Ionce heard of a student who, when told his class was about to begin a section on poetry, quipped “I don’t like poetry because it’s like a joke that I don’t get.” I think his reaction would be similar to many people’s, and, honestly, it makes sense. A novice in basketball would not enjoy playing with LeBron; it’s no fun to perpetually lose. I am afraid that most students are only exposed to the poetry of dead white guys and their archaic forms and diction. Start with your layup (poetry written in contemporary English). Later, you can perfect your three-pointer (Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser).
Although poetry is a form of art and thus shares many qualities with other forms of artistic expression, it has several which make it uniquely pleasurable. Think of poetry as an espresso shot in the world of arts. Many poems, by both form and convention, are not overly lengthy and can be read in a single sitting, and, therefore, they specialize in packing a significant amount of energy in a small cup. For most of us, we do not have the time nor the ability to read a novel in an afternoon. However, we can easily work through several potent poems in 30 minutes of reading, or even one or two in 10 minutes before class. We may not have the time to drink the venti coffee, but we can quickly take a shot of espresso.
Since poems are often constrained by their form to fit a certain number of syllables into a certain number of lines, each word must have a purpose. There are no meaningless words in a good poem; they follow your mom’s advice about tidying your room: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” This attention to detail provides several boons for the reader of poetry, and one of those is that poetry teaches your mind to pay attention.
How often to do we go through a day giving no attention to the words we use and the way in which we use them? We live in a world of excess, and this frivolity can be seen in all spheres of life, including words. We use words as if they have no purpose; we use them as if they are a renewable resource. Poetry teaches us that words are like people: they matter both corporately and individually. Poetry holds out its hand at the crosswalk of life and lets the little words totter off to school as slowly and as deliberately as they desire. Poetry is precision, and we could all use a little more of that in our lives.
I would contend that reading poetry makes you more human. I understand that this sounds a bit dramatic at first, but stay with me. Poetry has the unique ability to awaken certain parts of your mind and spirit that other things do not.
If we have a holistic view of the human (if we disregard that Platonic dualism which floats around modern Christianity like so much pond scum), we will understand that the stimulation of these senses increases our capacity to be human. To be human is to create, and poetry fuels the creative engine of the mind: it fills up the gas tank of your soul. Poetry has the unique ability to stick with you, due in large part to it being written in forms that mimic the patterns of speech in our language.
On my drive back to Harding from Nashville, I always pass a little town named Augusta, and Seamus Heaney’s words rise to the top my of mind: “Call her Augusta/Because we arrived in August … This month’s baled hay and blackberries and combines/Will spell Augusta’s bounty.” I have never been to Augusta, but I love that little town because it reminds me of Heaney’s sublime words. I wake up in the middle of the night, and T.S. Eliot’s words are on my lips “Here in death’s dream kingdom/The golden vision reappears.” I think this happens because I am a human being, not because I am an English major.
Words are the wild blood of life, and poetry is simply a way to arrange those words in an impactful form. So, take some advice from Billy Collins, and “waterski/across the surface of a poem.”
