punctuation. Depending on your skills you can describe anything from an emotion, to a full-length story with as much color as a painting, as much grandeur, depth and detail as a sculpture, and as much attitude as a song.
Poetry is a way to stimulate the outside world, other individuals around you in a way that forces comprehension and wonder with just pen and paper. It is limited only to the creativity of the individual writing it. Overall there seems to be no clear definition for what poetry is, however one common acceptance is that poetry makes you feel.
Poetry is an art form in writing that brings out the thoughts of the Poet in a very profound way in stimulating the minds of his/her audience. These thoughts are mostly so inspiring that the Poet is emotionally moved to become very passionate in his writings at times to the point of being in a dream like world. These emotional heights are mostly caused by some kind of an event that tends to excites his senses in a very dramatic way and his thoughts starts to flow ceaselessly into words that captures his imagination in a romantic way at times creating art work of immense greatness. These types of writings has been used since our great past in producing great writings that caused man since, to ponder upon the hidden or assumed meanings in these writings, more so in our many different religions. As it is said, Poets are one of the three kind madness of the world.
Asking what poetry is, is kind of like asking what is life? You will get an answer but not a real definitive one probably because both of these questions depend totally upon the person answering the question. In a nutshell Poetry is the expression of oneself using words.Poetry speaks to us of beauty, hate, love,despair,violence, happiness and sadness.It’s like a portal into the soul of the person orating ,personally I think what Poetry is, is Life viewed thru words.
Poetry is an art form that is able to communicate every possible feeling in as little as 4 lines. It enriches even the most mundane occurrences and gives it life. At times, it is conservative with its words, withholding just enough to tease yet give us enough to put the puzzle together. Other times it is bare and vulnerable, the writer putting his heart on the table for observation. It is open and non judgmental. You have the freedom to interpret the piece as you please. Poetry can enlighten us, surprise us, sadden us and overjoy us. It releases the stresses of the world with every pen stroke. It doesn’t need an obvious narrative, a play by play of the situation. The vast descriptions are enough to lead us throughout the scenery. Poetry for me is a way to collect my thoughts. There are no rules, so I run free. I travel throughout the fields of my memories and write them down with the creativity only a poem form could provide. Most of my works go unread by others. I write for myself. I write to unload my baggage or “empty my cup”, as goes a zen poem I once read. Poetry is the romance in words.
I find Deicyâs comments on Poetry very thoughtful and informative. To me it brings what Poetry is about. Indeed Poetry do communicate every possible feelings we may experience caused by an event that occurs in the Poet inner world of the mind to that of the outer world we all live in. As all meaningful writing do, Poetry which is very profound in meaning gives life very enriching thoughts and insight into our own personal life. Indeed Poetry do teases out mind, inspiring us in such a way that the more we think of the Poem, the more meaning we put into it. In so motivating us it makes us experience the different shades of emotions. So indeed as I said initially, Deicyâs comments about Poetry is very well done.
What I will like to say about your Poems, sharing them will give more meaning to you and the Poems. Sharing your thoughts enables you relax more and have that good feeling of being understood and appreciated. This will definitely widen your perspective to your writing and may even open closed doors in your life. As you said you write to unload whatever your baggage are, only by sharing can you be more relaxed, for we as humans were born to be social in our behavior. Just the way I see it, so please donât get me wrong.
Poetry is a way how to express how you feel at that preside moment what you feeling or going through. Like if you are in love you would want to write or speak about oneâs happy moments and express with a lot of love and tell the world what they feeling about love. If one angry they would want to express with a lot of anger and a lot of drama. Everybody is different in telling their poetry in a story tale like one would speak in drama, comedy or song so other can understand what they are going through. Some people love to write poetry to express how they feel because they would feel comfortably writing out what they are feeling in a story form in a creative way. I feel poetry is like read between the lines they can be a secret message at sometimes could be relate to the message to other. One can feel and spoke in poetry and they canât be wrong because itâs a form of art to say what on their mind.
Poetry can be defined as expression and communication. I believe that poetry is also a form of art, which is hard for me to explain, although pcesar12 said his/her version of explanation perfectly well. The difference between artist and a poet is that artist creates pictures with colors, while the poet creates picture with word. Everyone has their own ways to express themselves. People would use music to help themselves with the rhythm or they would use their emotion so we can feel exactly how the poet is feeling. Iâm not the type of person whoâs into poetry because poetry is very difficult piece of art. Honestly no matter where its from poetry is beautiful.
I believe that poetry is a form of art in which the artist’s thoughts and emotions are expressed through words. Just as a painter may use canvas, oils and paint to express his or her thoughts and emotions, a poet uses words to express his or hers. A painter may use colors and/or light and shading to bring out his or her true motion to the observer, a poet may use literary devices such as imagery to convey true emotion. Some poetry may be literal and easily comprehended while others may be more more abstract. Some pieces may be so abstract that the same poem may evoke opposing points-of-view in the people who read it.
A formal definition from the website “poetry.org” states that the word “poetry” is derived from the Greek work “poeio” which means “I create.” It defines poetry as “an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content.”
I could n t agree more with GSL he makes an interesting point. At a point which I thought of a way poetry can be compared to painter that uses the canvas to paint whatever he wants to express in his own words he just paints. Actually it is the same kind of thing with poetry except in poetry you use a pencil and a paper but instead of drawing you write down your ideas. Poetry art it may not be actual art but it is a form of art.
It is the art of creative thinking and visualizing just like sketching, or painting. It is all of the work of the imagination and seeing things in a different perspective. You put in such an interesting way i just can’t stop agreeing. As you say that “some poetry is easily comprehended and others may be more abstract” that right there reminds me of abstract art. How in abstract art some things are literally impossible to tell what they are.
For a person the things going in an abstract piece of art the piece can be various things same concept goes on in poetry. One may understand it in a differently and the other may as well. The definition you got at the bottom of your post is the best definition. Just like you said “the word poetry comes from the Greek word poeio”. As a student in Advertising Design I know very well of the word “I create” we are always creating different art pieces in order to advertise ideas and poetry in a way is the same concept.
In a way with poetry you advertise your idea even though you don’t necessarily advertise. You just write it but, it could be personal in that case it would be advertising it. But, however you do advertise to yourself in that i mean like think of an advertisement how they sell their ideas to you. In poetry you literally sell your own idea to yourself. I surely got to say this post has thought me something.
âPoetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to defineâ. However, the thesaurus dictionary defines poetry as writing that uses rhythm, vivid language, and often rhymes to provoke an emotional response. I agree with both definitions. Poetry reminds me of William Shakespeare and how they used poems to communicate with each other in that era. Poetry is a beautiful way of expressing oneâs self.
Many poets express feelings by writing books, scripts and some poetsâ work of art may reached the big screen. âTo be or not to be: that is the questionâ, is one of the worldâs most famous quotes and poem that have ever been written by Shakespeare. This extraordinary poem was turned into a movie âHamletâ. Poets tend to write their poems so that the reader can imagine every detail of what is happening. The poets want the readers to feel the warmth, the sorrow, the pain, the love, the hatred within the words that they had written. To conclude, I think poetry is a combination of different feelings that are put into words and written down in rhymes and rhythm to express âthouâ feelings.
For me, poetry is a collaboration of literature and music. Carefully chosen words makes repeating sounds and the rhymes flows like a song. The beauty of the sounds of written works escalate sentences to poems, sonnets and lyrics. In my opinion, the most important thing that demarcates poetry from any other literature works is the rhythmical structure of poem. Using words to express feelings with rhythm and rhymes in implicated format is complicated job but that makes poetry more attractive.
What is poetry? Poetry is a form of art where you imagine and write down down whatever you may want to express in your own words. You may express yourself in the most vivid way or in the most original way. Where readers may comprehend easily or not depending on how abstract your poem may be. A poem is just like a song it has lines and has places where you rhyme. A poem just like an essay has a sequence and a type of pattern it follows.
As for rhyming you don t always have to rhyme in a poem. It can be a poem that has no rhyming the most important thing is in a poem getting your ideas across. Just like in a painting you try to get your idea across by thinking conceptual. In poetry you think conceptual you write down a concept you thought of.