Resonation
Part
1: Defining Poetry:
First
of several parts to come on the subject of understanding, enjoying, and
creating poetry.
Several
months ago, as I was researching and preparing to give a presentation designed
to help youth gain an understanding of and an ability to write better poetry, I
had a sudden epiphany. In retrospect, the realization I gained during this “aha”
moment may seem quite obvious. And while the realization may SEEM obvious, I think it’s something
that many people unconsciously choose to ignore when preparing to delve into
the study or creation of poetry.
My
epiphany began with an almost too obvious question.
What IS poetry?
What
I mean is that most people regard poetry as some form of text written in a
rhythmic or imaginative fashion. But what I realized as I sat at my desk
preparing slides on couplets, quatrains, and different poetic meters, was that
while a sonnet may be considered poetry, poetry is most certainly not defined
as a sonnet. Nor is poetry defined by any other conventional meter or form.
How, then, could I define poetry for these youth I was preparing to mentor?
You
see, many people choose to view poetry through this sort of tunnel vision, not
understanding that perhaps poetry means something more than what dictionaries and Wikipedia choose to define it as.
Poetry is one of those words, like love, hate, and beauty that seem impossible
to define with complete justice. What one person may hold up as the epitome of
beauty another may throw out as garbage. The same, I think, holds true for
poetry.
I
realized at this point that I could never attempt to teach poetry without
having my own personal definition of what poetry is to ME. And so I set about it. I reread some of my favorite Shakespeare
plays, made a list of my favorite books and why I loved them, laughed my way
through Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” perused some of my
favorite poets’ works, and I didn’t stop there. Realizing that there was more
to poetry than the written word, I also listened to and made a list of music
that I had an enduring love for, television shows and movies that I considered my
personal classics, and moved on from there.
To
my surprise, I made an interesting discovery. For the most part, I found that
the reason I loved these things so much was because they moved me emotionally
in some way (Obvious, right?). With
the exception of a few works, including numerous “romcoms” such as “The Wedding
Planner” (I think we all have our guilty pleasures, right?) all of these works
I had listed, read, and written about were works that had moved me. And so, finally
coming full circle and sitting down back at my desk, I wrote the following
definition for what I believe poetry is to me.
Poetry is anything that resonates within you.
I
have used this as my definition of poetry since. Sure, poetry can be a
Shakespearean sonnet. Sure, poetry can be a passionate ballad about “Odo the
Hero” (non-Harry Potter fans may ignore
this last reference). But poetry can also be a verse from your favorite
song, or the way the sun shines through your window in the morning. Poetry can
be watching your child ride his bicycle for the very first time or even the way
the grandfather wistfully whispers the closing line of the Princess Bride to
his grandson, “As you wish…”
If
poetry is anything that resonates within you, what are some things you consider
to be poetry? Try thinking outside the box, I once had a student inform me that
poetry, to him, was the first bite of a fresh Cinnabon. Mmmm…
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