Although National Poetry Day is a British holiday, I am honoring it anyway. A bit late, too.
Poetry is so diverse. It can rhyme. It can flow and roll or it can punch you in the gut. It can make you cry or laugh. Or both.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
I can feel the rhythm as I read. And the words… Love. But who doesn’t love Robert’s stop in the woods that snowy eve? (Don’t answer that. If you don’t like this, I’d rather not know. I’m not sure we could be friends anymore.)
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Oh, how many times have I warned my son to beware the Jabberwock, I do not know. But he was reciting it at 4 years old. All chortling in his joy.
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
Let’s just bask in the beauty of these lines and not continue to the hateful fantasies Oberon plans to inflict upon Titania. Good times. Gotta love The Bard. (If anyone calls me on this being a play not a poem, I shall hex them with a ladybug infestation. You have been warned.)
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Ah, Dylan. I’m raging, dude. I will not go gentle.
Okay, let’s get serious. Because poetry is serious. Actually, it’s not. It is what it is. People say they don’t “get” poetry. I get that. I used to say it. But poetry is what you make it. It’s what you take away from it.
Shakespeare, Blake, Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, Longfellow, Burns, Frost, Thomas, Browning…so many, many more. They each have touched me and changed me. It could be a single poem or a collection—doesn’t matter.
Emily Dickinson is the poet who has influenced me the most. Maybe because she’s awesome. Maybe because her words came along at the right time in my life to resonate deeply with me. I don’t know. But I have a book of her poetry with faded highlights from over twenty years ago. Those words are nostalgic and beautiful.
Poetry is everywhere.
It’s the clouds drifting through the sky, the squirrels scurrying up a pine tree, the leaves losing chlorophyll and blazing bright red, your morning coffee with steam swirling out of the mug, a hug from your child. It’s a book of words highlighted by your own hand twenty years earlier. Some writers can weave words so prettily it makes you cry. And I love them. But there are also words that fill your heart when you live in the moment.
Poetry is every day.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost
Jabberwoky – Lewis Carroll
Midsummer Night’s Dream / Act 2, Scene 1 – William Shakespeare
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas
This is my letter to the World – Emily Dickinson
My Sunday thoughts in…way over 200 words.
When I see the natural world, I see poetry. I try so hard to capture in stories what the poets do in a few words. Lovely tribute and we are definitely friends! Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is one of my all-time favorite poems!
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Yes! Oh, Charli. I can always count on you. You’re such a beautiful person. And you have good taste. Just saying. ❤
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I haven’t read adult poetry in such a long time! It’s a shame, I used to write poems too and even speak at poetry or spoken word events. Now I read children’s books poetry 🙂 I will tell you though that the children’s books with a rhythmic cadence is much more enjoyable to read aloud than the ones that have no rhythm whatsoever.
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Ha! 😀 I know the feeling.
I should have included Dr. Seuss. And all the other beautifully written picture books and board books that have that children’s book beat you mention — where the rhyme and meter is perfect for reading aloud. Also, all the poetry books for kids. There are so many now. Enjoy poetry wherever you find it.
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Beautiful post. I admire those who can write poetry because I find it so stinkin’ hard. I mentor a kids’ writing group, and one time this kid wrote a poem about her lunch. Nine words, clever structure, brilliant. She wrote it in only TWENTY MINUTES.
I realized, reading this post, that I don’t seek out poetry enough. You’ve given me lots to think about. Thanks!
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Thank you. 🙂
I don’t seek it out as much as I should. That’s part of the reason I jumped at the opportunity to celebrate poetry. I LOVE the idea of a kid you mentor writing about her lunch. That just makes me smile. See? Poetry really is everywhere.
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I saw a genius once sign Jabberworky in American Sign Language. It was amazing.
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That. Is. Awesome. I would have LOVED to see that. Yes, I would say “amazing” works well here.
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Oh thank you for bringing poetry to my day. I love poetry, but I don’t read it often enough. I see it in the everyday, in its brilliance and its mourning. How I love these ones you have shared. I haven’t read Emily Dickinson for many years but loved her poems back “then”. I wonder did I highlight them too. I often quote those words of Dylan Thomas to myself or others. His poem reminds me of Van Morrison, my favourite poet/songwriter (his songs are poems) who often honors the poets, including Dylan Thomas in his words. He has a great song called “I’m a Songwriter”. Do you know it?
Sorry, I’m changing the subject! 🙂
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Yes, in its brilliance and its mourning. That’s lovely. Every. Day. And I completely agree — songwriters are poets. Absolutely. I don’t know a lot of songs by Van Morrison but do love the handful I know. Great video. Tons of amazing songwriters in that one! Thanks for the link. Since you haven’t read Emily in awhile, I thought you might enjoy reading this one:
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June
To an admiring Bog!
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Thanks Sarah. That’s gorgeous. A pair of Nobodies. There’s something blissfully secretive and special in that. I hadn’t thought about a frog blaring out its name. I guess that’s true. If I kept repeating my name, they’d all decide to ignore me! “Just ignorah,” they’d say! 🙂
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Haha! 😀 “Just ignorah…” That’s what you get for singing out your name the livelong day.
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I am one of those people who, unfortunately, lacks a proper appreciation of poetry. I know, I know. It’s horrible. There is one blogger who I actually enjoy reading poetry from, though. Her name is Cat Graham and I met her through the A-to-Z 2014 challenge. I guess I’m the type that needs simple words and concepts in order to really click with it.
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*gasp* Oh no! Who cares? That’s the beauty of poetry. There is no “proper” about it. It is what you make of it. Read whatever you love. (But I do think you like Dr. Seuss. Just saying.) Thanks for the link. I’m excited to read Cat’s poetry. ❤
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Emily Dickinson is awesome! And Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll is one of the finest poems around.
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Right?! Oh, you are so wonderful. 😀
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How is it that this has most of my favorite Poems?…..Oh wait…I know…because Sarah is Awesome. #mast
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Eric. Writer of exquisite poems. Friend of coffee-loving, pseudo-poets obsessed with haiku. You are the Awesome one. #mast (I know, though…these poems rock my world.) 😉
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I love this response and I’m happy to be a part of it. 😉
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Lovely post Sarah. I grew up with Lewis Carroll and the Jabberwocky. It brings my father to mind — we used to love him reciting it to us. I have just read a prose poetry book which has moved me to write my very first book review and will post it maybe tomorrow. A book called Finding the Place by Margaret Collett. I would never have believed I would read a poetry novel but gosh I’m glad I did.
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I know, Jabberwocky is so…wonderful and fun to recite. You did?! I can’t wait to read it. Many people don’t like poetry but, really, there is so much variety that I think everyone loves it in some form or another. (I’m glad you did, too.) 🙂 Thanks.
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When I think about it there is a lot of poetry that I love and lets face it songs are poems. I think our school system did a lot of damage to the art in the way we had to dissect it to the minute meaning and cadence and the poems chosen were generally ones that held little appeal to primary and teenage kids.
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Songs are absolutely poetry. (Some better than others but…) I completely agree. Some school systems (some teachers) ruin poetry for students who spend the rest of their life thinking they hate poetry. I had a few teachers like that.
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Um, I *do* enjoy poetry but can you please hex me with a ladybug infestation? That would be wonderful! In the spring, please. My currant trees will be very grateful to you. 🙂
Frost is one of my favorite poets… I *love* his poetry – and in particular that poem…
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Wait just a moment…
Done. Expect ladybugs around April / May. These things are never precise — hexes are a tricky business.
That poem is one of my favorites but, really, Frost is just spectacular all-around. ❤
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