Why you should read this blog.
Because I'm writing it, of course. Silly you.
Seriously, this blog is even more an exercise in self-indulgence than my other blog, so I'm not expecting much of an audience. But if you're curious about poetry, curious about how someone could possibly ever like it (much less study it for a living), or just curious about the utter strangeness of poets (Emily Dickinson didn't venture out of her family's house for almost 20 years; Sylvia Plath committed suicide by putting her head in an oven; Walt Whitman wrote a poem entitled "City of Orgies"), this might be the place for you! I'm not planning on posting excessive amounts of my own poetry, though it will make an occasional appearance. I just want to talk about poetry. Because, like it or not, we're all connected to it.
Poetry (coming from the Greek word poesis) is about creation. Poesis translates into "making" or "creating," and it is a fundamental tool we use when language reaches a kind of limit. You know that feeling when you just can't quite express how you feel? Or can't quite find the right words to say what you mean?
Enter poetry, stage right.
Poetry has the uncanny ability to express what we often feel is inexpressible. It's why poets write about love, God, nature, time, and all manner of things that can elude plain prose. It's how we use language to go beyond itself toward something even better.
That's why this blog is called "Sudden Rightnesses." Wallace Stevens came up with that one, and it describes what poetry can sometimes do. It's that flash of insight; that "Aha!" moment; that brief instance where you really "get it," though you may not be able to say exactly what it is that you "got." It's just suddenly and inexplicably "right."
So Stevens says that poetry is basically just a bunch of sounds passing through these "sudden rightnesses." It isn't always about what it means (check out the Billy Collins poem from my first post down there). It's often about how it makes us feel. Like music. Like art. Like love or hate or anger or peace. Like something beautiful.
And if you're interested in any of those things (and I hate to break it to you like this), you're interested in poetry.
Seriously, this blog is even more an exercise in self-indulgence than my other blog, so I'm not expecting much of an audience. But if you're curious about poetry, curious about how someone could possibly ever like it (much less study it for a living), or just curious about the utter strangeness of poets (Emily Dickinson didn't venture out of her family's house for almost 20 years; Sylvia Plath committed suicide by putting her head in an oven; Walt Whitman wrote a poem entitled "City of Orgies"), this might be the place for you! I'm not planning on posting excessive amounts of my own poetry, though it will make an occasional appearance. I just want to talk about poetry. Because, like it or not, we're all connected to it.
Poetry (coming from the Greek word poesis) is about creation. Poesis translates into "making" or "creating," and it is a fundamental tool we use when language reaches a kind of limit. You know that feeling when you just can't quite express how you feel? Or can't quite find the right words to say what you mean?
Enter poetry, stage right.
Poetry has the uncanny ability to express what we often feel is inexpressible. It's why poets write about love, God, nature, time, and all manner of things that can elude plain prose. It's how we use language to go beyond itself toward something even better.
That's why this blog is called "Sudden Rightnesses." Wallace Stevens came up with that one, and it describes what poetry can sometimes do. It's that flash of insight; that "Aha!" moment; that brief instance where you really "get it," though you may not be able to say exactly what it is that you "got." It's just suddenly and inexplicably "right."
So Stevens says that poetry is basically just a bunch of sounds passing through these "sudden rightnesses." It isn't always about what it means (check out the Billy Collins poem from my first post down there). It's often about how it makes us feel. Like music. Like art. Like love or hate or anger or peace. Like something beautiful.
And if you're interested in any of those things (and I hate to break it to you like this), you're interested in poetry.
posted by Susanna | 7:34 PM
2 Comments:
Great stuff! Of course, we do expect to see some of your poetry occaisionally!
Monk
so glad to see this coming from you. a great post here. i wonder if you would be willing to get involved in our seminary's poetry blog. lets talk. you've got some good gifts to contribute.
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