Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Remembering What I Like. . .
I love poetry. I love talking about poetry and teaching poetry. I only enjoy rhetorical analysis insofar as it resembles close readings of the language of poetry and discussion of how the poem "works." I like that poetry comes in small packages (usually, that is), and can be read quickly, even on the spot, and yet packs in so much meaning that you can spend hours pondering words and ideas, and always have something to come back to. I love the rhythm of poetry, the way sounds work together. I have not spent so much time working with poetry that I no longer enjoy it--and I don't think that will happen. I fact, I'm not entirely sure I could write a long, conference-style paper on poetry. It's not something I've had the opportunity to try, actually. So the irony is, I'm not technically "qualified" to teach poetry. But I do love it, all the same. . .
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4 comments:
I've always had a tenuous relationship with poetry because I don't "hear" words in my head when I read -- hence, a lot of poetry is lost on me unless I read it aloud (and even then...). I think that's why I've always preferred poetry with a marked rhyme scheme that's obvious even when not audible. I don't know if that makes me low-brow... I also love alliteration, maybe because it makes visual sense.
I confess that one of my favorite poems is Poe's The Raven. Obvious driving rhyme scheme, catchy meter that underscores the eerie-ness of the piece -- I dunno, it's not deep but it gets in my head.
Poe is quite profound, just overdone. It's a shame what popular culture has done to "The Raven." I am a big fan of formal verse. I emphasize it when I teach because there is so much that a strong, well-defined rhythmic pattern can lend to the whole "feel" of the poem. LIKE in "The Raven." It's one of the examples I use of how a lilting iambic/trochaic meter can influence mood.
Keep in mind--what I'm actually teaching is children's poetry! So no fear of being low-brow! I love it ALL. Except obviously bad poetry. ;) And Emily Dickenson. Oh, and Anne Sexton. And Sylvia Plath. I could go on, really. Even so, I can teach them, and appreciate what the poems are doing, even if I don't like to actually read them.
I think loving poetry is one of the biggest qualifications for teaching poetry. Students pick up on your enthusiasm and sometimes, just sometimes, they grow to love it too.
Thanks, Academama! I would like to think that the enthusiasm is infectious. I was certainly enthusiastic on Tuesday--at 8 A.M. (!!)--and I think they were at least amused! Hopefully, wherever I teach next, they will let me teach some poetry...
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