Natalie's Nook

“Poetry is thoughts that breathe and words that burn.” —Thomas Gray

Most people are lazy when interpreting concepts of literature, Poetry happens to be the main one.

I’m sure most of us remember those years of high school and college where we had to sit through those English classes, and discuss the works written by those “dead, white authors” that made no sense in what their pen was putting on paper. We hated reading aloud the pieces and then having to use the remainder of class breaking down and sharing our own interpretations of what we thought the author was trying to say.

Most of us scratched the surface with our ideas, only for our teachers/professors to tell us to dig deeper. Most of us were at a loss and would repeat what others have already said. Then there were those that truly didn’t care.

I was one that wanted to understand what those poets were trying to tell us—being their audience. I wanted to know the meaning behind Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?…..The overall poem is a description of an individual that is better than a summer’s day. Typically a summer’s day is often too hot and the days may seem long but they never last. Summer must evanesce just as people, plants, and animals die. Although, this person does not lose their beauty nor fade away like a summer’s day, because he/she is eternally preserved in Shakespeare’s literary writing.

The purpose of poetry is to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, with the words that create the lines and forms the stanzas. Its literal definition is “literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.”

Poetry is not supposed to get straight to the point.

Shakespeare could have just written “Sonnet 18” as an ordinary piece of writing and called it a prose (written without metrical structure), but he didn’t.

Nowadays the aestheticism with poetry is how well it looks in a photo to be posted on instagram, tumblr, or pinterest. Also, how well the art used to give each piece a visual sense looks to really help grab the readers attention. I’m sorry to say, but that’s what a picture book is for people! Edgar Allan Poe wasn’t making sure he drew a picture to go with each poem he wrote, it was up to the reader to create that image metaphysically.

Not only is it about how artistic it looks, people seem to want to have all poetry relate to them in away and when it does it’s then somehow considered to be “deep”.

Example: “I gave you my heart and gladly accepted it it. But later you threw it away as if it were trash.” (That was trash, but I wrote it for to get my point across.)

People would read that and automatically know it’s about heartbreak so they would then think “Omg. I just broke up with my ex and this is exactly how I feel right about them now. Wow, that’s deep.” And that’s technically NOT poetry. I get that we’re in this age of things being pleasing to the eye, but what about the mind when it’s being deciphered, the mouth when it’s being spoken, the message beyond the paper? To me, that’s what matters the most.

Most poetry I read now is just so. . . . .simple. Too simple. The poems are beautifully written and if you do read between the lines, the messages can be influential; but poetry has definitely changed in how people write it and those who authors choose to write it for.

P.S: Poetry doesn’t always have to be spoken, there is nothing wrong with buy a book of poetry snd reading it. Most people—not all—have gotten away from poetry books, and it should be special to have a piece (or multiple pieces) of written work that speaks to you and you alone.