Part
Nine: Poetry, Aesthetic & You
Spend even a small of
time in the pursuit of poetry, the study of craft, the study of the
masters,
and the study of the luminaries of our times, and you will conclude
that there
is an enormous body of literature that is impossible to read in its
entirety
and this list is ever expanding as time passes. Secondly,
you will probably realize that there is no standard
definition of "good" poetry. There are
thousands of pages of poems considered important
enough to be
included in literature's canon: from Beowulf, to the sonnets of John
Donne, to
Ezra Pound's translations of ancient Chinese poets.
Every day, poets here and there are still taking up the
banners
of their varying schools of thought. Some
argue for the beauty of formal verse, some argue for
the organic
and spontaneous nature of free verse. Some say Charles Bukowski, others
insist
on Emily Dickinson, and still others will contend that Wallace Stevens
(or
William Carlos Williams or Gertrude Stein or Gary Snyder) are to be
emulated. All at once, the entire
business seems impossible to come to terms with. When you reach this
point, it
may help to take some time to define your personal aesthetic. Just as you would not expect everyone to
enjoy the same selection of music or picnic fare, you cannot expect
everyone's
taste in poetry to be the same. From
time to time, you might find it revealing to answer the following
questions and
then apply what you discover to your writing. Take
out several of your recent poems and see what you
discover.
1.)
Diction: Do you write in the same "style" of language in
every
poem? Is this your daily speech style or do you assume a voice for
particular
characters? Do you use academic language, colloquial language, or
inaccessible
language?
2.)
Syntax: Is there variety in the
structure of your sentences? Do you
always write in a typical "correct" sentence or do you allow
fragments or other "improper" structures in a poem?
3.) Line and Stanza: How
do you
determine the shape of your line? Do you follow a metrical patter of
formal
verse? Perhaps Whitman's "musical phrase"? Do you utilize a pattern
that follows regular speech or grammar, or Olson's " the HEAD, by way
of
the EAR, to the SYLLABLE/the HEART, by way of the BREATH, to the LINE"?
4.)
Rhythm and Sonics: Are you aware
of the rhythm? Do you focus on the sonics? Do you tend to use specific sonic patterns
in your work? Can you explain these
patterns?
5.)
Metaphor, Image, Allusion: How
do you employ each of these? Does your
writing tend to be based more predominately in one or more? Do you
prefer
metaphor or simile? If you use
allusions, who/what do you find yourself alluding to? The latest Billy
Collins'
poem, the Chinese, the Greeks, TV? How
important is the image in your writing, what do you feel the role of an
image
should be? Should it be openly
symbolic? (A dove=peace) If you do use a symbolic meaning, does it work
on both
levels as Pound suggests, for the surface level (a
dove flies past the clock tower) and for a deeper meaning
(symbolizing peace in our time). Or is a bird is a bird is a bird
meaning
nothing more, nothing less?
6.)
Themes & Intent: Are there
themes that you return to repeatedly? Are
there six poems on your desk with the word "pigeon", three that
discuss occur on the downtown train. What overarching themes (love,
loss, and
death) do you find yourself wrestling? Should a poem "mean" or
"be experienced"? Do you want your reader to interact with a poem
intellectually
or emotionally or both?
7.)
Influences and Aims: Whom would
you consider an influence? If there is one
particular writer you admire
above all others, can you find sign of their influence in your work? What type of writer do you want to be?
Experimental? Mainstream? In what journals would you like to see your
work
appear? Do you care about publication?
Do you adhere to any specific "school of poetics'" theories? If you could show your work to one author
for feedback, who would it be and why?
Once you realize how you
typically approach
your writing, you may find it helpful to deliberately change an aspect
of it that has become stagnant. Try
writing in the voice of a character, attempt a formal poem or free
verse, or
explore using atypical grammatical structures. You might listen to the
rhythm
of a song and incorporate that rhythm in a poem. Changing even one of
these
variables could have an immediate and re-vitalizing effect on your
writing.
After
you define your personal preferences,
you should apply what you have learned to help guide your reading. You
should
sample poetry not only from poets whose work you admire, but also from
poets
with dramatically different aesthetics than your own. Occasionally,
try rereading the work of a poet you loathed
in
High School English to ascertain why they are considered important. Notice anything you find appealing in
these
differing texts and incorporate it in your own work.
Your personal
aesthetic will evolve as you read
and continue to write. While you may never come to enjoy a particular
era or
poet's work, you will probably discover something helpful to your
writing along
your way and gain a new appreciation of other's ways of approaching
poetry. Regardless of what style of
writing you prefer, taking time to explore other techniques and manners
of
poetry can help you expand your writing beyond where you are now into
new and
challenging territory.
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