A month or so ago, Neil, aka Yorkshire Pudding, posted an original poem, and the following day a commentary on few people reading poetry. His postings stirred my creative thought process, and here is my commentary, "the key to art being understood and enjoyed, is sometimes the medium that it is delivered through."
Most of the poetry that we experience is song lyrics, in recorded form. How it is delivered, the tone, the metre, the volume, the mood of the artist, changes the meaning dramatically. When I read poetry, I struggle to find the author's voice in my head. A poem about love, heard in my brain as a poem about anger simply does not convey the right message.
Why don't people read poetry? Because they struggle to get the intended voice. If you want poetry to be experienced, use your voice. Record it, post it. Doing this has never been easier. Most of us are appalled at the sound of our voice, but others are not. Your voice conveys expression in ways that the written word struggles to do.
Selecting the best medium, can make the difference between conveying meaning, and falling flat, or even more tragic, being unheard, unseen, unexperienced.
It is a good idea to read poetry aloud, and hear your own voice getting into the rhythm.
ReplyDeleteI wish there were cues as to tone. Maybe there are further developments to written language that can be made.
DeleteI remember my teachers always advising to read poetry aloud, which often unlocks the sounds and rhythms in ways that silent reading doesn't. (Of course that's not the same as hearing the author him- or herself reading it.) I think many people are impatient with poetry because in our busy modern world we want plain speaking. We do not want to have to think through the meaning or find the artistry. Just tell me what I need to know!
ReplyDeleteFor art, use the most effective medium of communication.
DeleteI agree with Andrew in that reading it aloud and hearing the rhythm of your own voice.
ReplyDeleteI have two favorite, decidedly different poets that I like to read, Thom Gunn and Langston Hughes. And I have a few poems that sick in my head though I seldom remember the author's name.
Edgar Guest was the sound of my childhood.
Delete"A poem about love, heard in my brain as a poem about anger simply does not convey the right message." How do you know that's not "the right" message? Maybe the poem's meaning is subtextual -- i.e. what is implied under the surface. Maybe you are in fact interpreting the poem correctly.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "meaning" is not restricted only to what the artist or poet intended. What we see in a piece of art or a poem is its meaning to us, and that is also valid.
To use a legal analogy, poetry (and all art, really) is like legislative interpretation. Yes, the original author may have intended one thing, but the end result may be interpreted in any number of ways. Also, meaning may change over time with greater experience, understanding, and developments in the world. And so the debate begins and continues. However, there is no court of ultimate jurisdiction to settle any controversies.
Kind of like finding meaning in a blog post, what was she really thinking when she wrote that?
DeleteI like to read poetry. I'm fascinated by the way a poem conveys a message. I still remember Amanda Gorman's poem "The Hill We Climb...." that she read so beautifully at Obama's inauguration.
ReplyDeleteI get more from hearing than reading it.
DeleteFor me, poetry is a medium that is meant to be heard. I think about when I was little and my mom reading poems to us. We heard the rhyme and the rhythm, the words to to create a mental picture. In 5th grade my teacher had each of his students memorize a poem of his or her choice and we had to recite it to the class. Nerve-wracking but again, it went back to word patterns, the rhythm, and creating a mental picture that made sense to help with the memorization. Like Sharon, I remember Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb." What a talented young woman.
ReplyDeleteWay Down South Where the Bananas grow
DeleteA grasshopper stepped on an Elephant's toe
The Elephant said with tears in his eyes,
Pick on someone your own size.
I think I learned that one in about third grade.
I always think people find poetry when they need it,
ReplyDeleteA low ebb, grief, a life turn ,
Poetry helps to make sense of the world