For people who regularly read poetry: do you typically read one poem at a time and just reflect on it for a while, or do you read through multiple pages of poems like you would a novel? I've...
For people who regularly read poetry: do you typically read one poem at a time and just reflect on it for a while, or do you read through multiple pages of poems like you would a novel? I've always struggled with how to read a poem. Should I really tear it apart and make sure I understand all the minutiae? Or should I just try to enjoy it like I would prose? I honestly prefer the latter approach, but I always feel like I'm missing a lot of subtleties.
I don't know if there's a "right" way to do it. For me I'm mostly exposed to it on twitter or Instagram when people I follow post something. But that happens very rarely (and it's mostly not very...
I don't know if there's a "right" way to do it. For me I'm mostly exposed to it on twitter or Instagram when people I follow post something. But that happens very rarely (and it's mostly not very good).
Poetry is mostly pretty emotive though, so the joy isn't always in the analyzing so much as it is in feeling the feelings, sensing the imagery, and enjoying the lyricism of the words.
In that way it's probably best to approach it kind of like listening to music. You've got songs you just listen to as background and in the same way you can have poems you read to pass the time. Or you can have really cohesive concept albums that work together, and you can have books that are long or sequential poems that reward being read in a stretch. (T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland") is an example.
I honestly prefer the latter approach, but I always feel like I'm missing a lot of subtleties.
I think that's kind of the point. If writing was something that was easy to fully grasp everything about it in every context there would be no need for literature as a field of study for people to get doctorates in.
I read poems a lot at a time, more like a novel or something. Sometimes I give kind of a breath between poems. If I was really going to read poetry like I should (with my MFA and all), I'd just...
I read poems a lot at a time, more like a novel or something. Sometimes I give kind of a breath between poems. If I was really going to read poetry like I should (with my MFA and all), I'd just re-read a book a few times. I like @NaraVara's point here: it's like music in the way that multiple experiences give deeper insights.
I typically will read it more like a novel until I find something that really interests me, then I'll slow down, read it a few times, and sit with it. Maybe look at it from a more technical...
I typically will read it more like a novel until I find something that really interests me, then I'll slow down, read it a few times, and sit with it. Maybe look at it from a more technical perspective after that, maybe not.
I think the important bit is that you're not agonizing over getting everything you can out of every poem. That gets exhausting. Follow your passion!
In addition to advice to read poems, it also has some recommendations about good places to start. Especially helpful, as I generally have no context to even understand where to find poetry.
In addition to advice to read poems, it also has some recommendations about good places to start.
Especially helpful, as I generally have no context to even understand where to find poetry.
For people who regularly read poetry: do you typically read one poem at a time and just reflect on it for a while, or do you read through multiple pages of poems like you would a novel? I've always struggled with how to read a poem. Should I really tear it apart and make sure I understand all the minutiae? Or should I just try to enjoy it like I would prose? I honestly prefer the latter approach, but I always feel like I'm missing a lot of subtleties.
I don't know if there's a "right" way to do it. For me I'm mostly exposed to it on twitter or Instagram when people I follow post something. But that happens very rarely (and it's mostly not very good).
Poetry is mostly pretty emotive though, so the joy isn't always in the analyzing so much as it is in feeling the feelings, sensing the imagery, and enjoying the lyricism of the words.
In that way it's probably best to approach it kind of like listening to music. You've got songs you just listen to as background and in the same way you can have poems you read to pass the time. Or you can have really cohesive concept albums that work together, and you can have books that are long or sequential poems that reward being read in a stretch. (T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland") is an example.
I think that's kind of the point. If writing was something that was easy to fully grasp everything about it in every context there would be no need for literature as a field of study for people to get doctorates in.
I read poems a lot at a time, more like a novel or something. Sometimes I give kind of a breath between poems. If I was really going to read poetry like I should (with my MFA and all), I'd just re-read a book a few times. I like @NaraVara's point here: it's like music in the way that multiple experiences give deeper insights.
I typically will read it more like a novel until I find something that really interests me, then I'll slow down, read it a few times, and sit with it. Maybe look at it from a more technical perspective after that, maybe not.
I think the important bit is that you're not agonizing over getting everything you can out of every poem. That gets exhausting. Follow your passion!
In addition to advice to read poems, it also has some recommendations about good places to start.
Especially helpful, as I generally have no context to even understand where to find poetry.