I have always had a taste for writing poetry. I do not consider myself as a prolific writer, but I have always written poetry. It is very different to being on the outside--analyzing it. . It is a completely different point of view. I have found that when I write poetry, I tend to focus on being able to descriptively portray a feeling or an image through words. When analyzing, the focus tends to be more on decoding these images and finding a holistic meaning using terminology formulated for this purpose. Being able to write an essay about poetry after a few semesters of focusing on prose, made me remember this focus. It also helped me realize that poets might not necessarily intentionally create certain connections that we as critics come up with.
A poet could be trying to draw a connection to his/her life, while a critic might draw connections to something that is completely off. There are an infinite amount of interpretations for one set of words. It is no wonder there are so many people who are confused by poetry. I think that if people know that writing poetry is personal and writing about poetry is drawing a meaning from the actual text, there would be less people confounded by poetry.
I can only imagine how high school students now-a-days feel about poetry. It must be very difficult to differentiate between the two points of view. It is hard enough to be a college student and attempt to analyze a poem. I want to make it easier for them though. I want to attempt to help students to be able to both write and analyze poetry. They might not necessarily like it, but at least I will be satisfied if they can accomplish it.
2 comments:
You've hit my issues with analyzing poetry right on the head. I have no problem writing poetry, because I know exactly what I was trying to say. If someone doesn't see that, I don't care. If someone sees more in my words than I intended to write, I can certainly live with that (as long as their interpretation isn't something like "the author clearly hates all people from Switzerland, and wishes death upon the innocent Swiss.") But if I'm writing about poetry, reading someone else's work, it's a different story. Before writing, I must be a reader; and by becoming a reader,I become a willing participant in the expression of the poem, and I feel like it's my obligation as a participant in the poem to find the true meaning of the poem without denying the intent of the author. Because of this obligation of discovery, I find analyzing a poem much more time consuming and focused than when I write a poem.
Hi Norma!
First of all, I really enjoy reading your stuff. I can't explain it other than to say I think you are a good writer. That being said....I enjoyed your thoughts in regards to poetry. I like what you bring up about the issues of analyzing poetry. It is so true that the result of a poem, story or novel could be so different from the authors intent. Do we care? I can only imagine what some authors may think of the way that I analyze their words. It could be so far off, and yet mean so much to me. I think that if someone wants to take a different spin on my writing well, that is fine with me as long as they feel something.
It is also different when you are writing poetry or writing about poetry. I actually found that writing the poetry was a lot easier for me this time around than the writing about poetry. I did not expect that and I am still surprised. They are two such completely different arenas. I found the writing about poetry not as fun, and mundane. Strange....
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