Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
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I love April! For many of us it signals the sure re-awakening from winter. Each spring I count the different blooming plants and trees in my yard and set out a number of others. The calendar announces the arrival not only of spring but also of the annual celebration of Poetry Month.
Last June I attended a local writing conference and heard Wyatt Prunty, professor at University of the South and a published poet, describe some basics of poetry writing and reader responses. Since then it seems poetry is on the horizon at every glance. Is this simply heightened awareness on my part or is it really a time in which poetry is coming to the fore? It would be interesting if at this point, when we are pursuing ever-quicker means of communicating (think text messaging), we offset that with more attention to the lyrical beauty and revelation of truth found in poetry.
The entrancing quality of rhythm and rhyme becomes obvious as children ages 2 to 5 learn the language. English poet Jane Taylor’s “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” has been a mainstay since 1796 for good reason. That poem marked a major shift in children’s poetry from entirely religious and didactic tracts to more wordplay and wit, as found in Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussycat” and his numerous limericks in the mid-1800s.
Research in the 1970s and ’80s suggested that children enjoy poetry that tells a story (shades of Edgar Allen Poe???), that deals with familiar or fun experiences, that has a strong element of humor (e.g., Shel Silverstein), and poems that feature rhythm and rhyme. Researcher Ann Terry reported that children did not like haiku and free form poetry. She also found that adults, either parent or teachers, rarely shared poetry with children. There’s nothing surprising in that!
But I have the feeling that things are different in this century. As our language changes and absorbs new terms at lightning speed, poetry is bubbling up in many forms with appeal to both readers and writers. This past Saturday at a local writers group meeting, two people read poetry! It got my attention. Have you read or even written any poetry lately? What were your favorite poems as a child?
Maybe we turn to poetry and music when times are hard… Didn’t the Depression give us Shirley Temple? Now it’s Glee, Jonas, High School Musicals, and poetry.
I wrote poetry all the way through high school and even got a scholarship to college based on my poetry. But I put it aside to write mostly nonfiction books and articles (even though two of my Zondervan books contained poetry as does my novel Latter-day Cipher.)
But when I attended the Calvin College of Faith and Writing earlier this month the readers (Luci Shaw and others) awakened that love of poetry in me. I’ve submitted batches of poems to two publications.
However, I’m very realistic about publishing poetry. It’s called “the stepchild of the arts” for a reason. But it has, as you noted, incredible concentrated power.
To paraphrase Emily Dickinson, you recognize it by that power which is able to blow the top of your head off.
I think the only time I interact with poetry is with my grandchildren. Many finger rhymes and songs are poetry and my adorable grandson laughs when even he recognizes the rhythm and fun of the word usage.
Maybe that’s why we all still delight in a great picture book?
I’ve been reading poetry lately simply because I think the apt choice of words and the beauty of the language influences me in a subtle way as I write fiction. In poetry, the exact, right word is essential…but then it is in fiction too.
As a girl, I loved Robert Frost probably most of all.
Bill, I’ve wondered the same thing–that poetry erupts more readily when we are “down” for one reasons or another. That may mean reading or writing poems out of our despair, but it can also mean writing the opposite to lift our spirits or inspire us. In either case, it’s a distraction to focus on the craft of poetry’s form.
My all time favorite poem as a child (and still as an adult) was Winkin, Blinkin and Nod.
As a children’s author, I write poetry and teach poetry writing in schools. Though research may say that children don’t like to read haikus, I find that they enjoy writing them, as the structure gives students specifics that help them feel successful.
I recently learned of a blog that posts reports on the Chicago Cub’s baseball team *in haiku!* I plan to blog about it on my personal blog this week. I am excited to share the site with teachers, hoping they will share it with students. Some boys might find it fun, and who knows–maybe even cool. Boys finding poetry cool? Gotta love that!
When I was a small child, it was my grandmothers–both teachers–who recited poetry to me. Fifty years later, a poem can still conjure in my mind the beauty of intimate moments and imagined illustrations.
When I write fiction, I find that I encorporate elements of poetry–lyrical rhythms, assonance and alliteration, and words that paint pictures of settings or evoke emotions.
I’m pleased to report that my “thoroughly 21st century” childen are also fans of poetry. My daughter the journalism major also loves Shakespeare, and my son the computer wizard owns many used volumes of Poe, Dante, and Whitman. And research on my current project has introduced me to Cowboy poetry–a surprisingly masculine expression.
Linda, you warm my heart! BTW, the research I mentioned was from the mid-eighties, and I also think that haiku has become more popular, especially with boys who may tend to like the structuring aspect more than girls.
I wrote a lot of poetry in late high school, college age. I’ll write maybe one or two a year. Also very occasionally song lyrics. Don’t read much of it anymore, though.
My children LOVED The James Whitcomb Riley Reader with offerings such as “Little Orphant Annie” and “No Boy Knows.” The book is barely holding together, pages are loose, the spine is broken–all symptoms of a well-loved volume
I read some wonderful poetry recently written by a group of 6th graders from across the country. Some of the poems had their flaws but some of it was breathtaking!
My mom’s been in the hospital week so I’ve fallen behind. I hope it’s OK to leave a late comment.
I loved these poems when I was a kid:
The Vinegar Man
The Child Next Door
Block City
Sea-Fever
Sally, it’s never too late to comment. Thanks for sharing and hope your mom’s home and well.