Emotions & Poetry

[FreebieAddict15]

For most, their emotions have a great affect of the tone of the poetry they write. Do you think that it is possible to write something in a different tone than what emotion you are feeling?

[owensbook]

I think it makes it rather challenging to write beyond ones current emotion felt in the moment. However, I believe when you can construct a work of poetry beyond your emotion of feeling, you may then be in store for it being your best work ever composed - simply because it is out of the norm.

[Lycaonia]

Not necessarily. I think it's possible to change your emotions to fit your writing, but really the story you're writing is just going to drag you along. If you're in a bad mood, and attempt something cheery, sure you could do it, but it'll sound forced.

[lmV]

I agree. The talent of a poet is to portray different emotions through their writing. However, if you try to portray a particar mood you don't feel, the poem is no longer genuine. That's just my opinion.

[JoannaHarker]

A really interesting line of thought, which sort of leads me to ask if we can write about emotions we haven't experienced.
I know for myself I'd find it hard to write something joyful when I'm sad (look at Percy Shelley's 'Lines Written in Dejection'- he engages with the beauty of nature, but he's miserable himself, and it's so touching), however, I think we can transmute our emotions. For example, if I'm just feeling glum because life happens to be hard that day, I think that could lead me to write about anger for something very different.

Of course Wordsworth would say that you had to reflect on your emotion after feeling it and then write the poem. This doesn't work for me, but I'm not *quite* as good as wordsworth

[Renee Bella]

I would not say that because a poet does not write about how they are feeling at that specific moment that the poem is, by any means, less authentic. Perhaps they are recalling upon a memory. If it is something they themselves truly haven't experienced, maybe they are drawing inspiration from someone they know.

So yes, I do think it's possible to write with a different tone to that of the emotion we are feeling.

[gh0stboyy]

It's different for every writer, but personally I don't have a problem with it. I've written a lot of poems from the point of view of friends or book characters. As long as I identify with a fraction of their emotions, I can usually create a poem about the situation. It helps me understand people if I get in their head a bit.

[DATo]

When we watch a sad or inspiring movie sometimes we can be affected to the extent that tears roll from our eyes. It is just a movie and yet we vicariously associate our emotions with what we see taking place on the screen. We may never have experienced in real life what we are watching and yet we can empathize with the events we are watching unfold before us.

I think the same can be said for a poet or story writer. The trick is to master the ability to put yourself within the skin of the person or event you are describing. Of course in some cases the poet is writing FROM personal experience or is describing profound personal convictions.

I am reminded of the poem Old Ironsides, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The story behind this poem was that the most famous ship of the American revolution for independence, the U.S.S. Constitution, was to be taken apart for its materials - effectively dismantled. Holmes was sickened by the thought of this as he viewed it a sacrilege.

Old Ironsides

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

September 16, 1830

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;--
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;--
The harpies of the shore shall pluck ("harpies" in this case meaning those who wished to dismantle her)
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered bulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

The poem raised such a furor of indignation on the part of the American people of that time that the ship was saved and exists to this day in Boston harbor. A perfect example of the emotion of the poet infiltrating the emotions of his readers with profound results.

[AA1495]

That's a very interesting question. Ofcourse a skilled writer could write anything, so maybe it is?

[smhawkins]

I think it's wholeheartedly possible for a writer to write what they're not feeling.

Feelings are fickle. They come and go quickly. It may be rather difficult for an author to write a bright piece if they're going through a bout of depression. On the contrary, one of the best things you can do to alleviate that is to step outside of yourself. Authors aren't like their characters. I think a skilled author is able to step outside of themself, whether that is through research, going out and experiencing new things, or trying to put themselves inside their character's head, to be able to be truly genuine to that character. We can agree J.K. Rowling couldn't possibly be like all of the characters that she's written. So, she had to write from various different perspectives, even when she wasn't feeling personally connected or tied to the emotions her characters were feeling.

[AA1495]

I think it's wholeheartedly possible for a writer to write what they're not feeling.

Feelings are fickle. They come and go quickly. It may be rather difficult for an author to write a bright piece if they're going through a bout of depression. On the contrary, one of the best things you can do to alleviate that is to step outside of yourself. Authors aren't like their characters. I think a skilled author is able to step outside of themself, whether that is through research, going out and experiencing new things, or trying to put themselves inside their character's head, to be able to be truly genuine to that character. We can agree J.K. Rowling couldn't possibly be like all of the characters that she's written. So, she had to write from various different perspectives, even when she wasn't feeling personally connected or tied to the emotions her characters were feeling.

Completely agree with you on this. Also, I'd like to tell you that you put your point across really well!

[hillajax]

I don't think so we can even act different than what we are feeling emotionally. Man can't run away from his emotion. But he can deceive his emotion for few moment and that moment is enough to use that changed tone to write something.A man is who can laugh in hard time. emotions are affected from the perceptions and the way we look at the picture. So, emotion can't create obstracle. but if you will write in the tone of emotion it could also turned to best.

[AA1495]

True, writing based on your current emotions can turn out to be really good. However, writing the opposite may also be possible.

[cashflower1]

I believe that the possibilities are endless but only once you have mastered the art of putting your emotions to one side, for as in story telling, poetry is vast and can hold no bounds once you are able to drift away into another dimension. I have often privately wrote poetry which has recently reflected my own inner emotions, at times dark and deep and other times humourous and almost insane.
The secret I personally believe is escapism, returning to one's childhood imagination and the wonderful world of creativity....as in storytelling , put yourself there, live it and breathe it, believe in it, and just let it flow.

[zero_macabre]

I believe that the possibilities are endless but only once you have mastered the art of putting your emotions to one side, for as in story telling, poetry is vast and can hold no bounds once you are able to drift away into another dimension. I have often privately wrote poetry which has recently reflected my own inner emotions, at times dark and deep and other times humourous and almost insane.
The secret I personally believe is escapism, returning to one's childhood imagination and the wonderful world of creativity....as in storytelling , put yourself there, live it and breathe it, believe in it, and just let it flow.

Well said! I agree with you. It is definitely possible to write poetry that contrasts with your current emotions at that time, but I think most poets find it easier to write poetry which relates to their emotions. If poets are writing poetry of a certain theme, perhaps it will be easier to put their emotions aside and write.