Here's my reaction to Marianne Moore's "Poetry." What caught my attention before even reading the poem was the physical structure that is evident Moore's poetry. Although I know I should not judge a poem by the way it looks, I enjoy the variety and different types of structure such as e.e. cummings and Moore. In "Poetry," it is just indentation; however, I also believe it serves to guide the reader/speaker. It seems like random nonsense to be indenting and creating a new stanza in the middle of sentences, but the enjambment is one type of poetic device among many that are used in numerous styles of poetry.
As we freewrote in class, I made the connection between the structure of the poem as a zoo and the content of the poem as the "real toads." While I did some of the reading by Catherine E. Paul, it referenced to Moore's experience with the museums and it got me thinking about animals and zoos. While I am a sucker for "imaginary gardens," there has to be some substance in the poem itself for me to genuinely enjoy it. There has to be something real (toads?) to give the poem meaning. Anyways, this paragraph contains the main part of my free-write, and I want to discuss more about the poem.
I didn't want to get into deeply during the discussion we had in class; however, the poem struck me not only as guidelines to poetry but as guidelines to life. Life is something I can "dislike" and have contempt, but is also necessary to understand its "rawness" and genuinity. There are people living half-lives: not knowing exactly what they want to do, but following the motions. Then there are those fully living within the moment of the "imaginary gardens with real toads in them." These people know they are living in a temporary world for 80 maybe-so years, but truly experiencing it. It is like an imaginary world, but their souls are real because they live with a purpose. I am not saying this is Moore's intention at all about the poem, but my connection with poetry. Poetry is an artistic expression of one's thoughts and views on life. I also believe that since there are so many forms and kinds of poetry, everyone can find his/her own style.
"Poetry for me" - Daniel Kim
I, too, enjoy poetry: your voice, your style, your
life wrapped into words.
Showing who you are to those around you and to
yourself by means of poetry.
Poetry: Just live it.
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4 comments:
Being the cynical guy that I am, I would like to question why it is necessary to live in reality? Shouldn't happiness be all that matters? Besides, the definition of realism is pretty vague in terms of living. I mean, I don't have to know what exactly I have to do (in fact, I would argue that no one really does) and still live contently, exploring many possibilities and new things-- or maybe I'm just inexperienced and will settle down once I get out of college.
I'd also be inclined to agree with your views on poetry. A lot of the poetry we've been reading recently center around critique of poetry and "what poetry should be and shouldn't be". I don't really agree with putting constraints on how poetry should be written. In fact, I think this lack of constraint, the lack of any real definitions or bounds on what poetry "should be", contributes to the all the diverse types of poetry we've read so far.
Yeah I agree. Poetry shouldn't be bound by the standard rules of written english at all. To do so, would be to limit the extent of the imagination. With that in mind, I particularly liked how you phrased it in "Poetry is an artistic expression of one's thoughts and views on life." That's what poetry is all about, and nothing more... But then again, comprehensible structure doesn't hurt either.
Hmm. I also think that poetry should not be bounded by some specific structure and idea. Poetry is freedom, a way to represent something without any restraint. That is what makes poetry to incredible. Poetry written from the heart without any constraint is way better than something that has a structure and fits what an ideal poem should be. While it does help to read a poem that has some structure, poetry is way more than that. That is the reason people appreciate poetry. Poetry is supposed to be unique, nothing more.
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