Naomi Shihab Nye

Language is a remarkable thing. It can convey every thought, feeling, and emotion with perfect accuracy. Almost exclusively, language has taken awkward, unfit animals out of nature and made them rulers over the earth and many of its elements. When used well, it has the power to change an individual's view of the world, make someone believe they have seen something they have not, and even more astonishingly, look inside one's self and see what exists. If language is mixed with the tempo of music, something new arises; poetry is born. When words and ideas are set to a beat, they can far more subtly convey concepts that would otherwise need to be explicitly stated and the poem can be appreciated more as a whole,

What is poetry? Is poetry about your feelings? Is poetry meant for you to deliberate or read between the lines? Elizabeth Alexander, a black educator that teaches poetry, believes that poetry is where you are your true self and finding yourself. In 2005, she published one of her poems called “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe.” She constructed the poem to speak to her students about her meaning of poetry. Poetry causes various emotions, various content, and based on various forms of realities.

The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of

There are many different kinds of artist; Singers, painters, sculptors, poets, and many more. Each artist uses a different outlet to express their emotions in some way other than words. Poets are just one great example of this. They are able to string enchanting words together to create a masterpiece. “After the Trial” by Weldon Kees, is just one example of a great poem.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

In “Sympathy”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the author uses rhyme, imagery, and sensory language to help intensify the theme racism and the confined detained effect it has on the individual soul. Rhyme allows the reader to have a connection to the poem, through the affect it has on the sound of the poem, when read. Imagery is used to describe an event or thing, so that the reader can visualize a picture of what the author is trying to describe. In addition sensory language allows the reader to experience the poem through their five senses; sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Using rhyme in poetry gives a poem a repetitious quality by sound, without repeating a phrase in a poem.

The subconscious is said to control various aspects of the life of a human to include major and minor decisions alike; whether to follow the path carved out so cautiously by others or to forge a unique path and travel it fiercely with reckless abandon and ambition guided by extreme individuality. What is this perplexing, intangible thing we call the subconscious? And what role does it play in the writing process of a poet? In general, when given the task of defining the subconscious, the initial impulse is to provide an ordinary idea such as, “one’s natural instinct that lies beneath the actively aware mind and its intentional thoughts”; however, what if the subconscious is something more? What if the subconscious is actually the

These emotions created an aroma of love that now encompassed my body; the sweet smell of warmth filled me up. Poetry was once something that frightened me, but it ended up saving me, and continues to save me everyday. My love for myself and poetry had been found.

People are drawn to poetry because it uses words to express emotions that most people

A well-written poem would help one to engage into the work with their senses. One should be able to ask themselves what the poem caused them to think, hear, see, feel, taste, and to determine what he or she learned from the poet’s words. Many people believe that because poetry is an enigmatic art, and that there is no way for sure to know the

poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and

Poetry can evoke certain feelings from the reader and its audience. It pulls clear vibes from the way the poet wants to portray their work. Think of it this way, mood is the entire atmosphere of the literary piece. It can be interpreted in many ways. There's no right or wrong answer when it comes down to you and the emotions it awakens. The words in a poetry piece can evoke different ranges and varieties of feelings from the reader. Overall, it serves to stimulate an emotional situation.

The poet uses a lot of emotive language in this poem to try and make

Poetry allows the writer, the reader and even those listening to get a deeper sense of being. It gives us the opportunity to break free from simple and boring routine. If done correctly a poem will done correctly a poem will be able to stir emotion, and create wonder. In order to this however all the part that make up a poem must be in sync. Its tone, diction, imaginary, rhythm, symbolism and subject matter are all critical areas. A good poem will draw an emotional reaction from its audience, whether those are light and upbeat or darker more serious feelings they will come away with a new experience, changed by what they just experienced. Two such poems that embody what a good poem should be are “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath and “Harlem”, also published as “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. These poems elevate the experience for reading, listening and writing poetry, and serve as an excellent reference for a poem should be.