3
   

What is a poem?

 
 
Reply Fri 23 Jul, 2010 08:11 pm
I'm not all too sure of what a poem is...can someone offer a few pointers?
 
View best answer, chosen by mister kitten
fobvius
 
  1  
Reply Sat 24 Jul, 2010 12:57 am
@mister kitten,
What is an Epigram? A dwarfish whole;
Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Metre, foot and rhyme so now I'm largely ode.
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Sat 24 Jul, 2010 01:57 pm
@fobvius,
I don't comprehend you, mister fobvius.
Fido
 
  2  
Reply Mon 26 Jul, 2010 05:38 am
@mister kitten,
mister kitten wrote:

I'm not all too sure of what a poem is...can someone offer a few pointers?

Poetry is a well lived life...

We cannot do it without comment... To comment upon life is in our nature, and is how we learn... Look at the lessons in the Illiad, for example from first to last... In my estimation, poetry fits with the words of Aristotle on government, that good is the object of government because it is the object of all human activity... And poetry is that, good to write, and good to read, with the production of it and consumption of it resulting in at least two better human beings...
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Tue 27 Jul, 2010 08:51 am
@mister kitten,
mister kitten, there are many types of poems:

free verse (doesn't have to rhyme)

Prose poem(which is a piece of writing that conjures up a fantastic image in the mind of the reader)

Look around you; what do you see that can be described so that we are able to see it with you.
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Tue 27 Jul, 2010 12:58 pm
@Letty,
Letty wrote:

mister kitten, there are many types of poems:

free verse (doesn't have to rhyme)

Prose poem(which is a piece of writing that conjures up a fantastic image in the mind of the reader)

Look around you; what do you see that can be described so that we are able to see it with you.

I know there are many types of poems.
I know there are many types of apples too, and naming two of them doesn't tell me what an apple is.

Thank you for your last line.
0 Replies
 
Gargamel
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 09:43 am
It is very difficult to say what a poem is, given that we use poetry precisely to express what is difficult to say.
Fido
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 10:44 am
@Gargamel,
Gargamel wrote:

It is very difficult to say what a poem is, given that we use poetry precisely to express what is difficult to say.

It is not difficult to say: A poem is God's way of making us value our lives by showing us how boring are the lives of others, how vapid, and insipid with all the trivial nonsense that catches their attention that they think to dust off, and shine up with a few well turned phrases....Anni Defranco, one of the best said: We barely have time to react in this life, let alone rehearse... And it is true... Even when life seems to drag as for a kid at work- stuck in a time warp an hour before quiting time -it is still charging by on wheels of steal...

People who buy poetry have too much money and time on their hands when obviously, most of us are caught in the works, feeding some one to the gears that we are ourselves trying to avoid... There is plenty enough of pain, tragedy and drama... But all that mew mew, pitiful sensitive me introspection is uncalled for, and that is why the junk does not sell, because no one has the time to read it but those with the time to write it..

Poetry has to touch the common chord... It has to mean something to people.... It has to be about something, and it should always cast mankind in the leading role, picking up the fallen reins of the last generation and driving the Chariot of Helios to hell and back... The lives of whinee tit poets belong crushed between the pages of books no one will ever read... When people stand up to fate, when they dare to love to destruction their lives, when they put everything on the line for a chance to buy a better soul for themselves, when they spit in the eyes of God and the devil and cast them both aside and take responsibility for their own actions and consequences, their story is poetry...

Humanity is never what it was and is always what it makes of itself... Recognizing our own power and choice, will we make monsters of ourselves, sooper men, heartless automatons??? Believing we were created by God we have made monkeys of all our ancestors... Why not forget belief and creation, and make of ourselves a new humanity, one capable of the wisdom and courage we know is possible...Look at why we have no poems... We have no heroes... We do not need poems, but we all need to find the hero in our own hearts... We need to be brave...
Gargamel
 
  3  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 12:04 pm
@Fido,
I don't think so.

First of all, the time you took to write that post, whose central point appears to be that we have no time for poetry (or that time spent on poetry is wasted time), could have been spent reading a poem.

There's plenty of time. I don't know what your story is--your depiction of humanity suggests you live in the Congo, or Industrial Revolution-era London--but James Patterson's novels are flying off the shelves of every convenience store in every airport in the United States right now. Talk about "vapid, trivial nonsense." Speaking of which, millions of Americans watched some 11 year-old white kid try to rap on America's Got Talent Tuesday night.

As far as money goes: library.

So let's not give mankind more credit than it deserves. We are not, in general, hungry for sublime verses that scorn complacency and address the soul. We are hungry for talking cartoon animals, guidos living on a New Jersey beach, and assholes who happen to be good cooks. We don't want to be heroes.

But that's okay. Because poetry doesn't depend on mankind. I mean, Milton's does. Rimbaud's does. The rest of it depends on the poet himself, whose words can render even trivial nonsense--say, for example, a leave of grass--sacred.
0 Replies
 
Ticomaya
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 12:35 pm
@mister kitten,
"New car, caviar, 4-star daydream, think I'll buy me a football team.
Money, get back, I'm all right Jack, keep your hands off my stack.
"

That, mister, is a poem.
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 06:51 pm
@Ticomaya,
Examples of poems do not define the essence of 'poem'
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 07:06 pm
@Fido,
Hello Fido, and thank you for replying.
Fido wrote:

It is not difficult to say: A poem is God's way of making us value our lives by showing us how boring are the lives of others, how vapid, and insipid with all the trivial nonsense that catches their attention that they think to dust off, and shine up with a few well turned phrases....Anni Defranco, one of the best said: We barely have time to react in this life, let alone rehearse... And it is true... Even when life seems to drag as for a kid at work- stuck in a time warp an hour before quiting time -it is still charging by on wheels of steal...

Poetry is God's gift?
Poems show us how other people's lives are 'boring, vapid, and insipid'? I think that could be the serving purpose of one or more poems, but not all of them.
Fido wrote:

People who buy poetry have too much money and time on their hands when obviously, most of us are caught in the works, feeding some one to the gears that we are ourselves trying to avoid... There is plenty enough of pain, tragedy and drama... But all that mew mew, pitiful sensitive me introspection is uncalled for, and that is why the junk does not sell, because no one has the time to read it but those with the time to write it..

^cool, but where's the definition of a poem?
Fido wrote:

Poetry has to touch the common chord... It has to mean something to people.... It has to be about something, and it should always cast mankind in the leading role, picking up the fallen reins of the last generation and driving the Chariot of Helios to hell and back... The lives of whinee tit poets belong crushed between the pages of books no one will ever read... When people stand up to fate, when they dare to love to destruction their lives, when they put everything on the line for a chance to buy a better soul for themselves, when they spit in the eyes of God and the devil and cast them both aside and take responsibility for their own actions and consequences, their story is poetry...

life=poetry?
The tips for poetry are much appreciated, but no definition has been put forth...like frosting without a cake
Fil Albuquerque
  Selected Answer
 
  2  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 09:59 pm
A poem is...like an old guardian of forgotten dreams and shared absurdity´s were the wise soul rests unbounded to sleep away the madness of conscience.
...is La Mancha to nowhere with GPS and full gear !
...a zig-zag around the corner of boring !
A poem is also... the ever present Christmas tree shadow of that dark zombing energy, carving smoothly, the void in the spoon of those who are not hungry ! Evasion is the moto !!! Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed Boooolt !!! Drunk
Fido
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 10:29 pm
@mister kitten,
mister kitten wrote:

Hello Fido, and thank you for replying.
Fido wrote:

It is not difficult to say: A poem is God's way of making us value our lives by showing us how boring are the lives of others, how vapid, and insipid with all the trivial nonsense that catches their attention that they think to dust off, and shine up with a few well turned phrases....Anni Defranco, one of the best said: We barely have time to react in this life, let alone rehearse... And it is true... Even when life seems to drag as for a kid at work- stuck in a time warp an hour before quiting time -it is still charging by on wheels of steal...

Poetry is God's gift?
Poems show us how other people's lives are 'boring, vapid, and insipid'? I think that could be the serving purpose of one or more poems, but not all of them.
Fido wrote:

People who buy poetry have too much money and time on their hands when obviously, most of us are caught in the works, feeding some one to the gears that we are ourselves trying to avoid... There is plenty enough of pain, tragedy and drama... But all that mew mew, pitiful sensitive me introspection is uncalled for, and that is why the junk does not sell, because no one has the time to read it but those with the time to write it..

^cool, but where's the definition of a poem?
Fido wrote:

Poetry has to touch the common chord... It has to mean something to people.... It has to be about something, and it should always cast mankind in the leading role, picking up the fallen reins of the last generation and driving the Chariot of Helios to hell and back... The lives of whinee tit poets belong crushed between the pages of books no one will ever read... When people stand up to fate, when they dare to love to destruction their lives, when they put everything on the line for a chance to buy a better soul for themselves, when they spit in the eyes of God and the devil and cast them both aside and take responsibility for their own actions and consequences, their story is poetry...

life=poetry?
The tips for poetry are much appreciated, but no definition has been put forth...like frosting without a cake


If you were a philosopher you would know that you cannot define an infinite... I have offered an opinion as to essential elements and what poems is not... Other than that; you are on your own... Pick a style or make your own, copy or floppy... Your choice... I think if it is worth doing it may have already been done... So what can you add in the way of frosting...
Ticomaya
 
  1  
Reply Thu 29 Jul, 2010 10:41 pm
@mister kitten,
mister kitten wrote:
Examples of poems do not define the essence of 'poem'

Perhaps you should have been a little more clear in exactly what type of responses you were seeking.

You want a definition of a poem? Here you go, compliments of the Free Online Dictionary:

Quote:
po·em
1. A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme.
2. A composition in verse rather than in prose.
3. A literary composition written with an intensity or beauty of language more characteristic of poetry than of prose.
4. A creation, object, or experience having beauty suggestive of poetry.
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Fri 30 Jul, 2010 10:20 am
@Ticomaya,
Ticomaya wrote:

mister kitten wrote:
Examples of poems do not define the essence of 'poem'

Perhaps you should have been a little more clear in exactly what type of responses you were seeking.

You want a definition of a poem? Here you go, compliments of the Free Online Dictionary:

Quote:
po·em
1. A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme.
2. A composition in verse rather than in prose.
3. A literary composition written with an intensity or beauty of language more characteristic of poetry than of prose.
4. A creation, object, or experience having beauty suggestive of poetry.


Thanks, but if I wanted a dictionary I would have not started the thread.

0 Replies
 
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Fri 30 Jul, 2010 10:23 am
@Fido,
Fido wrote:

If you were a philosopher you would know that you cannot define an infinite... I have offered an opinion as to essential elements and what poems is not... Other than that; you are on your own... Pick a style or make your own, copy or floppy... Your choice... I think if it is worth doing it may have already been done... So what can you add in the way of frosting...

Thank you, Fido.
I think my friend answered best when he said
"pretty lines"
mister kitten
 
  1  
Reply Fri 30 Jul, 2010 10:24 am
@Fil Albuquerque,
Fil Albuquerque wrote:

A poem is...like an old guardian of forgotten dreams and shared absurdity´s were the wise soul rests unbounded to sleep away the madness of conscience.
...is La Mancha to nowhere with GPS and full gear !
...a zig-zag around the corner of boring !
A poem is also... the ever present Christmas tree shadow of that dark zombing energy, carving smoothly, the void in the spoon of those who are not hungry ! Evasion is the moto !!! Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed Boooolt !!! Drunk

Fil Albuquerque,
You have an excellent way with words
Thank you
Gargamel
 
  1  
Reply Fri 30 Jul, 2010 10:43 am
@mister kitten,
Really? That's the answer you were looking for?

Now that you know what a poem is, can you explain to the rest of us in your own words? Seriously, I would like to know myself.
Ticomaya
 
  2  
Reply Fri 30 Jul, 2010 11:11 am
@Gargamel,
It's "pretty lines," Garg. It's so damn simple.

For my next poem, I submit the following ...

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/818/2006corvette1.gif
 

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