What is poetry? What is poetry? Poetry is important... It reaches inside people and heals their wounds like nothing else can. It is an escape from reality and a method of coping with reality. It's a certain feeling inside." Poetry is important... It reaches inside people and heals their wounds like nothing else can. It is an escape from reality and a method of coping with reality. It's a certain feeling inside." Anonymous

What poetry does to you? "Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not. We all know what light is; but it is not easy to tell what it is." Samuel Johnson "original combination of words, distinctive sound, and emotional impact" Anonymous

What poetry really is? According to geocities.com, poetry is.. A form of expression written seeking approval from no one but read and interpreted by anyone and everyone It reveals your most inner thoughts that may never be spoken forming a deep communication to others and for you, a cherished token that you will always remember.

What do the poets say? Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry" Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "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."

In brief, according to Mark Flanagan in About.com… Poetry is the chiseled marble of language; it's a paint-spattered canvas - but the poet uses words instead of paint, and the canvas is you. One of the most definable characteristics of the poetic form is economy of language. Poets are miserly and unrelentingly critical in the way they dole out words to a page. Defining poetry is like grasping at the wind - once you catch it, it's no longer wind.

What poetry is usually about ? Love – central experience in life Death – taboo subject Religion – mortal vs immortal Nature – appreciate the beauty People – families, friends Domestic Matters * Everyday topics = familiar themes

LOVE Proof – That I did always love thee by Emily Dickinson That I did always love, I bring thee proof: That till I loved I did not love enough. That I shall love alway, I offer thee That love is life, And life hath immortality. This, dost thou doubt, sweet? Then have I Nothing to show But Calvary.

DEATH Wake by Langston Hughes Tell all my mourners To mourn in red -- Cause there ain't no sense In my bein' dead.

RELIGION A Child’s Thought of God by Elizabeth Barrett Browning They say that God lives very high; But if you look above the pines You cannot see our God; and why? And if you dig down in the mines, You never see Him in the gold, Though from Him all that’s glory shines. God is so good, He wears a fold Of heaven and earth across His face, Like secrets kept, for love, untold. But still I feel that His embrace Slides down by thrills, through all things made, Through sight and sound of every place; As if my tender mother laid On my shut lids her kisses’ pressure, Half waking me at night, and said, “Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?”

Remember by Christina Rosetti REMEMBER me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you plann'd: Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.

How to Eat a Poem Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin To throw away. Eve Merriam

A Good Poem I like a good poem one with lots of fighting in it. Blood, and the clanging of armour. Poems against Scotland are good, and poems that defeat the French with crossbows. I don’t like that aren’t about anything. Sonnets are wet and a waste of time, Also poems that don’t know how to rhyme. If I was a poem I’d play football and get picked for England. Roger McGough