A Rhyme in Time 22/04/2005 Just occasionally in this blog, I stick my neck out by saying what I think on the various branches of the arts. There was my article called Art, to begin with, and I followed that later with A Musical Musing. Having survived these dangerous forays into controversial areas, it really is time that I had a go at the one everyone avoids, presumably because it brings back bad memories of school. I refer to poetry, of course.A lot of people seem to think that, if something rhymes, it must be poetry. This idea then gets expanded upon and leads to the conclusion that poetry must rhyme. It's an effective definition since it enables the one who believes it to separate poetry from prose with great ease. What a pity, then that it is completely wrong. There is a great deal of excellent poetry that does not rhyme and there is even more writing that rhymes yet is not poetry at all. Fortunately, there is a word that defines the latter group: doggerel.So how are we to define this word "poetry"? If we are not allowed to use the rhyming theory, just how are we to decide what is prose and what is poetry? I would suggest that it is all in the effect of the writing. If a passage or a few lines affect us deeply, there is a strong possibility that we are reading poetry. And if we cannot say just why the words have affected us so strongly but only know that it is so, then we are almost certainly reading poetry.It's all in the depth of feeling that the writing elicits in the reader. Poetry is like painting in that it reaches beyond our understanding to find and amplify responses in us that are greater than the mere meaning of the words used. It does, in fact, pluck strings in us that we did not know were there.There is some prose that approaches this effect. There is, in fact, a form of writing called prose poetry that fits somewhere in between the two. It is as powerful as poetry yet does not have the structure and form of poetry. A very good example of this is a little book called By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept by Elizabeth Smart and I recommend that you buy it and read, if you can find a copy.And there I have mentioned it: poetry does have a structure. Like rhyme, however, this is just one of the many ways in which a poet amplifies the effect of the words he uses. Poetry is designed to be read aloud and the structure, meter, rhythm and, yes, even rhyme, unite with the meaning and sound of the words to create something that is far more than the meaning alone. In this we find a link with music for both art forms use sound to communicate emotion and spirit.So the poet has many weapons at his disposal, in addition to those available in prose. And he might use some and not others, depending upon what is most appropriate to achieve the desired result. This is where rhyme has become a dangerous thing for a modern poet to indulge in. Rhyme is over-used in our society to the point where its effectiveness is lost. We have advertising ditties, pop songs, greetings cards and slogans, all using rhyme as a way to drive home their (usually shallow) point and we have become inured to it. The sad fact is that the use of rhyme in poetry tends to lessen the effect of a poem to the modern ear. The same is true of the more obvious meters and rhythms that we hear as a bouncy, jaunty tune that prevents us from taking the poem seriously.So the task of the modern poet is much more difficult than it has been in the past. Many of his weapons have become blunted by use and he must now depend upon far fewer if he is to reach us. And that means he must become expert in those weapons still remaining. The fact that modern poetry can be so powerful is entirely due to the hard work and skill of its present greatest practitioners. These days it is a matter of placing just the right word in exactly the right place and the words interacting with their neighbors to produce the desired result. Notice how you can take a line from a modern poem and it will have impact even though no longer surrounded by its compatriots. But put them all together and you have something that outstrips the power of the poetry of old.Consider these words from a modern poet describing the craft: "I know ee cummings often used shape in poetry, I have not done so. I may make things little asides to the audience, the brackets for instance, or italicize to indicate it is part of the whole but also separate. I place words at the end or beginning, I break up lines or reshape them because if the right word doesn't appear in the right spot the impact is lost."Sadly, the same has happened to poetry as has befallen the other arts today. The apparent disappearance of the rules has led the critics into total confusion where they cannot tell good from bad, hopeless from outstanding. And we are left with the charlatans and the fools feted by the poetry establishment while the common man shakes his head and decides that, if that is poetry, then he must hate it. Once again our culture is robbed by those who consider themselves so sophisticated and refined that only they can understand.Don't believe them for a moment. If it seems like garbage to you, it almost certainly is. But if it grabs you and drags your emotions all over the place, hey, guess what: it's probably poetry.
Clive
Ned Ack, Poetry. What kind of crazy person writes poetry? A very well written perspective on the art and perhaps science of poetry. I agree that it is how it affects us that makes it poetry or not. Poetry, like painting, is not just what the artist renders, but what we bring to it and what we take away. At some level beyond our understanding, it expresses for us things that we, ourselves, cannot express. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Gone Away And, if a poet as good as Ned says so, then it must surely be so. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Robert I blame it all on the Modernists. They got so wrapped up in their wordplay and "sophistication" that by definition poetry became exclusive, actively distancing itself from readers. It has never recovered. That said, Billy Collins did quite a god job as Poet Laureate in bringing the concrete back to poetry. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Gone Away Sophistication is indeed the enemy of real appreciation of art, merely confusing those who would simply appreciate. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Jodie I've been wondering what happened to poetry. It used to be a literary staple but in recent years it's more like the redheaded stepchild. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Gone Away Very true, Jodie. Date Added: 22/04/2005
vanessa I think poetry is alive and well, as long as you know where to look for it. In fact, I have a friend who started a small book publishing company - publishing ONLY poetry, and only about 10 titles a year at that. Sounds like the kiss of death, right? Well this year they are celebrating their 30th anniversary! Take a gander... www.brickbooks.ca vanessa. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Gone Away Oh, yes, I know, Vanessa, none of the arts die, in spite of the idiocies of some of the critics. True artists cannot help but produce the real thing, whether or not they're recognized. And thanks for the URL - looks most interesting. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Ned I think we confuse sophistication with obscurity and wordplay is what poetry is all about. I know Gone, you may disagree with me on Eliot, for instance, what you would call "head poetry" but his verse, though complex and sophisticated in his use of language and imagery often conveyed a depth of emotion that classifies it as the highest quality poetry. I would cite Prufrock as an example. What we see today are inept poets confusing obscurity for depth, using vast numbers of powerful adjectives to try to convey a message they haven't even yet formulated, meaningless, image-laden messes,or even worse, prose chopped up into smaller bits and paraded as poetry. < br /> The poet plays with words the way the artist plays with color and shadow. What a fate to consign a poet to, to say "you must not play with words!" Date Added: 22/04/2005
Gone Away I agree with everything you say, Ned, including Eliot. He is a special case, however, because he's such a good poet that even his intellectualism doesn't get in the way of the power of his words. And you have described exactly the mess that so much of poetry is in today as it mimics the excesses of the art world. Date Added: 22/04/2005
Voracious Reader Go you! Gone I agree with you in general, but also agree with Ned's comment. I think your sentiments concerning poetry could be applied equally as well to many areas that concern the academics (when I say academics, I do mean that pejoratively), namely art, philosophy, and so on. At some point, many began to think that "different" meant "good" and that "obfuscation" meant "smartness." What do you think of this? Is is garbage? I don't think so, but I also don't think it should pass as poetry either. < > ! * ' ' # ^ " ` $ $ - ! * = @ $ _ % * < > ~ # 4 & [ ] . . / | { , , SYSTEM HALTED Read aloud it is: Waka waka bang star tick tick hash, Caret quote back-tick dollar dollar dash, Bang star equal at dollar under-score, Percent star waka waka tilde number four, Ampersand bracket bracket dot dot slash, Pipes curly-bracket comma comma CRASH You can find this and other ones at http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/37.html#waka Date Added: 23/04/2005
Gone Away A perfect illustration to my point, Voracious. There are various schools within the messy brigade, of course; the incompetent incomprehensibles (such as you mention) and the if- I- cut- it- into- lines- it'll- be- poetry types. Yet good poetry makes itself known to us by the effect it has on us - we can't ignore it. And yes, this confusion by academia does seem to reach into all branches of the arts and philosophy. Date Added: 23/04/2005
Way (scratches) Po'try is jus a way to git girls to foller you off somewheres. Summertimes, them funny guys git excited, too. Date Added: 23/04/2005
Gone Away LOL Way, trust you to put everything into perspective. ;) Date Added: 23/04/2005
Gone Away Oh, and Voracious, I omitted to answer your question, didn't I? First, I must apologise that the line breaks didn't come out as you had inserted them, thus making the "poem" much more difficult to read. But you are right, it is no poem. Rather, I think, it is an amusement, a clever little thing that makes us smile for a moment and then move on. The sad thing is that some people take this quite seriously as poetry. Which reminds me that I omitted to mention another telling evidence of poetry: a good poem has depths of meaning that will allow the reader to return again and again and yet always find new depths that were not realized before. A truly good poem is a joy forever. Date Added: 23/04/2005
Karen Lee Field I've always thought of poetry as an educated person's thing. It's never made an ounce of sense to me, and when people start talking about stanzas (or whatever they're called), they've already put me to sleep. :) I must be lower class or something. ;) Date Added: 23/04/2005
Gone Away I understand entirely where you're coming from, Karen. All that business about stanzas and meter and so on always seemed unnecessary to me too. And it is, if all we want to do is enjoy poetry. Good poems are effective without our having to understand the technical side of how they're structured. The real problem today is that poetry has been hijacked so that it has become the exclusive preserve of the so-called intelligentsia. And it's about time the rest of us stood up and yelled that we want it back! Poetry is descended from the lays and sagas of the bards of ancient times and was always intended for the common people. Date Added: 23/04/2005
billy i figure everyone is a poet and no one is a poet. if it grabs you then it will be important in your eyes and thoughts. poetry is relaitive maybe. Date Added: 24/04/2005
Gone Away Ah, Billy, the dread relativism is what kills any ability we might have to touch the sky. Without clear definition of what is good and what is bad, we are lost in the swamps of "whatever floats yet boat". We've been there and it's time we recognized again that there is such a thing as absolute truth. Date Added: 24/04/2005
Jodie The only problem with absolute truth, Gone, is who gets to pick what it is? People these days have a terrible time agreeing on even the smallest of matters. :) Date Added: 24/04/2005
Gone Away That's just the point, Jodie: nobody picks absolute truth, it just is. And we ignore it at our peril. Would any of us decide that there is no such thing as gravity and jump off the Empire State building to prove our point? I think not. And whether we like it or not, there are truths as immutable as the law of gravity that pertain to right and wrong, good and evil, that we ignore or seek to argue away at our peril. It may not suit our personal agenda that there are basic truths about society that, if ignored, will destroy society. We see the evidence of our willful decision that societal rules no longer apply in our "enlightened society" all around us. How much longer can we ignore truth before society collapses into a new dark age? Maybe I should blog this. It is, after all, what lies at the root of our cultural decay. Date Added: 24/04/2005
Ned Gone - Hear, hear! and Amen. Date Added: 24/04/2005
prying1 Clive said: Maybe I should blog this. It is, after all, what lies at the root of our cultural decay. prying1sez: Too late! I stole your lines and posted on it. I know a good thing when I see it. Oh, and I'm one of those heathens that believes poetry really does have to rhyme. -(:-P Date Added: 25/04/2005
Gone Away Drat! Foiled again. But you saved me some work in that case, Prying, and I thank you for that. ;) Maybe I'll work on converting you from that rhyming stuff. :D Date Added: 25/04/2005
Jodie Gone, after reading Prying's post, I think you STILL have to write it. After all, he only tackled poetry. I think you have the Big Issues in mind. Date Added: 25/04/2005
Gone Away I think you're right, Jodie. Still, I appreciate the massive plug Prying gave me. And now I guess I just have to do the Absolute Truth post... ;) Date Added: 25/04/2005
Way Aha! I knew there was a point to made by poets...now all I gottta do is wait a bit...(displays an early-morn grim...er, grin) Date Added: 25/04/2005
Gone Away See how much trouble I can get myself into by opening my big mouth, Way. :> Date Added: 25/04/2005
Way Uh huh. I'll be back to check in around noon. Date Added: 25/04/2005
Jodie Way, was that a Freudian slip? I have to admit that that term always brings up this mental picture of Freud in a lacy rose colored confection. :D Date Added: 25/04/2005
Ned Freudian slips only show when you try to skirt the issue and come up short. Date Added: 25/04/2005
Voracious Reader Wow. I step away from the computer for a day or two and have trouble catching up. I love the comments and wont make the mistake of letting my attention wander again. Great conversation! Date Added: 25/04/2005
Gone Away The comments are what make it all worthwhile, Voracious. :) Date Added: 25/04/2005
Amy I read, write, and study poetry for one reason: to know myself better. What meaning I may find revealed on the page, either through reading or writing, often comes from the subconcious and is a complete surprise. What is revealed through a thorough analysis adds layers of understanding that cannot be achieved any other way. Having said that, to read poetry that one likes strictly for enjoyment is just as valid, and indeed as powerful an experience, as any other reason. I believe in the value of poetry from the ancient Chinese poets, to haiku, to the small/ giant world of Emily Dickinson, to the mind of Eliott, to the blues poetry of Sterling Plumpp and the imagery of Lucille Clifton, to the almost preachy quality of Gary Snyder, to the political slant of Adrienne Rich, to the beat of Kerouac and Creeley, to the blend of conscious and subconsious in John Ashbery. Does this make me a relativist? I don't know, and don't care. I have had these discussions over and over with poets and students of poetry and they ultimately lead nowhere, although it's still fun to talk about. Absolute truth? As a postmodernist, I believe in the elusive truth as expressed by Jean-Francois Lyotard. I think it may actually be there, but the best we can do is reach for it. It cannot be grasped, only alluded to. But if I felt a connection to it, and sometimes I think I do, I would never force that view on anyone else. I am open to the idea of absolute truth, but I certainly am not relying on it. I think of poetry like wine in terms of preference: one should drink what she likes because she likes it, regardless of what the experts say. Poetry does indeed exist for all of us. But the postmodern sensibilty, with its use of vagueness and obsurity that some find so threatening, has a place just as important as the more concrete, accessible poetry. There truly is something for everyone. Thanks for the interesting post; as you can see, it really got me thinking. Date Added: 26/04/2005
Gone Away And thank you for your excellent reply, Amy. Whilst agreeing with much of what you say, I do think that postmodernist thought has led us into the blind alley in which the arts find themselves at present. When everything is relative, nothing can be said to be good or bad and we find ourselves unable to judge at all. There are those who have important and relevant things to say but their voices are being lost in the relativist chaos. It is time that we faced up to the problem and admitted that most of what is accepted as art these days is, in fact, meaningless froth. When art has nothing to say to humanity, there is something wrong somewhere. Date Added: 26/04/2005
Ken I've only just discovered this post, although I clearly should have read it much sooner, if only for the rich vein of response it's already engendered. My own view is that relativism and absolutism, like light and dark, live together in a constantly changing condition of dynamic tension out of which grows debate: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. The balance will never be perfect and the debate, about poetry or whatever, will never be complete, but then isn't that the beauty of it? I liked Amy's comment about searching for the elusive truth, although, by virtue of its elusiveness, she's never going to find it, because she makes clear that the value of the project lies in the journey rather than the arrival. It might, perhaps, be worth thinking also about the extent to which poetic truths may be said to be not elusive, but allusive, which I take you to mean when you suggest that poetry "plucks at strings in us", although how allusion works in each of us individually and how we move from that point to consensus about what constitutes the value of, for example, a poem or poetry as a whole, is mysterious and a whole other can of worms! Maybe blogging is the new literary criticism? Date Added: 18/05/2005
Gone Away It certainly does seem that blogging is growing in importance every day, Ken. And literary criticism is a part of the new fields it opens to us all. I think you have put your finger on something very important when you say that we move from thesis to antithesis and synthesis. Now the possibilities in appreciation of poetry move back to where they belong, the people, and away from the rarefied and unrealistic world of the critics. Date Added: 18/05/2005
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