Recently I did a blog post on the changes in writing throughout history. That is, how books changed from classical novel to modern day books.
As I was writing that, however, I could not help thinking that I could easily devote an entire essay to simply one type of writing: poetry. Honestly, I have never been a huge fan of poetry, though in collage I took several classes which forced me to write it. Not only have I endured reading a lot of poetry, I even attempted to complete Poetry Month by writing one poem every day (I made it though only sixteen days). So while I am not an expert on poetry as I am on novels, it is certainly a genre I am interested in.
Poetry honestly used to be a big thing back in the day. And by the day, I mean before the fifteen hundreds. Poetry was the medium of most classic stories (look at all of Shakespeare’s plays or the classic epic poem of Beowulf). The reason why most storytellers used poetry over prose during these times was that poetry is easier to remember. Bards would memorize entire stories and recite them to an audience, and let me tell you poetry is a whole lot easier to memorize than novels. It has rhythm and rhyme (at least, it did, but we will be getting to that later).
Currently, poetry is not half as big as it used to be. Many poets struggle to make any money out of their work, much less a career. There are certain authors, of course, who publish books as well as the rare collection of poetry (like Neil Gaiman), and there are also those poets who have a different full-time job and work on their poetry on the side. However, to have famous poets such that we saw in the Victorian Era or Elizabethan era are gone. Poetry anthologies sell very poorly in the modern day unless it is a reprinting of some classic poet (like Robert Frost).
I am not saying it is impossible to be a poet in the modern day; it is just not as popular a literary medium as it was once. Why is that? Have people changed their interest? Or is it poetry itself which has changed? This brings me to the topic at hand. That is, how has poetry changed from the poems of a century or more ago to now?
Form
I was homeschooled growing up, so the only poetry I read in my younger years were the classics (Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Emily Barrett Browning). I was not exposed to any modern poetry until I entered college. And I noticed several massive differences. The first being: form.
If you read a lot of older poetry, you will see patterns of form. You have rhyming patterns, like AB AB AB, or ABC ABC, or A A A. Every line can rhyme with the one before it, or every other line, or even every third line. Poets used things like iambic pentameter to give even more rhythm. In a sense, classic poetry is like a talking song.
That is not the case in modern poetry. The emphasis is much more on emotions, feelings, and messages the poet wishes to get across. Let’s look at two examples to contrast. The first is “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1845. I will just give the first stanza.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As if someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
You will notice he used both interior rhyming (dreary, weary and napping, tapping) and ending rhyming (lore, door). It gives a haunting aura and uses formal language. It also uses techniques such as alliteration (repeating the same starting letter several times like “weak and weary” or “rapping, rapping”). Even if it follows rules, however, Poe uses this constriction to his advantage by making this poem beautiful.
Now let’s look at a more modern poem. That is, William Carlos William’s poem “This is Just to Say”, published in 1934. Keep in mind, this is still a rather old poem, but there is a century separating it from my previous entry. Let’s look at the entire poem this time, as it is quite short.
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
It is an interesting piece, I agree, and a funny story. Williams has ridden his poem of rhyming, capitalization, and even punctuation. His language is simply clear. While I smile at this poem every time I read it, I cannot in my right mind say it is beautiful. I could write this poem easily (and I am not anywhere near to being a poet). It does not have any depth into the human soul. It is simple. The line breaks are random. This is a sentence one might say in real life. In sense, there is no beauty about it.
Which poem do you prefer? And which one do you find more appealing/beautiful?
Vocabulary
It is probably the biggest issue I have with modern poetry. I wrote a poet back in college that I absolutely loved. I thought it was great, and I was emulating classic poets when I wrote it. However, the biggest criticism I got from several of my teachers was: simplify your wording.
I was floored. For me, literature is about expanding one’s vocabulary. That is not the case anymore, apparently. Instead of helping raise people in the literacy rate, many authors are choosing to lower their writing standards. It is truly disturbing to me, as someone who is always trying to learn something. You do not know how often I do not recognize a word in classical novels and rush to the computer to look up its definition. In doing so, I learn a new word. While this problem is not merely in poetry, I notice it by far more in this medium than I do in books and short stories (which are more informal in themselves).
Poetry is supposed to be beautiful. In my opinion, it is no longer. That is not to say all modern poets are bad. In fact, some of them are quite good. However, because they have rejected form, confined themselves to certain topics, and left out beautiful words, what is left to them?
Perhaps I am being too hard of modern poetry. It has so merit, some deep meanings. But if it is not in its words or form, is meaning all that is left to “beauty”?
What do you guys think? What’s your favorite poem? Why is it your favorite poem? And, as always,
Best wishes in your life full of adventure,
Madame Writer