Poetry is a lot of things to a lot of people. Take some famous quotes from our very own literary greats for example, and you'll see what I mean: "a kind of ingenious nonsense." Isaac Newton. "Poetry is what gets lost in translation." Robert Frost. "Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech." Simonides. "Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." - Thomas Gray. "Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth." - Samuel Johnson. "Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words." - Edgar Allan Poe. "Poetry: the best words in the best order." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him." - Dylan Thomas.
If you really try and absorb what these quotes are saying then you'll begin to see that no-one can really define poetry easily, if at all. In fact, the only way in which you could really define poetry is by its unwillingness to be described.
If you take content aside for one moment, poetry can be defined in terms of language, form and purpose. All poetry considers the use of words more than any other type of writing. Poets carefully think about the emotive qualities of words, their musical value and their spacing, not to mention their actual spacial-awareness on the page itself.
Another defining factor that is present in all types of poetry is purpose. There's always an underlying intention in poetry that goes much further than the literal. It aims to move us, to pull on our heart strings or linger in our brains. That's its ultimate objective and that's why it's such a popular form of writing.
So, there we have our conclusion, poetry is simply a composition designed to convey emotions, ideas or experiences in an imaginative and vivid way, characterized by the use of language chosen and the underlying purpose behind it.
A great place to go and explore your poetic prowess is Home House of Portman Square. Come and share your passion for words over wine and canaps in the candlelit and perfumed surroundings of our atmospheric Music Room, where such events have taken place since the 1770s.
If you really try and absorb what these quotes are saying then you'll begin to see that no-one can really define poetry easily, if at all. In fact, the only way in which you could really define poetry is by its unwillingness to be described.
If you take content aside for one moment, poetry can be defined in terms of language, form and purpose. All poetry considers the use of words more than any other type of writing. Poets carefully think about the emotive qualities of words, their musical value and their spacing, not to mention their actual spacial-awareness on the page itself.
Another defining factor that is present in all types of poetry is purpose. There's always an underlying intention in poetry that goes much further than the literal. It aims to move us, to pull on our heart strings or linger in our brains. That's its ultimate objective and that's why it's such a popular form of writing.
So, there we have our conclusion, poetry is simply a composition designed to convey emotions, ideas or experiences in an imaginative and vivid way, characterized by the use of language chosen and the underlying purpose behind it.
A great place to go and explore your poetic prowess is Home House of Portman Square. Come and share your passion for words over wine and canaps in the candlelit and perfumed surroundings of our atmospheric Music Room, where such events have taken place since the 1770s.
About the Author:
Home House is a private members club for people from all walks of life, which is part of its uniqueness. Quite unlike many other private members clubs in Soho, Home House is a place to enjoy leisure time or the perfect spot for a working day. Home House is London's premier poetry club.
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