Church of the Light by Tadao Ando
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Poetry
In class recently we have been reading some essays that have really caught my attention. With this last one that we read, written by Muriel Rukeyser, I have to say I am full of opinions and comments. Something that is quite unusual for me since I am a self-proclaimed "no nothing" when it comes to poetry and who writes it. So I suppose that it is good that I have these constant running thoughts about the subject going through in my head. So in her essay, she discusses the transfer of energy from the poem (poet) unto the reader. I have to agree with this. Not often, but sometimes it does happen, one will read a poem that moves them in some sort of way. This is an energy that the reader feels, despite how they feel, or what moved them to feel that way. However, in this essay she writes about what I believe to be her stating that critics often rip poems apart, making them mean less, and "shattering" their significance for any one reader, because of what the critic believes is poetry and how it should be. This goes along with a previous essay which we read where it was believed that if the reader is to think a word, or poem, means one thing rather than what the author intended, then the author is doing his job wrong. It's hard for me to think that poetry can only mean one thing, at least some poems. The only way to truly enjoy those words, the rhythm, and so on, is allowing the reader to take what they want and feel from the poem itself. I like how Muriel criticized the critic for doing so.
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2 comments:
I agree that poems can transfer energy. Actually something really tangible I've noticed in myself that shows this is that when words spoken or written really touch me, the deeper part of me, I actually get the shivers, or just feel this inside heat. So that is definitely energy.
And yes, you are also right about the whole "a poem doesn't only mean one thing" thing. Like I said in class, everyone comes to life, and also to poetry, with their own unique set of beliefs: worldview. So, of course, we each interpret things differently, as individuals.
Although, I think some messages are much clearer than others. But, sometimes, things people think are really clear are still greatly misunderstood.
the misunderstanding you speak of comes because people bring to poems their own bias minds. It would be wonderful if we could rid ourselves of such supression, that is in terms of poetry--meaning I may not want to get rid of my biased mind because I like it too much, so that we could then see the poem for what it brings, and receive it through no such lenses that we have created, whether concsiously or not.
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