WHAT IS POETRY POETRY IS AS UNIVERSAL AS

  • Slides: 12
Download presentation
WHAT IS POETRY?

WHAT IS POETRY?

“POETRY IS AS UNIVERSAL AS LANGUAGE AND ALMOST AS ANCIENT” (ARP, 3) � Exists

“POETRY IS AS UNIVERSAL AS LANGUAGE AND ALMOST AS ANCIENT” (ARP, 3) � Exists in all ages and in all countries � Written, read or listened to by all kinds and conditions of people � Something central to existence

DEFINITIONS � Problematic to define as people are more successful at appreciating than defining

DEFINITIONS � Problematic to define as people are more successful at appreciating than defining � Might be defined as a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language.

PRACTICAL LANGUAGE � Most common use of language is to communicate information

PRACTICAL LANGUAGE � Most common use of language is to communicate information

POETRY’S CONCERN IS WITH EXPERIENCE � Literature can be used as a gear for

POETRY’S CONCERN IS WITH EXPERIENCE � Literature can be used as a gear for stepping up the intensity and increasing the range of our experience and as a glass for clarifying it

“THE EAGLE” He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in

“THE EAGLE” He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 -1892)

LIMITING APPROACHES TO POETRY � Look for a lesson or moral instruction � Expects

LIMITING APPROACHES TO POETRY � Look for a lesson or moral instruction � Expects to find that poetry is always beautiful

WINTER When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

WINTER When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail, When blood is nipped and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl, “Tu-whit, tu-who!” A merry note, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson’s saw, And birds sit brooding in the snow, And Marian’s nose looks red and raw, When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, Then nightly sings the staring owl, “Tu-whit, tu-who!” A merry note, While greasy Jon doth keel the pot. William Shakespeare (1564 -1616) From Love’s Labor’s Lost

LIMITING POETRY � Poems do not need to have a moral � Can simply

LIMITING POETRY � Poems do not need to have a moral � Can simply be � If we limit ourselves we are bound to be disappointed � Poetry’s main concern is with experience � NOT beauty, philosophical truth or persuasion

THE PARADOX �A poet can transform even the most unpleasant or painful experience into

THE PARADOX �A poet can transform even the most unpleasant or painful experience into works of art that we go back to over and over again � “Even the most tragic of literature, through its artistry of language, can help us to see the significance of life, appealing to our essential humanity in a way that can be intensely pleasurable and affirming. ” (Arp, 9)

� Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of literature � To some

� Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of literature � To some readers, poetry may seem dull and boring, a fancy way of writing something that could be said more simply � When a person reads a poem and no experience is received, either it is not a good poem or the reader is not properly tuned

POETRY AS LANGUAGE � 4 dimensions � Intellect � Senses � Emotions � Imagination

POETRY AS LANGUAGE � 4 dimensions � Intellect � Senses � Emotions � Imagination