I’m taking this awesome Coursera course called Modern & Contemporary American Poetry. While it’s kicking my mental butt, the class has shined a new light on poets and poetry for me. I’m very grateful to be partaking in this class. I’m learning some valuable lessons, that I’d like to share with you all.
Lesson #1- Poets are Historians
Poets tell the stories of the nations in which they reside. They relate the emotions, events, thoughts, and ideas of the people in their time period. They do so in beautiful language that we all can take meaning from, whether we are learned or unlearned. They are essential to the literary preservation of a country.
Lesson #2- Poets Keep it Real
Poets say what you want to say, but that you may not have the courage or eloquence to say. A poet can showcase popular ideas as well as unpopular ideas with such grace, that you’d never know they were presenting an argument. They give a voice to the unconventional, the hippies, the intellectuals, and the deep-thinkers of the world.
Lesson #3- Poets Help us Understand Religion
Lately, I’ve been studying my religion, Islam, through the eyes of a poet. I’ve come to the realization that just as we need poets for politics, we also need them for spiritual matters. During the time of our blessed Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), poets played a vital part in relaying information to the public. Arabic is an exquisite language that has deep oral traditions. The Arabs benefitted from the speech of the poets, as they could relate to them. The poets let the people know what was going on in the religious arena which was very volatile.
Lesson #4- Poets are Democrats
When I think of someone who wears the badge of democracy properly and with pride, I don’t think of the U.S. President. I think of poets like Walt Whitman, who unabashedly let us know that he was a poet for the people and of the people. He understood the plight of his readers. He got his hands dirty and wrote poetry that even the commonest of people could appreciate.
Lesson #5- A Good Poet Inspires
The most important lesson I’ve taken from this class is that poetry is open to interpretation. There is no wrong or right way to interpret a poem. Your personal experiences help shape the meaning of a poem for you. I am forever inspired by influential poets like Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, and the like. I am inclined to be fearless and uninhibited in my own poetry because of these luminaries. I throw my words on the paper like splashes of paint on a canvas. I have faith that my readers will take my abstractions and use them as mediums to create their own meanings. Thanks to ModPo, writing and reading poetry is all the more enjoyable to me now.
What lessons have you learned from poetry?
Good post. I’ve added a link to your site on my sidebar under ModPo students. Poetry for me is about communicating thoughts and ideas and self-expression and brings catharsis. It reaches out to people in ways we can’t imagine; touching the heart and soul.
Thanks for commenting. Poetry is definitely powerful, just look at the vast number of students taking the ModPo course. We’ve all been brought together to explore a form that opens its doors to everyone.
beautifully thought out and organized. Thanks. I’m not sure that all poets worth reading are graceful or gracious, though. Sometimes the skill is in-your-face and not everyone will read it. Meh! so what?
Thank you for commenting, and you’re absolutely right. Not all poets are graceful or even gracious, but they all do wonderful and creative things with language that is definitely worth stopping and pondering over.
This is so well put,MODPO for most of us is a changing experience in one way or the other.Thanks for voicing this.
I’m grateful to have been able to take part in sucha life changing course. Not only did it further my interest in modern poetry, but it gave me the opportunity to connect with so many others seeking the meaning behind “This” (a la Dickinson) in life. Thanks for commenting.
This is a thoughtful post.
I like this – “I throw my words on the paper like splashes of paint on a canvas.” It reminds me of O’Hara, is oranges and why he is not a painter.
Thanks, I love that O’Hara poem!
Thank you for writing this. ModPo has changed my life and inspired me to return to writing and to deeply explore poetry. This class embodies Dickinson’s “The spreading wide my narrow Hands/To gather Paradise–” connecting us all through the letters and spaces on the page. Paradise, to me, is love…the love of/for people, relationships and poetry.
There definitely was a lot of love and mutual respect being spread amongst the ModPo students and even from critics and others outside the course. All in all I think we all learned the importance of language and just how powerful it is in our lives. I’m glad you returned to writing. I wish you well in your endeavors. Thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment.