Monday, November 21, 2011

Poetry...

I write certain little poems that often only make sense to me. Sometimes the poems are funny, sometimes  happy, and sometimes they are sad; they're always expressing an emotion. My poems will never be published or quoted like that of Shakespeare or Poe. But they are mine and they are honest. Writing is a way to release stress, a way to release all the manic thoughts that run through my head. When I write my poems is when I'm in deepest of thought and only a poem can attempt to express what I'm feeling. According to Ezra Pound, "Nothing written for pay is worth printing. Only what has been written against the market." I'd say my poems are on track then.
In researching proper poem writing I came across an essay written by Ezra Pound on Poetic Theory, "A Retrospect and "A Few Don'ts" written in 1918. The essay reads like a poem it's self. In the essay he out lines the proper way to write poetry:
"The scientist does not expect to be acclaimed as a great scientist until he has discovered something. He begins by learning what has been discovered already. He goes from that point onward. He does not bank on being a charming fellow personally. He does not expect his friends to applaud the results of his freshman class work. Freshmen in poetry are unfortunately not confined to a definite and recognizable class room. They are “all over the shop.” Is it any wonder “the public is indifferent to poetry? Don’t make each line stop dead at the end and then begin every next line with a heave. Let the beginning of the next line catch the rise of the rhythm wave, unless you want a definite longish pause.In short, behave as a musician, a good musician, when dealing with that phase of your art which has exact parallels in music. The same laws govern, and you are bound by no others.Naturally, your rhythmic structure should not destroy the shape of your words, or their natural sound, or their meaning. It is improbable that, at the start, you will he able to get a rhythm-structure strong enough to affect them very much, though you may fall a victim to all sorts of false stopping due to line ends, and caesurae. The Musician can rely on pitch and the volume of the orchestra. You can not. The term harmony is misapplied in poetry; it refers to simultaneous sounds of different pitch. There is, however, in the best verse a sort of residue of sound which remains in the ear of the hearer and acts more or less as an organ-base. A rhyme must have in it some slight element of surprise if it is to give pleasure, it need not be bizarre or curious, but it must be well used if used at all." - Ezra Pound.
In my life I've experienced many challenges, pitfalls and triumphs! The constant through all of these experiences has been writing. My journal is one of my dearest friends. I can say exactly what I'm thinking and she won't judge me or tell me my thoughts are wrong. Writing poetry has been healing, thought provoking, and experimental for me and I love it! I encourage everyone to buy a journal or start a blog and start writing, you may find it very liberating.
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