Poetry+and+Death

, "On DiffIn Reginald's essay entitlediculty in Poetry," he says, "I don't see poems as things I want to get over with, any more than I see life as something I want to get over with. The end of life is death, and we start dying from the minute we're born." Even though I often enjoy short, simply, easy poetry, I believe this to be Reginald's best argument for why poetry should be challenging. People are always rushing to get to the end as quickly as possible and when they do they are left dissatisfied and unhappy, without a goal to work towards anymore. I understand that the journey is often more rewarding than the outcome. This concept can be easily applied to poetry. Like Reginald says, "Now that you've taken it apart to get the decoder ring, you're done with the poem, you can throw it away." That is no fun. Who wants to figure out a poem completely and then be left with nothing? Who wants to rush through life just to die? Like life, I believe poetry is also about us enjoying the process.1204169703

I admit I am one of those readers who sees a poem that goes on for a few pages and just think, "Oh man! when will it be over??" And by the time we reach the end of the poem I then realize, "Wait, what just happened? I didn't catch anything in that poem!" For as long as I can remember, I have always been required to read poetry in school. Teachers would place a poem in front of me and expect me to understand it right away. In grammar school reading poetry was always a treat, but as I went through high school I had more and more poems being "shoved" at me. I think this is part of the reason why I rush through a poem. If I don't want to read the poem of my own free will I try to get it over with as fast as possible. But if I see a title that I like or a familiar author then I have no trouble taking the journey through the poem. I think many of us have this problem. After reading so many poems, we begin to not really care about the journey and care only for the end. And we have to realize that it is the journey that is the best part. We have to enjoy every step of the way and not rush through it because we miss the best parts! 1204174162

Well yea I agree with both of you that we need to enjoy the ride and take in the experience more, but I don't think this should be our only focus. As with most things, I think a certain balance is needed. We shouldn't rush or expect a certain end result, but still our reading and thinking about poetry should be leading us somewhere. Reginald compared poetry to life, and aren't we Catholics all trying to live our lives, getting the experience, with our deaths in mind trying to be good people so we can go to heaven when we die? I know I may be stretching the analogy a little, but still threre should be some equivalent with poetry. Although I have no idea what it would be...any suggestions?1204174939

I agree MKa. I am not a huge fan of poetry, and I think this might have something to do with the idea of the experience. What is this experience in poetry? I discussed a similar thing in a different post about the idea of what sets poetry apart from prose. I talked about the different attitude that is required for poetry, and I think the experience or concentration is the same. I can read a novel without having to stop and understand every single line. But when I read a poem I have to take my time. Even if I don't want to, this is what poetry requires. It's different, but it's part of poetry. 1204232054

I agree with Reginald. When I read a poem, I enjoy a degree of subtlety and hidden meanings that take a few readings to full grasp; without these intricacies, poems would just be a jumble of awkwardly placed words. When I finally understand an allusion to something else or a veiled metaphor, I get a feeling of understanding that makes the multiple readings worthwhile. A poem needs these intricacies in order to be read again and again like poems are supposed to; however, this does not mean making the language near-impossible to decipher. I think that is a key difference between a good poem or a bad poem. While I love reading a poem to uncover its hidden meanings, I cannot stand having to reread a sentence many times just to decipher the archaic language and sentence structure that a poet decided to use. It is this negative complexity that drives me away from many poems, as opposed to the positive complexity I mentioned earlier which draws me to some of them. 1204234500

Wow MKa, I can't believe I did not think about that! Your absolutely correct. Life is to experience the journey, but when we are born it is inevitable that we are going to die, so as Catholics, we are preparing and looking forward to our deaths as our way to be with God. The end is not complete nothingness, but rather, it is an eternity of bliss. As Catholics, we should rejoice life and death. But I also think that this point is where the comparison between finishing a poem and death breaks dowm. After you get to the last line in a poem there is absolutely nothing at the end, but with life---it is just the beginning of eternity. I believe that a poem is not a challenge to finish, but rather, an experience that one should savor. Does anyone understand the difference I tried to explain? 1204235996

Brother Tom said in class that poetry's goal is to slow us down, and force us to take time reading carefully. And I think that this is what he is getting at with these lines. We shouldn't rush to see what's at the end of a poem any more than we should rush to see whats at the end of life. Because the joy is getting there, and what we do inbetween. The end of the poem isn't of any great significance, but the poem as a whole is, and death is not something that people rush, to but instead they try to make their lives seem as long as possible. 1204260115

I’m not a big fan of poetry and whenever I get some to read I will admit that I rush through it. I don’t enjoy it; it’s not something I usually wish to experience. I differ slightly in my opinion about the goal of poetry. I think the experience is the most important part but the end of the poem is also pretty important. To go off of the journey and life and death analogy…yes, the journey is the most important part of a life, but how one dies and on what terms that person dies on are also key components of life. A person is usually remembered for their life’s achievement but how they die is also considered. So in that sense the ending of a poem is also important. How a poem ends does play a significant role in my decision if I like it or not and if I am going to read it again some time. Death in many ways is the last experience that we can say for certain happens. The end of poem is a defining moment because it is the last experience that we will have for a poem no matter how many times we read and for that reason it should be considered an integral part of the experience of a poem. 1204856666

I agree with Cdu. I enjoy poems and I like to look for doubling meanings, symbolism, metaphors, smilies, and so on. I read a poem over and over again and with each time I have new thoughts about it and try to find even more meaning or possibly different ones. I do not ever want to stop interpreting it because then only words are left and I can't do anything else with it. That's why I choose not to just throw it away. I want to believe there is more so i try my best to find what that could be. Like in life, i am certainly not trying to get to my death, as in poetry i am not trying to get it over and done with. Poetry would not b every fun or meaningful if i did that. I don't think it would be very pleasant to anyone. Poems can be interpreted in many ways and we have the opportunity to do that and take what we want from them. That in itself makes poetry a fun ride for a long time just like life if we try and live it to its fullest.1205378747

In contrast to JJa, quite frequently I try "to get it over and done with" in reference to most of my homework. I think that this approach is acceptable for math, but it really doesn't make sense with literature, especially with poetry. I know that I lose a lot because I speed read through poem. I know that I do catch certain aspects of a poem, but I also miss certain aspects. I believe that good poetry challenges us to think and to use our brains. We must ponder the meaning of different words and their context within the poem. We must anyalize the different rhetorical strategies just to begin to understand how much time and effort an author put into his or her work. Poetry can be fun and that is something I have come to realize this year finally. The ballad presentations for example were a blast, and they weren't just words on a page, those poems were entertainment. 1205408574

This concept is like how I feel about music. If I like a song once on the radio, and I can't play it two more times without getting sick of it, I don't classify it as a good song. Good music has to be a little complicated. It has to offer something more for me each time I listen to it- a new beat, a counter melody. It has to keep me interested or it's not worth my time. I'm not saying that poetry is the same to me, but I can see his point by applying it to music. If a poem is just a puzzle to be figured out, it becomes a crossword puzzle instead of an experience. If that's what you want you can pick up a book full of them at a coffee shop, if you want something more you can read poems that give you more each time you read them.1205427257

i agree with you CDu. I mean when i read a poem and figure out the meaning, i want to gain something from it. the analysis of a poem is a difficult process and when I finally read it and understand it, I do not want it to be just over and done; i want to remember it, use it. I dont know. Maybe that is too idealistic, maybe that is unrealistic. But, I do not want to think morbidly. I want to read poems for the understanding and the comprehension, not for the meer purpose of reading another poem. 1205466248