National Poetry Month (Part 2): What is Poetry?

"I would define the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty." - Edgar Allan Poe

by Ruth Storkel.

What is POETRY?

A simple definition is this: "A type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader's imagination or emotions." [caption id="attachment_16298" align="alignleft" width="423"]

Rose in an old book of Poetry (image 123rf.com)[/caption]Let's have a few famous poets describe it for us:

• "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings". (William Wordsworth)
• "I would define the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty." (Edgar Allan Poe)
• "Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history." (Plato)
• "Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar." (Percy Bysshe Shelley)
• "Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art." (Thomas Hardy)

What is the definition of a POET?

• "To be a poet is a condition, not a profession ." (Robert Graves).
• "A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds." (P. Shelley)
• "A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." (W. H. Auden)
• "What makes you a poet is a gift for language, an ability to see into the heart of things, and an ability to deal with important unconscious material. When all these things come together, you're a poet." (Erica Jong)

Looking for information on poets?

One of my favorite sites is FamousPoetsandPoems.com. It lists over 631 famous poets, and with a simple click, you can read many of their poems. Very enjoyable!

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

America has had numerous poets, beginning with Puritan Anne Bradstreet. We have nearly four centuries' worth of poetic writings to choose from![caption id="attachment_16290" align="alignright" width="229"]

Emily Dickinson (image credit Amazon.com)[/caption]

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Some poets are well known, like Emily Dickinson, who wrote over 1,800 poems (some brief, others longer) but did not publish more than eleven of these during her lifetime.Emily had a marvelous gift for creatively describing life's events with few words, as seen in the poem below:They Might Not Need Me, But They MightThey might not need me, but they might,I'll let my head be just in sight;A smile as small as mine might bePrecisely their necessity. - Emily Dickinson

Will Allen Dromgoole (1860-1934)

[caption id="attachment_16291" align="alignright" width="241"]

Miss Will Allen Dromgoole (image credit Wikipedia.com)[/caption]Other lesser-known poets, such as Will Allen Dromgoole who wrote 7,500 poems in her lifetime, would fashion poems containing profound truths, as in the following poem:The Bridge BuilderAn old man going a lone highwayCame at the evening, cold and gray.To a chasm vast and wide and steep,With waters rolling cold and deep.The old man crossed in the twilight dim,The sullen stream had no fears for him;But he turned when safe on the other side,And built a bridge to span the tide."Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,"You are wasting your strength with building here.Your journey will end with the ending day,You never again will pass this way.You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide,Why build you this bridge at eventide?"The builder lifted his old gray head."Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,"There followeth after me todayA youth whose feet must pass this way.The chasm that was as nought to meTo that fair haired youth may a pitfall be;He, too, must cross in the twilight dim---Good friend, I am building this bridge for him." - Will Allen Dromgoole

Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)

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Edgar Albert Guest (image credit Amazon.com)[/caption]This is a poet whose entire collection of poems I own...... all in one thick book. Greatly loved by Americans of his day, he was called "The People's Poet."His poem, "Be a Friend," is a good message for the people of Burien (and everywhere!)Be A FriendBe a friend. You don't need money:Just a disposition sunny.Just the wish to help anotherGet along some way or other,Just a kindly hand extendedOut to one who's unbefriended,Just the will to give or lend,This will make you someone's friend.Be a friend. You don't need glory.Friendship is a simple story.Pass by trifling errors2blindly,Gaze on honest effort kindly,Cheer the youth who's bravely trying,Pity him who's sadly sighing;Just a little labor spendOn the duties of a friend.Be a friend. The pay is bigger(Though not written by a figure)Than is earned by people cleverIn what's merely self-endeavor.You'll have friends instead of neighborsFor the profits of your labors;You'll be richer in the endThan a prince, if you're a friend. - Edgar A. Guest

Video of another inspirational poem by Edgar A. Guest:

Poets of the world, we salute you and thank you. You have enriched our lives immensely! We look forward to you sharing more of your "creative wonders" with us.Remembering the words of G.K. Chesterton, who said: "What the world wants, what the world is waiting for is not Modern Poetry or Classical Poetry or Neo-Classical Poetry-----but GOOD POETRY!" Final Note: All editors and book printers beware! "A poet can survive everything but a misprint." (Oscar Wilde)Readers, please continue to send your original poems to "Gem of the Sound" so we can share them with the community.If you would like to share an original poem with our readers, please send it to us, and we may select it to post it for all our readers to enjoy. We would love to meet and promote people in our community who are gifted in the arts and literature![Please note, all rights to published poetry will remain with, and be credited to, the original author. Please let us know how you would like to be credited if we choose to publish your work.]

Submit Your Poem to Burien-News Here:

[contact-form to="katie@burien-news.com" subject="Original Poetry Submissions:"][contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="1"][contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="1"][contact-field label="Original Poem" type="textarea" required="1"][contact-field label="Additional comments" type="textarea"][/contact-form]