Discuss: Purpose of Poetry

1- Anstey on June 7 2007

Great question. THough, I thnk my reason is a bit more complex. I write poetry to communicate my ideas to other people and at the same time to create something beautiful, meaningful and enduring.

Having had to pick, i chose 'art' - but it really is more than that.

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stephan

2- Tracey on June 7 2007

I think it's a blend of those things and then some. If pushed to vote, I'd go with the first one.

3- Leanne on June 7 2007

Can I please have "all of the above" -- with the likely exception of prayer, as I am currently under a trade embargo from the Divine.

I couldn't really pick any one reason either. Art, kind of. Communication, kind of. Sometimes it's about the intellectual gymnastics required to create a piece that is 'just so'- much like the pleasure of completing a crossword or sudoku. But I want to provoke a reaction, encapsulate a situation or complex series of emotions, even just make you laugh. And then its just about capturing those chattering words to shut them up! Some work comes easily but other pieces require hours of work. If I didn't enjoy the mental activity then why would I bother at all?

5- Tracey on June 7 2007

I was thinking about this this morning, and though I think it's impossible to select just one of those reasons, I do think it's a great question to ponder. At some point, whether we're applying for a grant/fellowship or talking to a publisher or being interviewed on NPR (or whatever they call it these days)* we are asked such questions, so it's good to mull over these things, get as close as possible to the answers as we move forward in our craft/art.

*Indicates high hopes for all of us.

6- White_Feather on June 7 2007

Well, I'll just join the chorus with the the "all of the above" refrain. I also really get an intellectual boost out of it, like Pags. And there's a psychological component as well, where there's something about putting an upsetting event into words helps process it all.

The poetry that resonates most deeply within me, is poetry that spans as many of these things as possible. While writing poetry may not be prayer for me, it does feel like a way to connect with whatever is greater than myself, and can be a spiritual event. On the other hand, reading some of the most excellent poems can feel an awful lot like prayer.

7- Keats on June 7 2007

Pags, I loved your comment. I think both your opening tongue-in-cheek comment and your more serious answer place you squarely in the number 3 camp though--communicating powerully--whether for recognition or just to get a message across. There are some good reasons that Christ taught through parables. Sometimes it was to hide things. But at other times, it was because showing communicates more effectively than telling. Maybe I need to add a category for recognition. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't at least a small part of the reason I write poetry.

I intended all of the answers to be valid to someone. I had several reasons for posting the poll. 1. to allow the readers a chance to self-evaluate. 2. to find out what the community was like. 3. to offer some possibilities to folks who haven't considered the whys and wherefores of poetry.

I'm surprised I got this many responses so quickly. Thanks for that.

8- Pags on June 7 2007

I'm not surprised you got comments quickly. We are all suckers for these polls, and once we have voted we have to look at the results, and then its only a short step from that to making a comment as well!

Parables and stories have always been a good way to convey a message. Any message. That is of course how a lot of journalism works. A little known fact about me is that I have written a small number of 'narrative sermons' or modern parables which have been published in the journal of the College of Preachers, and am working on a book of these. I understand that the ones already published have been welll received.

9- Callooh on June 8 2007

I'm in it for the glory, the groupies, the huge $$, and all the young studs I can manage (you know like Pags said)

why else would anyone put themselves through such convoluted cerebral contusions?

10- Keats on June 8 2007

Bright with intelligence, and fair, and smooth;
Her eyebrow's shape was like th' aerial bow,
Her cheek all purple with the beam of youth,
Mounting at times to a transparent glow,
As if her veins ran lightning; she, in sooth,
Possess'd an air and grace by no means common:
Her stature tall - I hate a dumpy woman. (Byron was such a charmer...)

Wedded she was some years, and to a man
Of fifty, and such husbands are in plenty;
And yet, I think, instead of such a ONE
'T were better to have TWO of five and twenty