Your Electronic Poetry Portfolio… …or Poetry and You

Important Questions: we all should ask when looking at poetry. What can poetry tell us about history, society, and ourselves? Why do we read, write, and need poetry? (do all these words have a purpose) How can we apply poetry to our lives?

What can poetry tell us about history, society, and ourselves? ROBERT FROST "A poem begins with a lump in the throat, a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where the emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words.” DYLAN THOMAS "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing.” ROBERT PINSKY "Poetry...is an ancient art or technology: older than the computer, older than print, older than writing and indeed, though some may find this surprising, much older than prose. I presume that the technology of poetry, using the human body as its medium, evolved for specific uses; to hold things in memory, both within and beyond the individual life span; to achieve intensity and sensuous appeal; to express feelings and ideas rapidly and memorably. To share those feelings and ideas with companions, and also with the dead and with those to come after us."

40 Reasons in 40 Seconds Cracks the whip Snaps you into a different state of mind Binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society Instructs by pleasing Hits you with a brick Forces an epiphany Just sounds good Achieves a certain level of song that exceeds the limits of human language Contains the music of plain speech Creates a sort of religious feeling Is news that stays news Burns for the joy of it Has an indefinable "woo woo" quality Proposes pleasure, not truth, as the immediate object of attention Imitates nature Sets off your indicator lights Ritualistically recalls horrible memories in loving detail Purges pity and terror Shimmers Brings the whole soul of man into activity Is the exact opposite of a gazebungle Is nothing else, so is poetic by default Remembers things silently gone out of mind Rings your bell Transforms contemplated emotion into actual, felt emotion Offers the most accurate possible symbolic image of objects which when they are actually seen cause distress (worms, etc.) Feels as if it was always intended to be written as a poem and does not feel like prose in drag Marries sound and meaning Lives beautifully for a moment and then dies Connects the reader with an interior "otherness," sort of like music Moves Lifts you off Sees relationships and love everywhere Recreates the early childhood pleasures of moon, Mom, and mud Breathes the finer spirit of all knowledge Looks before and after Shatters self-important, secluded views of the world Causes a crackling blue spark to arc from the page to the reader's mind Induces movement by precise expression Sings

Why do we read, write, and need poetry? (do all these words have a purpose) I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW! But that is what we are going to try and figure out.

Table of Contents Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan Poetry (Renaissance) “To His Coy Mistress”—Marvell “The Flea”—Donne Romanticism and Romantic Poetry “She Walks in Beauty”—Byron Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite Poetry “The Lady of Shalott”—Tennyson “Porphyria’s Lover”—Browning Modern Poetry “Truth Kills Everybody”—Hughes

She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! Lord Byron was born in 1788 and died in 1824 HISTORY VIDEO “[Poetry] is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake”

Imagery: light/dark images: shows a contrast/balance between dark (beauty) and light (tacky). Images include - LIGHT: gaudy day denies; DARK: which waves in every raven tresses, or softly lightens o’er her face; Light/Dark: One shade the more, one ray the less Simile: “She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies” (lines 1-2). The poet compares two dissimilar things: the beauty of a woman to the peaceful perfection of the night. Attitude: The poet’s solemn explanation of beauty leaves the reader in a state of awe. “Where thoughts serenely sweet express/How pure, how dear their dwelling-place” (Bryon, lines 11-12). By choosing words such as serenely and pure, the poet creates a feeling of reverence. This tone of reverence lifts the object of beauty above that of mediocrity. Theme: In She walks in Beauty, Byron explains how beauty goes beyond the physical. “A mind at peace with all below/A heart whose love is innocent” (lines 17-18). One should not judge beauty by the tackiness and distortions of light but by the soft, calm, and eloquent shades of gray created by darkness. The true definition of beauty lies within.

Ted Hughes was born in 1930 and died in 1998 So Crow found Proteus—steaming in the sun. Stinking with sea-bottom growths Like the plug of the earth's sump-outlet. There he lay—belching quakily. Crow pounced and buried his talons— And it was the famous bulging Achilles—but he held him The oesophagus of a staring shark—but he held it A wreath of lashing mambas—but he held it It was a naked powerline, 2000 volts— He stood aside, watching his body go blue As he held it and held it It was a screeching woman and he had her by the throat— He held it A gone steering wheel pouncing towards a cliff-edge— A trunk of jewels dragging into a· black depth—he held it The ankle of a rising, fiery angel—he held it Christ's hot pounding heart—he held it The earth, shrunk to the size of a hand grenade And he held it he held it and held it and BANG! He was blasted to nothing. Ted Hughes was born in 1930 and died in 1998 Named British Poet Laureate in 1984. Married to American Poet Sylvia Plath. “Maybe all poetry… is revealing of something that the writer doesn’t actually want to say, but desperately needs to communicate”

Allusion: “So Crow found Proteus—steaming in the sun” (line 1) Allusion: “So Crow found Proteus—steaming in the sun” (line 1). Hughes alludes to Proteus from Greek mythology. A son of Poseidon who knew everything about the past, present and future, but did not like to tell the future to anyone. He could change himself into any shape he pleased, but if he were nevertheless seized and held, he would foretell the future.. Onomatopoeia: “BANG!” (line 21). The word bang imitates the sound of a large explosion. Attitude: The attitude of The Truth Kills Everybody is one of desperation. The poet repeats the words “he held it” through out the poem (Hughes, lines 7,8,11,13,15-18,20). With every repetition, Hughes captures the anxiety and suspense that one feels as they try to hold onto that which is important. This apprehension continues until one word, “BANG!”, captures the final feeling that all is lost (line 21). Theme: Holding onto the elusive can be devastating as Ted Hughes points out in his poem The Truth Kills Everybody. “The earth, shrunk to the size of a hand grenade/And he held it he held it and held it and/BANG!/He was blasted to nothing” (Hughes, lines 19-21). There comes a time when one needs to evaluate that which he/she is holding onto whether it is a memory, a dream, etc and determine if the outcome is worth the struggle. Although it maybe painful, sometimes the truth dictates one to let go.