Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 1, Number 1. May 2018. ISSN: 2581-7094
Poetry and Life
Poetry may be considered to be one of the fine arts. Britanica.com, poetry evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness
of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and
arranged for its meaning. Prose can also be poetry when it is written with
poetic meter, language play and images. Meter is the rhythm of a poem,
including syllables per line.
The dictionary meaning
of poetry is ‘literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas
is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm’. Poetry
derived from the Greek word ‘poiesis’ uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities
of language, where the ideas are expressed in an imaginative way. As per
Poetry is a painting with words. There are several definitions for poetry,
of which the most famous and often quoted one is that by Wordsworth. He
defined poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’.
According to Dylan Thomas "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."
P.B. Shelley in his essay (published in 1840) ‘A Defence of Poetry’ which
contains his famous claim that "poets are the unacknowledged
legislators of the world” has given some snippets on poetry, as below:
“Poetry is a sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, which consumes the
scabbard that would contain it.”
“Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and
best minds.”
“Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.”
For me poetry is the finest form of chiseled language to which nothing more
is required to be added or nothing more is required to be deleted. In other
words economy of words is the most desirable quality of poetry.
We have seen people engaged in strenuous physical works such as that of
porters, farm workers etc. who are cheered through songs to lighten or
forget their exhaustion. Perhaps poems are the oldest forms of literature
passed on to generations verbally from time immemorial. We have songs for
all occasions like songs in praise of the Divine, birthday songs, Oppari
songs (songs sung in praise of the dead), harvest songs, etc. In country
sides these types of songs are very much in vogue. Even words in slogans
are arranged rhythmically in order to make them catchy, appealing and
effective.
Poems create Beauty - Rhyme and rhythm are the devices for creating beauty.
Poetry was once written according to strict meter and rhyme.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
These lines from Robert Frost’s poem ‘Stopping by the woods on a Snowy
Evening’ written in 1922 are most appealing with the choices of words,
which captures the pull between life and death or man and nature. Though
this poem is remarkably simple, in terms of rhythmic scheme and form it is
surprisingly complex. However, the beauty of this poem is in how it sounds
rather than what it means.
These classical forms are not widely used by modern poets. Modern poets do
away with meter and rhyme and write in free style, but seek to create beauty through their words. The music in poetry involves
the interplay of the sounds of words, the length of the sequences and the
repetition and variation of syllables unrhymed or rhymed. It also involves
the play of ideas and images.
Foster Speaking and listening skills - Poetry can give one a healthy outlet
for surging emotions. Reading poems loud can foster speaking and listening
skills.
Agents of Change
–A poet was considered not merely lyric composers, but a priest, prophet
and oracle, as they can see things more vividly than normal people and
hence considered divine. In this sense it was believed that poets were
seers because they could predict things. They articulated their emotions
through powerful expressions which generated creative visions. These poetic
expressions created similar emotions in the readers too, in other words
their poems transformed people. Poets are therefore the
agents of change.
Therapeutic in Nature - Inspirational poems are therapeutic in nature.
People turn to them at times of crisis in life as they provide some healing
effects. Collective prayers and recitals are examples. These poetic chants
have the advantage of alleviating physical pain. This belief is perhaps as
old as the existence of humankind.
Lift our Spirits
- Poems are storehouses of energy. They can lift our spirits. Poems written
down are therefore the permanent storehouses of energy. A fine example of
inspirational poem is that of Rudyard Kipling ‘If’, the first stanza of
which goes like this:
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;’
Another most famous poem which inspires one to take risks in life and do things differently is Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Another fine poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow goes like this. I
quote this poem in full here. The lyrical beauty combined with the message
in this poem take the readers to a realm of resplendency. This poem had
risen beyond being a poem and into a cultural artifact.
A Psalm of Life -
What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, however pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within and God overhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Poetry in Everyday Life
The greatness of poetry is that we use poetry in everyday life without even
our notice. When the words in the poems blend with our own life
experiences, our minds meet with that of the writer, whom we admire.
Moreover, the experiences of the protagonists so much affect the readers
that they consider themselves in place of them. This can be validated from
the simple example of people crying in cinema theatres. When such a thing
happens, it can be attributed to the sensation of the art. On a similar
plateau, techniques of poems like alliteration, rhyme etc., touch the
readers’ hearts, make them feel good, provide them a catharsis while
reading something to which they can connect with on a spiritual level. As
far as my belief goes, poetry takes birth in one’s soul.
The greatness of a poem lays when it projects an inner vision of life and
when it is finely tuned with rhythm and musical quality of its lines. It
should flow effortlessly and should cast a lasting appeal on the minds of
the readers. Such poems can bring changes in our body and mind and through
poetry when our hearts merge into multitudes of emotions touching the core
of our very being, we cannot but appreciate the creator of such words.
Poems Benefit Poets
As far as I am concerned, writing poems has enabled me to connect with so
many likeminded people and make good friends. It helps me to develop my
creative thinking, improve interpersonal relationships, provide
self-awareness and also helps to improve writing and speaking skills. At
times I struggle to find exact words and phrases to express my raw thoughts
and feelings effectively, nevertheless the fact is that such struggles lead
to improve cognitive functions by giving me a chance to challenge myself,
which is an undeniable prerogative. Poets will also agree with me that
writing poetry improves their analytical skills. In short writing poetry
imparts emotional and intellectual benefits to poets. I can authentically
say that it also improves one’s vocabulary, which acts as a determinant for
personal growth. Writing satisfies my inner urge to express myself and
establish my own identity. Personally speaking, writing poetry has helped
me to overcome many emotionally challenging situations and I realize it is
a most rewarding experience.
Economy of words is the most desirable quality of a poem. As poets are
supposed to convey more in less number of words, they are forced to use
stronger vocabulary. This is more relevant when writing poems according to
meter with prescribed number of syllables, strict rules with respect to
rhymes and arrangement of lines and stanzas. The Japanese short poems Haiku
is an example for this, where the imagery is quite vivid. Though I am not
an expert at Haiku, I just tried my hands on it, and here are two short
poems from my collection ‘Bunch of Blooms’ published in 2017, not very sure
whether they qualify to be named Haiku:
The grass shows
The wind
2. Sparrows wander
The nest awaits
Chirps
With a mission to make the lines concise, poets will have to delve deep
into his or her vocabulary. Sometimes this can be fun too when we discover
improved skills in writing dormant in us. To blend idea and feeling,
spontaneity is required and the poem has to discover itself as it goes
along. Thus poems on ‘ideas on feeling’ may not work as it takes
spontaneity out of the poem. In fact constraints force one to discover ways
to express things in an innovative way.
We live in a world full of uncertainties, which can be compared to a roller
coaster. Life is full of challenges and how we face those challenges makes
us stronger. It depends upon our inner strength. Some people draw
inspiration from past experiences and some from fellow citizens while many
turn to poems and songs to renew strength and to fulfill their life’s
purposes. It is a fact that divine chants and prayers give a healing effect
to the participants as also the spectators. Group chants and singing also
create a feeling of equanimity and foster brotherhood. Literature is a
powerful tool and it makes the readers realize that there are people who
struggle and they are not alone in their struggle. Poets have inspired
people in the past and they continue to inspire and help to overcome such
difficult experiences through their poems.
Gandhiji said, my life is my message. Our life, our reactions to
situations, our passions, etc. show who we are and reflect our feelings,
maturity, character and attitudes as human beings. The message what we give
to the world through our actions, through our words, through our
accomplishments or to say it in a single word, through our life, is like a
poem that gives message, that gives pleasure, that gives emotional
fulfillment and the like, and in that aspect every life is a poem, which is
nothing but the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions, as Wordsworth
said.
References:
Britnicca.com
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “A Psalm of
Life” subtitled with “What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.”
Shelley, Percy Bysshe . A Defence of Poetry. Ginn & Company : USA Boston, 1891.