LawyerBoy

I never understood poetry in English class. And a few years back…I started to suspect that nobody really understands poetry…because maybe there’s not much to understand. By their nature, poets are vague. They want to share their thoughts and feelings…only maybe they don’t REALLY want to share their thoughts and feelings (for whatever reason)…because if they did, they’d just say what they have to say in prose. No sense beating around the linguistic bush.

Just a theory. Maybe I just came up with it to justify my own lack of understanding. Easier to place the blame elsewhere...

Law School Blogger - Lawyer Boy

__________________
I moved back into my parents' house after college, and the closest thing I had to a job was playing cowbell in my friends' band. My father, a tax lawyer, told me that I had to move out and grow up. It's not like I was going to get a job, so I went to law school, where I learned that I could become a lawyer without becoming my father, and in the process, I grew up. Come visit me at http://LawSchoolBlogger.com/

FantasyWitch

Its a good point but poets tend to be vague for a reason. It's almost oike they have fdone it intentionally.

At the moment I am studying 'The Last Duchess' for my higher english course and it is a fabulous poem because you can rip it to pieces and make your own deductions from it. A good poet lets the readers mind wander.

Sniper McGee

Or perhaps you just cannot grasp something unless it's spelled out word-for-word in front of you?

I write in a somewhat "vague" fashion because every one of my poems contains multiple themes and stories. The "vagueness" also lets the reader relate to the writer easier, because it goes on a broader category, not a strictly singular experience.

__________________

FantasyWitch

Didn't i say soemthing like that??

FantasyWitch

**something.
I hate my horrible typing!

Edgewise

No comment.

__________________
The Heart of Art and Sole

Cat Scan Variations

Mirror

I have said this before, and I will say it again (verbatim): Honesty/Feelings/Emotion must be married to the utmost attention to craft. Otherwise, you're left with bland sincerity.

__________________
Selected poetry by Ariana Rink and John Williamson:

http://www.lulu.com/content/2956099

LawyerBoy

Yes...maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle...

__________________
I moved back into my parents' house after college, and the closest thing I had to a job was playing cowbell in my friends' band. My father, a tax lawyer, told me that I had to move out and grow up. It's not like I was going to get a job, so I went to law school, where I learned that I could become a lawyer without becoming my father, and in the process, I grew up. Come visit me at http://LawSchoolBlogger.com/

Baron

Maybe stupid questions like this are better suited to the lounge

__________________

MisterJack

He's a lawyer, it's his duty to ask stupid questions

__________________
If it claims to be God, eat it.

--------------

Olly Buckle

Or maybe the question is only stupid to some one who thinks they know the answer.
I think you say it when you say poets are expressing thoughts and feelings, lawyers deal in the facts of the case but, like motives, feelings are not easily defined in logical prose, ideally the vagueness is very precise, if that makes sense.
I also think this is the right place to pose the question, here be poets and some of the better ones hardly stray away from here to the other parts of the forum

__________________
Unity will conquer, true love. The Fabulous Prince Buster

Read me at.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=323686

Baron

If you take a look at the variety that exists in both poetry and poets then you see that the question has no answer; or it has as many answers as there are differing personalities writing poetry. Therefore it's a stupid question.

__________________

cyndijoyce

Finding the truthe may be as simple as expanding your reading selection. Some poets do " Just say what they have to say". Check out Millay or even Shakespere. Also re-define understanding. If you are looking to know exactly what situation/person prompted a poem you are looking in vain, and will never understand. The best poetry is written by a poet out of their own feelings in a way that can make you reflect on your own feelings and situations.

Foxee

Let's accept right up front that there is good poetry and bad poetry and, for the purpose of this post, we'll dispense with the bad poetry altogether.

Poetry bears some resemblance to how a magnifying glass works. The same subject is seen clearer, larger, perhaps one bit of it in sharp focus while some is angled into a different perspective.

I have a lot of respect for how difficult poetry is to write. Now and again I write some not because I fancy myself a poet but because it is a good creative exercise that helps me to step out of how I write prose and look at things a different way.

Poetry is a puzzle (whether you're talking about the wordcraft or sometimes the meaning) and a piece of artwork built of words.

I'm not schooled in poetry either, LawyerBoy, and some of the poems that I read are difficult for me to understand. It's a tad embarrassing but I would never insult someone because I don't understand what they do.

__________________
Try the POSTCARD FICTION CONTEST! Closes for entries November 19. Can you write a story in 350 words or less?

Ilasir Maroa

It's not a stupid question, though some poets may feel rightly insulted by it.

I like to think of it in terms of music (corny, I know). Songs can get away with a lot of flaws, or varying skill levels, or varying depth, because they have music and the feeling it creates to back up the words. All we poets have are words to work with. All those dvices that create the "vagueness" which you wonder about are merely an attept to create such a musical quality in spoken words, or "read" words if you read poetry in your head.

Prose can tell you the name of the emotion, in general terms, but poetry conspires to make you feel the emotion. If I say, "I am sad", what does that really tell you about how I'm feeling? Nothing, that's what. All you get is a general idea of which memories you should peek through to get an idea. Of course, prose can evoke emotion, too, but a prose writter has much more to work with. A poet has a limited number of words, and a limited amount of time. To that end, they need words to do double, or triple, or even quadruple duty.


"My father beat me, and it hurt, and it made me sad." That's prose, and all it really is is a description of events. Tell me that evoked an emotion like pain or grief. I bet it didn't. It's just a bunch of words, right? Well, poetry can go beyond that.



Give me awhile, and maybe I can gives some examples of poetry that do evoke the imotions I said the prose couldn't. But don't hold your breath. I have better things to do.

__________________
My hopeful book:
Crap! Haven't posted it anywhere yet, darn!
"Only tyranny cloaks itself in shadows. The light of justice can not be hidden."
www.theoddvillepress.com