Why don't you read poetry?

[Yookeroo]

I’m another one who can sometimes enjoy recited poems, but can’t read it at all (except for the previously mentioned Dr. Seuss). I try, but it just doesn’t work for me. Can’t even read song lyrics unless the song is playing.

[Inner_Stickler]

eleanorigby
What’s with the purple “ink” and flowery shit? It’s so twee–but alot of poetry collections have this type of thing. It detracts greatly from the actual poems. Hardy is describing a painful, wrenching sadness–but look at the purty flowers! What illustrates the ancient Greek page? Cyclamen?

Yeah, sorry about that. I was running out of time and linked the first page that had the poem.
All the talk about singing and song lyrics reminds me of story(There’s no point, I was just reminded of it by the discussion):
When my brother was in first grade, he had a poetry folder and he read us the new poems that the teacher had given him every Friday. After a while he got bored with reading them and sang the poems. He would make up his own tunes or mash the poem to fit others, but it’s effort that counts right?

[Angel_of_the_Lord]

I read poetry; I just don’t really talk about reading poetry.

See, if I do that, then there’s a decent chance that whoever hears it is going to go, “I write poetry. Wanna see?”

Um, no. I really don’t. If I did, I would’ve asked.

There seems to be this general attitude of “anyone with a pen can write poetry!” Which may be true, but there’s nothing that says that the poetry is good, or worth reading. And, as I tend to be rather blunt, me reading friends’ poetry is usually a bad idea.*

*[sub]One time, at lit mag, I said that whoever wrote a particular piece should be dragged into the street and shot. It was a sentence pretending to be a haiku. The person who wrote it was in the room. Yeah. Bad idea. [/sub]

[Inner_Stickler]

I’d be upset too, but not because I was insulted. I just think that “… should be dragged into the street and shot.” is old. If you’re going to insult me, be original!

[HazelNutCoffee]

I love poetry - I even love studying poetry - but most contemporary works seem little more than jibberish to me. To me, the whole point of poetry is the form. Being able to express complex thoughts and feelings within a set of restrictions - and make it sound coherent and not convoluted - is what makes it so amazing. Consequently, I find it hard to appreciate free verse - it just seems like chopped-up prose to me, most of the time. I say “most of the time” because my favorite poem in the whole world is “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” which has a fair amount of free verse. Eliot is the exception, though. (I know a lot of people find him boring… YMMV.)

[Hilarity_N.Suze]

@tiltypig

… I mean, how could you rewrite a poem like one of Neruda’s love poems as prose, or as an essay?

"How you must have suffered getting accustomed to me,
my savage, solitary soul, my name that sends them all running.
So many times we have seen the morning star burn, kissing our eyes,
and over our heads the grey light unwind in turning fans.

My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
Until I even believe that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees."

Now here is a perfect example of why I can’t read poetry. I want to edit it! I am quite literally unable NOT to rewrite it in my head.

Oh, the last line is lovely, the sentiment is nice. But I am just too literal. What the hell is a “sunned mother-of-pearl”? If he’s talking about tan lines…

And in what language does that flow into the own-the-universe line?

Oooh, happy flowers from the mountains. Kittens anyone?

I am just too nasty and sarcastic and jaded to sink into this kind of writing, sorry. But again–very, very nice last line.

(You don’t want to see what I do with Emily Dickinson.)

[Lissla_Lissar]

Originally posted by Maeglin
Reading good, I mean, really good poetry is like dropping a little depth charge in your brain. You read it, and perhaps it makes a favorable impression. It sits there in the murk, waiting for the right time. Then something happens in your life that calls to mind a word, a phrase, even a couplet. The verse then takes on a meaning of its own, or perhaps you understand it in a new or unexpected way. In these moments of realization, life is truly enhanced by art.

Just wanted to say that this bears repeating. This is why I memorise poetry. Well, also because knowing a fifteen minute long poem sometimes makes train journeys and doctors’ offices more interesting.

[js_africanus]

@yBeayf

What are some examples, you would say, of rhythmical elegance or linguistic beauty?

What, in verse? I’m not familiar w/ anything that’d fit either. In prose, I would generally be talking about the latter, I suppose, but, respectfully, I’m not going to come up w/ anything because that’s a discussion in which I wish to become involved.

[Clothahump]

@jsgoddess

Of course, you might read poetry. I expect more Dopers read it than would be true of most “communities.” But most people don’t read poetry at all when they aren’t forced to.

If you don’t, why don’t you?

If you do, why do you?

I rarely read poetry. High school English classes pretty much ruined it for me.

[ultrafilter]

On a whim, I sent this off to a friend of mine who’s a published poet with hopes of teaching in the near future. His response:

This was mostly painful, occasionally dead-on.

The only people who posted and deserve [unpleasantness] are the ones who said both that they do not read poetry of any kind AND that modern poetry is bad.

I fail to see how they pass judgment on something completely unfamiliar to them.

Yes, the state of the poet in society is in some ways laughable. The ad for poet laureate of Duluth illustrates that perfectly. On the other hand, thousands of poets today can earn a middle to upper-middle class income today by plying their trade in the universities. Prior to 1950, I doubt a large number ever had that kind of earning power.

As for the quality of today’s work, I would agree that there is more bad writing than ever before. But it is quite simple to find the “good stuff”, whether we’re talking quality or school of thought. Reading the past 5 years’ editions of The Best American Poetry should provide an attentive reader with a good selection from the major schools of serious literary poetry (i.e. for the page, and not the stage). The next step is to read books by the authors of poems you liked. It’s that easy.

And one more thing. Poets everywhere HATE “New Yorker poems” with a vehemence that is both universal and deadly. The New Yorker seems to think either that good poets are sentimental fops brooding over themselves, or else imagine their audience in those same terms. The New Yorker is no home for poetry. Your fellow dopers would do better to look at Poetry magazine, Tin House, and a handful of others.

All in all, a discussion that interests me, and similar to those I’ve had many times with poet friends. Thanks for sharing it. (Even if there was occasional ignorance.)

[booklyn]

Poetry is necessary for a healthy culture.
Good poetry is being written right now, as is the bad.
“Seek and Ye shall find”
Recommendations:
Adrienne Rich - The Diamond Cutters
Joel Brower- exactly what happened
Peter Spagnuolo- Head of the Hatra Apollo

The anti-intellect’shul backlasherry surprises me in this venue, particularly the lazyness. What happened to curiosity? Encouraging free expression?
Poets and poetry are everywhere, so you scrubs better watch out: The Pen is mightier than the sword!

[booklyn]

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7046442#post7046442

[marymargaret]

I love it, and I teach it to high school kids.

How can anybody read a poem such as Sphincter by Allen Ginsberg and not smile?

[marymargaret]

@Clothahump

I rarely read poetry. High school English classes pretty much ruined it for me.

What did your English classes do that ruined it for you?