How to appreciate Poems?

[Butterbescotch]

How do you know if a Poem is good or bad? I don't mean to be rude but all I see is just set of words thrown into the canvas without even a distinct meaning.

Please enlighten me

[Rest_In_Pieces]

You don't, this is totally subjective. What kind of poems do you read then?

[Butterbescotch]

Poems in general? Poems I read in net and they say how wonderful it is. In result, I ended up saying good reply even though I don't know what I'm talking about

I'm guilty <_<

[Jacob]

Depends on your interests of literature.

[Teesie]

Depends on your interests of literature.

I agree with Jacob. You might really like a poem and the next person really hate it. For instance, one of my favorite poets is Robert Frost. I love all his pieces, but a friend of mine says that, and these are her exact words, "He's just some old hick tree hugger." Well, he might be, but it made him a good poet. She just doesn't like anything that has a country feel to it. And Robert Frost's works pretty much scream country. Which is why I enjoy it so much. I am good ole down home southern belle, so I know how to appreciate it.

There's really no set guidelines to poetry, that's why there are so many differnet kinds of poetry. Well, maybe except for Haiku, but even that's not really set in stone.

[Fran]

Exactly the same as a song or piece of music ... it just grabs you and you want to re read it again and again. Could be the subject, the rhyme and rhythm, or just the way a poet sums up an situation or an emotion succinctly and you find yourself saying 'God that's exactly how I feel or felt'.
Like falling in love, very difficult to describe but you recognize it when it happens.

Now if you're asking about poetry appreciation in a college sense ... well that's a whole other story & guaranteed to destrory your love of poetry. (joke)

[Aileenhu]

My English teacher says that poetry need essence. Like you actually are there. Some poems can't fully grasp the "essence" of what it is describing. Some people like it to rhyme because it creates the background.

When I say essence, I mean like the deepest meaning and feeling.

[Teesie]

My English teacher says that poetry need essence. Like you actually are there. Some poems can't fully grasp the "essence" of what it is describing. Some people like it to rhyme because it creates the background.

When I say essence, I mean like the deepest meaning and feeling.

This is very true. I find that I cannot write a poem until inspiration hits me. If I try to write on purpose, it will not work. Most of the time it just comes to me suddenly. A line will pop into my head, and it just keeps coming to me until I feel like I've finished. It's almost like it's being sent from above or something. It's kinda weird really, cuz after I get done writing I'll go back and re-read it, and as I re-read I'm thinking did I really just write this? Me? write this? And I'll just think,"wow" and say a little prayer thanking God that He has blessed me with such a beautiful gift. In fact I actually wrote a short piece about that too after realising I hadn't written anything in years until I had just finished another! Here it is....


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

At long last I have been reunited,
With my precious gift of Psalm.
Which for so many of these past years,
Has efficiently eluded me.

Praise be to God
For the blessings he has bestowed upon me.
May He find pleasure and beauty
In my use of them.

[Aileenhu]

^That's good Tessie. And I agree with the inspiration.

I can't write for nothing (not even poetry) without inspiration.

[Tenglangtrade]

It is much more difficult for us to appreciate a Poem than to write a Poem.

[Maud Fitch]

It is much more difficult for us to appreciate a Poem than to write a Poem.

I agree. Your own poem comes from your heart but when you read someone else's work, you are translating it in your mind to see if it is compatible with your emotions. Sometimes a poem fails the test but it’s a joy when one fits like a glove.

These four lines always make me shiver:

One need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

Emily Dickinson, Poet (1830-1886)

[andr70]

To my opinion it's an eternal question how not to hurt ab artist or writer, because of their light sensibility. But it seems to me that critics is an engine to go on in any activity and we should be patient to it. So I recommend not to worry about and write poetry not for the masses.

[Artdude]

My English teacher says that poetry need essence. Like you actually are there. Some poems can't fully grasp the "essence" of what it is describing. Some people like it to rhyme because it creates the background.

When I say essence, I mean like the deepest meaning and feeling.

What are you talking about.

With respect, you have ironically lost the "essence" of what poetry is about in the first place.

Why should a poem have a sincere meaning or feeling? Look at Keats:
he wrote a poem about his favourite things in the world. It's so short I can quote it here.

"Give me women, wine, and snuff
Until I cry out 'hold, enough!'
You may do so sans objection
till the day of resurrection;
for bless my beard they aye shall be
my beloved trinity."


Its 6 lines about wine, women and snuff. There is no deep, emotional transcendance. There is no pretentious nonsense. It is just a small text devoted to three things he loves. (Keats is considered a world class poet, before someone questions the source.)

Look at the entire "Canterbury tales", Keat's "Lamia"/"Eve of St Agnes," look at Byron's Cantos, look at Milton's "paradise lost", look at Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," - These are all huge narrative poems - the only deep meaning comes from the story - not just because it's poetry.

When you say "some people like it to rhyme because it creates the background," - This just makes quite literally no sense.

Anyone who is new to poetry, or unsure and needs guidance, and accepts your comment, is going to have to backtrack in a few weeks time, when they realise what you said is wrong. My dear sir/madam, can you honestly be serious when you write what you do? With the greatest respect, you've lost the plot.

Poetry is not a crossword puzzle to be 'solved,' and it does not necessarily require a 'deep meaning.' It is purely a joy on behalf of the writer - it is a scripted sense of self. It's much like music in this way - it's a thought spelt out within a framework like a sonnet, or a canto. There is nothing more to it. You make a huge, unspecific, annoying generalisation when you say that all poetry has to have an 'essence' and a 'deep meaning.'

(This is not meant to be offensive, it is to simply stop people from misguiding themselves due to misinformed nonsense.)

[Fran]

Poetry is not a crossword puzzle to be 'solved,' and it does not necessarily require a 'deep meaning.' It is purely a joy on behalf of the writer - it is a scripted sense of self. It's much like music in this way - it's a thought spelt out within a framework like a sonnet, or a canto. There is nothing more to it. You make a huge, unspecific, annoying generalisation when you say that all poetry has to have an 'essence' and a 'deep meaning.'

Wow ... how sublimely expressed. You sum it up so precisely and accurately.

[owlowl152]

Consonance of rhymes and his own opinion. How else can you assess poetry?)))