NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, do ya? Huh?

Personally I find most poetry to be the equivalent of ipecac...nauseating in small doses, vomit-inducing in larger doses. Poetry is such a personal thing, yet words are so imprecise....thus the Poet's words mean SFA to me.

I don't think anyone would like my poetry (yes I write it...I'm just wise enough to know nobody wants to see it) and even if they did, they'd have to know me well enough in order to get any understanding from it.


So what makes people think other people actually WANT to see their poetry?
Are people really interested in this stuff or is it just pretentiousness?

what if someone read something you wrote and it
actually hit a nerve? and because of that their life
was changed. if someone asked your view on a
movie, would you give it? we share our opinions
in order to reach out. i believe there is nothing
written without an impact.

My poetry is equivelent to mindless ranting and blabbing about what's going on inside my head. It doesn't even do much for myself.

Love poetry, and as it turns out, people love mine, though most people who think they're poets are..well..horrid.

I should point out that I think its fantastic if someone truly loves poetry. If something creative moves you, you're more alive IMHO.
As an artists and musician I'm biased towards creativity and self expression.

There is some poetry that does move me.
Certain translations of Baudelaire once did quite a bit of good for my soul, but when I read the same poems now, I don't feel as moved. I think its because I have changed as person in the intervening years.

I haven't yet encountered a poet whose words move so deeply as Baudelaire's once did. I'm sure there's one out there, but the vast majority of poetry strikes me as so meaningless to me, and so often, well....bad. I can't be bothered to sift through so much tripe on the off chance of find a poet whose words mean something to me. I get such a charge out of art & music, I don't need anymore aesthetic experiences in my life anyway.

what if someone read something you wrote and it
actually hit a nerve? and because of that their life
was changed. if someone asked your view on a
movie, would you give it? we share our opinions
in order to reach out. i believe there is nothing
written without an impact.


Well said. But why do so many would be Poets feel the need to share their efforts *without being invited to so*?

Well said. But why do so many would be Poets feel the need to share their efforts *without being invited to so*?

To show off, perhaps? Me, I'm more the quiet sort of writer..I happily write on my own, for myself, and then might share it with a select few. I know I'm good, but I don't feel any need or desire to ever share with some mass audience.

I love some poetry, and the stuff that I do write is mainly for myself. That said, I do have to agree that most people who think that they are poets tend to write trash.

I would say yes, I love poetry, and yes, I want other people to read it, since that's what I'm trying to make a living doing. You can't actually make a living on poetry--there's not enough money in it--but I hope to publish enough to get a secure teaching job. I'm teaching right now, college level at a respectable university, but only on a year to year contract. I want a tenure line job, and that means I've got to get at least two books out there. Not much luck thus far, other than winning a pretty big competition for a fellowship a couple of years ago, but if I win a book contest, you can bet your ass I'll be advertising it here.

And you get an extra thumbs-up for the Ace Rimmer reference in the poll. :D

To show off, perhaps? Me, I'm more the quiet sort of writer..I happily write on my own, for myself, and then might share it with a select few. I know I'm good, but I don't feel any need or desire to ever share with some mass audience.

But the ones that flog their poetry (or art or music) so shamelessly and unasked for are so often HORRIBLE. How does becoming an object of derision help a person show off?

I would suggest however that you do share your poetry more. Speaking from expereinces in both art and music, sharing your work in the appropriate place and time is a great thing to do. While you'll have to put up with both bile and flattery, the constructyive criticism some people will share with you can really bring your creations further along in terms of quality and completeness.

Love poetry, and as it turns out, people love mine, though most people who think they're poets are..well..horrid.

lol, I agree quite a bit.
As far as my feelings go. If im in the mood, and some one I know shows me some i might be interested... I don't really like big names, like Robert Frost. And since most people I know, are as you so nicly word it "horrid", I never really got into poetry. Im sure there is some good stuff out there though.

And you get an extra thumbs-up for the Ace Rimmer reference in the poll. :D


I wondered if anyone would get that refference.

There is a fine but very distinct and imporatant line between self-promotion and subjecting someone to an expereince they have no interest in partaking.

Good luck with the publishing. Its a bitch getting published in any creative medium, be it art, music, writing or poetry. Just keep sticking your neck out and you'll eventually get there. At least as an artist I know that persistence can lead to me making a comfy living as an Artist. It may well take me until I'm 50 or older (I'm currently 31), but I know I can get there.

I wondered if anyone would get that refference.

There is a fine but very distinct and imporatant line between self-promotion and subjecting someone to an expereince they have no interest in partaking.

Good luck with the publishing. Its a bitch getting published in any creative medium, be it art, music, writing or poetry. Just keep sticking your neck out and you'll eventually get there. At least as an artist I know that persistence can lead to me making a comfy living as an Artist. It may well take me until I'm 50 or older (I'm currently 31), but I know I can get there.Netflix has returned me to the days of Red Dwarf--it took me about two days to watch series five and six, and now I'm waiting for seven and eight.

As for the publishing, I know it's a bitch. I've been at it now for a good eight years, with varying levels of success--a little dry lately, but I've been doing some good work and I feel good about it.

But the ones that flog their poetry (or art or music) so shamelessly and unasked for are so often HORRIBLE. How does becoming an object of derision help a person show off?

I would suggest however that you do share your poetry more. Speaking from expereinces in both art and music, sharing your work in the appropriate place and time is a great thing to do. While you'll have to put up with both bile and flattery, the constructyive criticism some people will share with you can really bring your creations further along in terms of quality and completeness.
Yes, a lot of the ones who put forth their poety and laud themselves are rather horrid, but there're some that're good (or at least decent) that do the same. It's their ego that protects them, often convincing them they are far better than they are.

I do share my work, as I said, with a select few, a couple of which are incredible writers in their own right, and critiques are always encouraged. I truly believe that without the encouragement of others, I'd never have realized that I had the potential to write, and certainly not effectively developed it.

I love poetry, especially from the Romantic era. I also love the Psalms, Victorian era, and some Modern (not a major fan of Post-Modern though, it doesn't possess the innate beauty of other forms, but I guess I'm just not a fan of realism).

Yes and apparently they do *points to wallet

I write poetry, or rather I used to when I actually could. From the feedback I received, I'd say I wasn't half bad. My last poem sucked though. In case anyone does want to read my poetry, I have an account on deviant art. http://deraforia.deviantart.com/ There is use of strong language, so I'm warning you now if you can't handle it, though I'm sure you can.

One of the problems with poetry is when it's done well it's somethin' special. Really incredible. But most people (like me) haven't the foggiest idea what that 'it' is. So it seems like they can do it, but they can't. But they show it to you anyway.

Then-and this hits me a lot so it's a sore spot-there are the people that use other art forms as vessels for their poetry. During film school I got to the point where if I watched another fucking film that was really just a poem with crappy footage of the filmmakers girlfriend I was going to beat them with their own camera. Similarly, if I saw another play that had more than one character reading poetry I was...well, I don't have anything funny to do to the playwright but it was pretty fucking anoying.

Hats off to the cats who really can do good poetry, it's all voodoo to me but I knows I like it.

Personally, I love poetry(I'm an English major. I'm not allowed to dislike it...lol). I've written some of my own, but nothing that I share on a wide basis. Too shy and afraid of people not liking something that holds that much meaning to me.

However, this is a personal favorite poem

London
I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
-Blake

Blake is one of the few Poets that resonante deeply with me. Nice choice.


CTOAN: Poetry and "Performance Art": the two worst things to happen in an Art College assignment.

One of the problems with poetry is when it's done well it's somethin' special. Really incredible. But most people (like me) haven't the foggiest idea what that 'it' is. So it seems like they can do it, but they can't. But they show it to you anyway.

Then-and this hits me a lot so it's a sore spot-there are the people that use other art forms as vessels for their poetry. During film school I got to the point where if I watched another fucking film that was really just a poem with crappy footage of the filmmakers girlfriend I was going to beat them with their own camera. Similarly, if I saw another play that had more than one character reading poetry I was...well, I don't have anything funny to do to the playwright but it was pretty fucking anoying.

Hats off to the cats who really can do good poetry, it's all voodoo to me but I knows I like it.

Suggestion for the playwright: shove an oversized prop up their ass. That would be hilarious to see.

Personally, I love poetry(I'm an English major. I'm not allowed to dislike it...lol). I've written some of my own, but nothing that I share on a wide basis. Too shy and afraid of people not liking something that holds that much meaning to me.

However, this is a personal favorite poem

London
I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
-Blake



I love William Blake :)

Little Lamb, who make thee
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!