Poetry: Billy Collins; Lucille Clifton; Derrick Brown

We will continue to read and work on poetry exercises drawn from our reading of Billy Collins and Lucille Clifton.

Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is one of the oldest art forms in history. Poetry is human language used for its aesthetic (or beautiful) qualities in addition to, or instead of, its content. In other words: poetry, like art, should inspire, move, motivate, or make the reader/viewer or listener feel something. 

Sometimes this happens. Sometimes it doesn't. Welcome to the fickle world of Art. Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but in the meantime, write. Everything you write creatively is practice. Practice will help you gain the skills you need to be successful.

Poetry consists largely of oral (spoken) or literary (written) works in which language is used creatively or artistically to evoke or create an emotion, idea, or feeling.

Poems frequently rely on imagery, word association, structure, and the musical qualities of our language. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what makes poetry.

Poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuanced meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitiveinterpretation. This often frustrates a reader--particularly a person who needs a definite answer to the question: what does this mean? 

Poetry is different from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a clearer and less abstract way (often through story telling). Prose frequently uses more complete logical or narrative structures than poetry does. This does not necessarily imply that poetry is illogical or does not tell a story or narrative, but rather that poetry is often created from the need to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and human emotions in a tight, condensed manner. Poetry looks different from prose on the page as well. Poetry is traditionally written using line breaks. 

What is generally accepted as "great" poetry is debatable in many cases. "Great" poetry usually follows the characteristics listed above, but it is also set apart by its complexity and sophistication. For some of you, the material presented in this unit is sophisticated, often abstract, and difficult. Try. That's all we can do. The more you try, the better you will learn, and the more skilled and comfortable you will become when approaching the art of poetry or abstract concepts in music, art, dance, and theater.

"Great" poetry, by the way, generally captures images vividly and in an original, refreshing way, while weaving together poetic or literary elements like theme, conflict, characterization, diction, complex human emotion, and profound reflective thought. 

Before we move on, let's define and classify poetry a bit. Definitions will help you understand (and hopefully appreciate) what options you have in writing poetry. Originally, poetry was meant to be spoken out loud and performed, often accompanied to the music of a lyre (or 3 stringed harp). In "songs" called dithyrambs, poetry was sung for an audience. These poets were the first rock stars! Here are the 4 types of poetry classifications or broad genres (and the kinds of poems associated with that type):

Lyric: Brief, often emotional poems that focus on the musicality or sound of words, and rhythm. Kinds of lyrical poems include:

• Songs
• Rap or hip hop
• Ode or panegyric
• Elegy or lament
• Paean
• Pastoral (idyll, bucolic, georgic, or eclogue)
• Ekphrasis
• Parody
• Occasional verse (epithalamia, etc.)
• Riddle
• Concrete
• Sonnet
• Villanelle
• Sestina
• Haiku
• Free verse

Narrative: a longer poem that often tells a story or includes fictional literary elements, such as dialogue, development of character, or plot:

• Allegory
• Ballad
• Fable
• Epistle
• Light verse
• Romance
• Satire

Dramatic: a poem meant to be read aloud or staged; a play written in verse:

• Monologue
• Masque
• Soliloquy
• Slam or spoken word
• Tragedy
• Comedy

Epic: a long narrative poem that celebrates heroic or historic deeds and events. Because of their length and complexity, we will not be writing epics, but you might come across them in your English classes:

• Heroic epic
• Mock epic

Returning to the tradition of performance--all poetry was meant to be sung or performed, let's take a look at some contemporary examples that sort of cross the genres a bit. As you watch/listen to the performance, note in your journal what you noticed about the performance and how the poet grabbed your attention. How, for example, was the performance effective in your opinion?

Derrick Brown

• "A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me"
• "Meat Loaf"
• "Cotton in the Air"

Now it's your turn to perform. Take a look at all the poem drafts you've written this past week. Hopefully, you have a few options. If you only wrote 1 poem, you're stuck with it. Otherwise, pick a poem you wrote that you would like to "perform" for the class.

1. Read and rehearse your poem with a partner. Every student should work with another person/peer.
2. Give suggestions and help each other perform better. Consider the tips we talked about with our speeches. Give each other some feedback:

• Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?
• Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your poem?
• Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
• Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? 

When time is called, please deliver your poem to the whole class.

Remember: Good speakers...

• Make eye contact
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Use gestures
• Have energy
• Change tone
• Perform with sincerity

HOMEWORK: Prepare your poem if you did not perform today. Be ready to perform your chosen poem draft for the class!