 Poetry: February 23, 2011 Issue [#4250] |
  Poetry
This week: With poet's eye & sleight of hand Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Here undoubtedly lies the chief poetic energy:
-in the force of imagination that pierces or exalts the solid fact,
instead of floating among cloud-pictures.
George Eliot
Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me,
why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?
Walt Whitman
All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
Poetry is the lyrical rendition of the rhythm of sight, sound, touch, taste; of living, seen through the eyes of a poet and consigned to paper and laptop and keyboard until it can be read aloud. Yes, all poetry needs to be read aloud, to savor the rhythm in the words, and revive the images the poet conscribed to the pages of a book or computer. And reading aloud, one hears the song in the wind, the trees, the stars, the heart and spirit of the singer and adds his/her solo to the chorus.
I am honored to be your guest host for this edition of the WDC Poetry Newsletter. I would like to take this opportunity to share my exploration of stories in verse ~ lyric, rhythmic, images and tales of events real, imagined or perceived.
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Greetings, fellow lyric wordsmiths. This week I would like to respond to a challenge. Those of you who've heard me speak of poetry and who've been subjected to my comments in review know I believe poetry has but one rule, to read it aloud.
I believe that a poem is crafted to reveal in words the essence of an image, a place, a time, an idea. And to bring it to life, the poet engages in the act of lyric legerdemain. I was also asked by another what I meant by that, so in brief, I cite from thesaurus.com,
 lyric (adjective) = melodic, poetic, songlike, coloratura
legerdemain (noun) = sleight of hand, artfulness, manipulation
lyric legerdemain = melodic manipulation (of words to bring to life an image)
Hear the assonance and alliteration in those two words ~ come on read them aloud
Now, poets have a variety of tools with which to create a poem. Just as the carpenter uses hammer, nails, level, screwdriver, drill, the poet uses rhythm, rhyme, meter, and, yes, words. Being humans, we are limited to words to express what we see, hear and imagine. We dont' have a tail to wave with joy or exasperation, or feathers to fluff or tuck, or ears that flatten with anger or raise with expectation. We are limited to words and form them to shape our perception of an idea, sound, taste, touch, or emotion. We create with words an image just as the carpenter builds a table, a chair, a toolbox. And, over time, just as our lexicon (our toolbox of words) has grown, so has the art of crafting those words in ways that bring alive what we see, hear and imagine so that another human can perceive what we have seen. That's the sleight of hand, not intended to deceive, but to allow the listener to perceive.
We have numerous techniques available to us so that the crafting of a poem is unique to the poet yet comprehensible and attainable to the listener. Consider the following poem, which I hold makes use of a number of traditional methods of crafting the art of verse. Read the following aloud, now, once of twice, listen and see:
in time of daffodils
By: e.e.cummings
in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how
in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)
in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes
in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)
and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me
Yes, did you feel the heartbeat rhythm in iambic meter (da dum, da dum); did you see each image hold fast in a tercet (balanced three-line stanzas); did you feel the passion and power in the repetition (remember...forgetting) and the alliteration and assonance and yes, even end-rhyme (to be...free), and throughout the poem engaging the listener through personification of the daffodil, lilac, and rose, and engaging each with whatever mind may comprehend. I think personification, giving human characteristics to plants, animals, beings of other planes of existence, the very earth and sky and stars, is one of the most common ways a poet shares the essence of that being. And the choice of words, active and immediate, evokes a sense of the image being in the present, in the moment, that the listener is speaking the words crafted by the poem.
e.e. cummings using traditional poetic devices ~ come now, these are the tools of the poet's craft. Once we learn to use them, we can use them to express what we hear when we listen to the sound of the wind as it whispers of secrets beneath earth's surface and above earth's skies. Admit it, don't you find yourself mouthing in a whisper the words you craft when writing a poem, be it two-word lines or metered quatrains?
Listen, do you hear the knuckle-crack of the old elm festooned with icicles? or the sigh of moonbeams peering in the bedroom window? When you speak the words, you engage the image. Try it, and I think you'll agree
Until we next meet, I enjoin you to listen and weave your lyric legerdemain to read aloud
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I'd like to share with you some poems submitted to this newsletter in response to our exploration last month ~ listen to the words and share your thoughts with the artists who crafted each
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| |  | I KILLED MY WIFE (18+)
A person kills his wife and standing besides her body emotionally interacts with her.
#1743982 by naveen  |
Now, read from the following, listen and hear, engage
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And, how about trying out your own voice poetic in one of these creative endeavors
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Thank you for sharing this exploration, and I hope I've met the challenge in your eyes. I'd like to share before I go, some comments from last month's exploration, along with the challenge that engaged me in this response. I invite you to visit with each and listen to their words in verse:
From: Finn O'Flaherty
I just have to say I had no idea my poem. I was looking through The Paper Dolls parade page and there was my poem listed in the newsletter section! How did that get here, I thought there had been a mistake! ' Better to have loved' had been chosen for this newsletter. I am walking around with a big smile! Thank you so much Kate.
I have really enjoyed and been touched by the other poems written here. Poetry is the pure maths of words!
Fin
Poetry as the 'pure math of words' ~ thank you for the splendid image
From: Will Dee
Good advice I never try to or even think about reading my poem aloud.
I bet you do whisper the words or mouth them
From: ~*Arpita*~
Hey!
This was an inspiring newsletter.And you pointed out the fundamental of poetry writing-reading it aloud. I'm pretty much a novice as far as poetry writing goes, but nonetheless,I love to write. Your NL helped me a lot in understanding the basics of poem-writing. Thank you so much.
Best wishes,
Kate
Thank you for your encouragement ~ I look forward to reading your words in verse and prose
From: PaulZ ~ Je Suis Le Reve ~
Hiya, Kate!
I couldn't agree with you more about "crafting" in poetry. Rhyme requires an understanding of rhythm to work, as well. I'd be interested in your response to the Item I've sent along, if you've the time.
Paul
I'm honored to share your work with members of our Community ~ and thank you for sharing your comments.
From: DRSmith 
I have to commend you on this newsie, Kate... as you've eloquently described poetery... << the craft of weaving an image, idea, or event in lyric form [such as to enable the writer and audience to experience the poem's intended purpose and wording such that WDCr's may not only gain more appreciation for poetic pieces, but will perhaps help them form and massage their own efforts into flowing gems.
Thank you for your kind words, and for so eloquently enjoining fellow poets to engage both the art and craft of creating lyric 'gems'
From: floydforever
You say that all poetry should be read aloud... but what of E.E. Cummings' beautiful visual poetry? Or this piece from me? Because of the duality suggested by the placement of the parentheses in my poem, there are two meanings which are sort of "battling" as the poem goes on, but reading it out loud suggests one meaning, the meaning when it's all read together. So, by your definition, this isn't poetry. I'd disagree, however.
I maintain that poetry read aloud expresses the the essence of the images envisioned and crafted by the poet - I think you'll agree if you read aloud e.e. cummings' lyric verse above that its essence becomes tangible, more real.
Until we next meet,
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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