The Provocation of Poetry By:Dijonae Davis

Per our last class discussion, any piece of writing that makes you feel or react a certain way, could definitely be catergorized as poetry. For me, Ana Castillo’s “Women Are Not Roses’’ out of all three poems created the biggest reaction for me.  As I read and reread the poem, I began to get more annoyed by it each time. For a poem with such simple language, trying to understand the meaning behind it slowly started to drive me insane. It was almost like the words on the page were taunting me and I hated it with every inch of my being. And then, all of a sudden, it hit me: this is the very definition of poetry. Poetry can be simple in design but complex in nature. As long is it provokes a reaction,of any kind, it’s poetry. The anger this poem caused me, because of my lack of understanding behind it,  intrigued me to keep reading and breaking it down. I believe I started to understand what she was saying when she was comparing women to rivers, oceans, roses and stars. All of those things are considered to be beautiful to look at, but dangerous in nature. The rapidness of rivers, the vastness of oceans, the thorns on roses and the burning gas of stars. From what I understand, the poet is trying to push the idea that woean are human-not just pretty things to be admired. Castillo’s poem, out of the three created more of a reaction than the other poems did, which led me to the conclusion that “Women Are Not Roses” best fest defines poetry because of the reaction it provoked. 

Poetry?

I feel that Marianna Moore’s poem “Poetry” defines poetry the best out of the three. However, this judgement was not made because I believe that either of the two other poems do not define poetry very well in their own right (and they both do), it is because they focus more on showing/utilizing poetic devices rather than offering explanations and analysis like how Moore did.

The last portion of Moore’s poem is where it does the task of defining poetry the best. The most important part is when she states,” … imaginary gardens with real toads in them…” Which is something that poetry can be compared very closely to, even though at first glance they may seem like totally disconnected entities/ideas. Just like how people, whether it is with their own personal pet or for a large display (any animal display) will create a living space (or terrarium) for an intriguing specimen in order to preserve and share it, people create poems in order to capture very real emotions and experiences in something that is synthetic.

Even though the surrounding may be totally fabricated, it can still carry something totally genuine. Some are so well crafted that it can even fool your senses to the point to where you may even forget that it is not “real”.

– Andrew Hardy

Genuine of the Imaginary

Poetry, in my experience, has always been a fickle medium, which is perhaps why Marianne Moore’s ironic description of it resonates so strongly. She admits the discontent for the “fiddle,” or what one could presume is the surface-level jumble of wordy figurative descriptors—something that some less frequent perusers of poetry may find intimidating or confusing—as Moore puts it, the collection of the “unintelligible.”

Though not necessarily an argument, if one were to view it as such or at least between picking which poem/poet defines poetry best, a good argument should admit its faults which is what Moore does. It is true that some poetry can fiddle with their wordings and come off as confusing or even intimidating to some. This is mayhaps why she’d revised the original poem from it’s twenty-nine lines to only four in 1967, condensing the language to only portray her message.

However, I do believe Moore’s original poem carries more sustenance in defining poetry, especially when she speaks of “imaginary gardens with real toads in them.” If anything, even in admitting poetry’s flaws (in accordance to some but not all), that line in particular serves as the perfect description of poetry as a whole. Poetry describes things, people, places, and scenarios in a fictional way—one that isn’t necessarily tangible to reality, but the feelings that are evoked by the language are real. By such, poetry becomes a “place for the genuine,” just how what the reader takes from these imaginary words on a page are genuine.

Caitlyn Klemm

Defining Poetry: Utility Softened by Feeling, Feeling Heightened by Utility

by Andrew Perez

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem “Uses of Poetry” reminds readers to not consider poetry solely on the basis of feeling but on the merit of their historical value. The first lines of the poem describe a war-torn landscape “where armed trains run over green protesters” (Ferlinghetti, line 11) and “promises…will be betrayed” (lines 7-8). Ferlinghetti considers himself to be a “reporter for a newspaper” (line 51) attempting to accurately depict these events unfolding around him, and thus reorienting his art to be worthy of some objective merit.

This difference in Ferlinghetti’s poetic intent argues a point the other two poets in this selection fail to justify beyond chaos and contempt, making it my favorite out of the three. Many of the classic poetic works integrated into teaching curriculum in the US make for excellent literary analysis and examples of mastering writing conventions. Poets like Shakespeare and Lord Byron provide insights on technical skill and larger historical movements, but are arguably utilitarian in what they offer students. The contemporary social and historical contexts of poetic works, as Ferlinghetti claims, justify the necessity of the art form despite the common accusation of sentimental excess poetry carries. None of my English classes in high school read poems by James Baldwin or Maya Angelou, or any political poet for that matter. The ideas these poems contain on sexuality, race, government corruption, among a variety of other variables that shape our world, are extremely helpful for the youth who do not yet understand how we arrived at our current human condition. For this reason, I cannot disagree with Ferlinghetti: the uses of poetry are far more practical than they appear.

Poetry

Out of all the poems the one that stood out to me as to how to answer the question of what poetry is, is Ferlinghetti Lawrence’s “Uses of Poetry”. Why I would say this defined poetry the best is because there are different outlooks on poetry, it didn’t just talk about all the good parts of poetry, it was looking into different aspects of poetry to bring to light that poetry isn’t straightforward “for even bad poetry has relevance for what does it not say for what it leaves out”(16-18).  Lawrence’s outlook of poetry is not a straightforward definition of poetry is rather it explains how poetry is being used in different forms even if it isn’t considered to be ‘important poetry’ from institutions, professors, etc. poetry is in everything we do even if we don’t realize it. poetry is in everything around us, “the voice within the voice of the turtle the face behind the face of the race” (44-45). It’s interesting to have a definition of poetry being so vague because that’s how I interpreted from Lawrence’s understanding of how we use poetry in life. Poetry isn’t really defined because we can see poetry in anything, however the way poetry can be seen is just in daily life. Lawrence’s poem really gave an outlook of life on earth being poetry, being part of life is just poetic because we can interpret animals, nature, etc. differently. We all have different outlooks and that’s why I think the definition of poetry can be very vague and I like the outlook that I understood from Lawrence because I can see poetry in anything but still interpret it differently that the person next to me.

Maria Mendiola

Deep understanding of poetry

By: Randy Hernandez

I believe Moore poem title “Poetry” best defines poetry in general. Moore acknowledges the idea of showing the reader that there is more significant aspects to life than poetry. She begins her poem with the benefits of understanding poetry as she states “with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine”. When the reader has a great understanding of what the poet or writer is saying then they show a deeper interest in the work. The reader sees the writing as useful or seeing a purpose such as a “bat holding on upside down or inquest of something to eat.” Moore includes this list of what these animals actions hold a purpose the same way a writer may have. When poets write they always have a goal, whether it’s for pure joy, sharing sensitive issues or personal experiences. It’s not until one can’t get an understanding of poetry that they are “dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry”. This quote could refer to this idea of how one’s mind won’t see a purpose to certain aspects of what the poets wants the reader to understand. This results in them getting frustrated and not having a deep understanding of the poem. Then the reader sees no purpose or no big picture of why the poet wrote the poem. When Moore shows these two different aspects to poetry it helps define poetry in a general sense. At times it may be very difficult to understand, but other times it’s not too difficult. This idea of having to figure out what the poet wants to express in their writing is what poetry is about. It’s not until you have a deep understanding that you see the creativity, art or purpose to what the author wants the reader to see. 

Deep understanding of poetry

By: Randy Hernandez

I believe Moore poem title “Poetry” best defines poetry in general. Moore acknowledges the idea of showing the reader that there is more significant aspects to life than poetry. She begins her poem with the benefits of understanding poetry as she states “with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine”. When the reader has a great understanding of what the poet or writer is saying then they show a deeper interest in the work. The reader sees the writing as useful or seeing a purpose such as a “bat holding on upside down or inquest of something to eat.” Moore includes this list of what these animals actions hold a purpose the same way a writer may have. When poets write they always have a goal, whether it’s for pure joy, sharing sensitive issues or personal experiences. It’s not until one can’t get an understanding of poetry that they are “dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry”. This quote could refer to this idea of how one’s mind won’t see a purpose to certain aspects of what the poets wants the reader to understand. This results in them getting frustrated and not having a deep understanding of the poem. Then the reader sees no purpose or no big picture of why the poet wrote the poem. When Moore shows these two different aspects to poetry it helps define poetry in a general sense. At times it may be very difficult to understand, but other times it’s not too difficult. This idea of having to figure out what the poet wants to express in their writing is what poetry is about. It’s not until you have a deep understanding that you see the creativity, art or purpose to what the author wants the reader to see. 

Marianne Moore changed my outlook on poetry

Marianne Moore’s poem made me realize poetry is more than a “high-sounding interpretation” it is a feeling, an emotion, reading that can incite an experience. At first glance poetry might be difficult to read for example, Moore used enjambment in her sentence pattern to explain that it is difficult to understand and sometimes annoying to read but that is why she says it is for the genuine. Poetry is for the people who will let the poet’s words incite an emotion, someone who is genuine, which I felt was Moore trying to provoke those who choose to look at poetry and dismiss it because they do not understand it. Once you can understand how to read poetry you can no longer put a label on what a poem means because of how many responses and emotions a poem can ignite. Moore further goes on to explain how just because you cannot admire what you cannot understand doesn’t mean you can claim it to be invalid. This is why her poem defines poetry the best, not only did I understand poetry is subjective but can still provoke the same feeling to all who reads. Moore’s revision is even more powerful, and it makes me feel contempt with sometimes having difficulty understanding poetry but you have to allow yourself to feel what the poet is trying to explain. 

Natalie Rodriguez

poetry for the naked eye.

Jocelyn Lemus

When one thinks of poetry, they think of it as separate stanzas that rhyme. For instance, one can always begin with, “roses are red and violets are blue, etc.” However, that is not always the case because poetry comes from different forms and shapes. They can rhyme, or they cannot. They can be extremely long , but also extremely short. The amount of words never determine the amount of meaning a poem brings into life. When I think of poetry and the real definition, I find myself questioning such question that can hardly be answered.

As reading all three creative and well descriptive poems, I noticed that Marianne Moore found her way around words when trying to describe poetry. In her poem, Poetry, she implies her way of describing it with the use of figurative language. The way she uses her manipulation of words allows me to understand more the meaning of poetry because she tries to unwrap the simplicity and complexities of poetry.

It is not about the way we read the poem, but the way we choose to understand it. Moore also best defines poetry because she uses her ability to describe a poem with a genuine vocabulary. She fits the parts that seem to be questioned constantly.

What is poetry?

By: Sofia Garcia

Poetry is a piece a literature that has rhyme, rhythm, verses, stanzas, etc. That was only the dictionary definition in my own words. Poetry can be found in many forms all around us we like it or not even if we claim to dislike poetry. Poetry is a group of sentences and phrases that usually have a hidden meaning. Most poetry seems that way because emotions are difficult to convey straight out with one word, or some poets just enjoy being extra because they know that people are going to analyze maybe even over-analyze their poem. One example of poetry is a poem such as an ode. Poetry is more than just these formal and neat poems. Poetry comes in common forms such as your favorite pop song or R&B song. It is even found in the annoying advertisements and commercials that interrupt your show you were waiting to watch on TV for so long. Despite the fact the fact that written poetry and advertisements are both two completely different forms of media they both originated from rhyme, rhythm, verses, stanzas, etc. We can conclude and say that indeed poetry is literally everywhere.