Poetry, like art, tends to be extremely personal. Either you like it or you don’t — and sometimes there’s no way to explain what it is that you like or dislike and even if it has aspects or characteristics that you enjoy the subject may take it out of the running — or the reverse may be true!
For me, a poem should do 5 things:
- It should be accessible — if I have to define most of the words (with the exception of nonsense poetry), I will lose interest.
- It should have a rhythm — not necessarily iambic pentameter but a flow that I can feel when it is read aloud.
- It should suggest or project an image — I am a big fan of descriptive poetry; I don’t believe it always has to mean or represent something else.
- It should provoke an emotion — ideally something strong like lust, fear, revulsion, or joy but even the smaller players are welcome.
- I should be brief — it need not be as small as haiku, but nor should it ramble on for pages.
Some of my favourite poems, in no particular order, include:
- [in Just] by E.E. Cummings
- The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams
- Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare
- The Flea by John Donne
- Snowball by Shel Silverstein
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol
- In a station of the metro by Ezra Pound (image above)
I intend to both read and write some poetry this month and encourage you, my friends and readers to do the same.
I think, perhaps I will write some. I see everyone else around me writing and I’m tempted, then stopped by my inner critic. It’s high time I slap that inner critic into next week!
I love Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, too! I’m also fond of:
Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling
and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Yes, Lear and Frost are poets I’ve enjoyed, too!