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What is Poetry? 11328 Views


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Description:

That's a good question. Maybe this is poetry. A haiku, perhaps.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

What is Poetry? a la Shmoop. Easy question, right?

00:09

Poetry is an ancient, antiquated form of art, like pottery-making or cave painting, that [caveman in caves, cooking over fire]

00:14

holds no place in our modern world, unless it comes to us in the form of a radio jingle.

00:19

You wish. Like it or not, poetry is here to stay.

00:23

While there may not be too many millionaire poets living on your block…[picture of Poe Residence]

00:27

…the art of poetry is just as important today as ever, and it can help us reflect

00:32

and learn more about ourselves and our place in the universe. [caveman on a shrinking globe]

00:36

… slightly more valuable than a freshly baked clay pot.

00:39

So why is there such a stigma attached to poetry?

00:44

Why do we picture stuffy old folks in leather armchairs, puffing away on their pipes and

00:48

speaking in a faux British accent? [old englishman in chair]

00:52

Honestly… because it can sometimes be difficult to understand. We just assume it’s for the

00:57

cultural elite. So not true. Yeah, interpreting poetry can be tough. But [caveman with a rubix cube]

01:03

for those who put in the work to decipher a poem’s hidden meanings, the rewards can

01:08

be great.

01:09

Not like… winning the lottery great. But still… it can lead to some important self-discovery.

01:13

But why do poems have to read like they’ve been written in some sort of secret code? [caveman sherlock Holmes]

01:19

Do we need a decoder ring to crack these things?

01:23

Is the CIA hard at work attempting to get to the bottom of Pablo Neruda’s poems? [CIA reading poem book]

01:27

This “secret code” is what makes poetry… poetry.

01:32

Straightforward speech… that’s for novels and short stories.

01:36

Poetry experiments, not only with ideas relating to the human experience, but with language

01:41

itself. [poem experimenting in lab]

01:42

Because it is free from many of the usual restrictions of style and grammar…

01:45

…it can sometimes allow us to stumble on certain ways of thinking we might otherwise [caveman strips over poem]

01:51

never have considered. You’ll notice that many poems are jam-packed

01:55

with figurative language, which can be used to convey meaning. [caveman in jam-jar]

01:59

For example, you’re thinking right now about how much jam can be packed into a jar. Yeah.

02:05

Poetry is just like that. Again, the frequent use of metaphor and simile

02:09

help the reader draw unfamiliar connections…[caveman on bed]

02:12

…that will occasionally inspire little “eureka” moments.

02:16

But it’s not just the content that sets poetry apart.

02:21

There are stylistic elements, such as repetition… repetition… repetition…[broken record]

02:26

…rhyme, and meter…

02:27

…that make a poem feel different than prose.

02:31

And it makes no bones about being its own animal.

02:34

“Iamb what I am.” When poetry got its start, it was nothing [caveman playing dinosaur bones]

02:38

more than part of the oral tradition…

02:40

…words and phrases in metered form that were passed from one person to another via

02:44

memorization. [cavemen around fire]

02:46

Those rhythms and meters helped folks remember the words…

02:49

…and by the time poems were written down, the art form had just kind of adopted these

02:54

techniques.

02:55

Which explains why poems often seem sing-songy.

02:57

Don’t hesitate to bust out a little Walt Whitman at your next karaoke party. [caveman singing karaoke]

03:09

Because poetry is so much about inventiveness, it can sometimes be tough to pin down just

03:14

what a poem is. [thumb tack put into poem]

03:16

Notes on the fridge, grocery lists, pop music…

03:20

All are arguably forms of poetry. Although some are clearly more artful than others.

03:26

Even if your mom can put together quite a catchy shopping list. [girl making shopping list into poetry]

03:34

But while poetry is a bit all over the map…

03:36

…there are certain types that pop up often enough that we had to devise a name for them.

03:41

Sonnets are romantic poems with a ton of meaning and not too many lines…

03:47

Villanelles are nineteen line poems with a rigid rhyming scheme…

03:51

Limericks are light verses that often feature a comical twist at the end.

03:55

“There once was a man from Madrid, Who sautéed his oldest boy, Sid

03:59

He threw in some spice And claimed it was nice [spice sprinkles over boy playing with car]

04:02

To be putting in thyme with his kid.” And then there’s plain old free verse…

04:07

…no rules or restrictions, just words on a page, in whatever order and length that

04:11

the poet feels is necessary.

04:14

In that case, it’s all about letting the subject matter be your guide.

04:17

So while you may feel that poetry isn’t your cup of tea…

04:21

…we urge you to give it a chance.

04:23

It’s not all flowery language and structured verses…

04:26

…although even some of that flowery language might open your eyes a little wider and teach

04:30

you something new about the world…

04:32

…or… flowers.

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