Literature - What's a Poem, Really?

What is a poem?

Movement

Of letters

On a page?

Sound?

Feeling?

For a few years, even before I was an English major, I wondered: what is the appeal of poetry? It is understandable for things with a concerted structure: either the rhyme, the connection of words through techniques like alliteration or consonance, or by the rhythmic flow. Some poems "flow" off the tongue or "dance off the page." Especially when a fair-voiced maiden is reading them, poems just sound right. However, what about modern poetry? There are some forms that derive their appeal from the visual aspect. Nevertheless, the question is still there: what is the appeal?

One way to think of it is in terms of music. I love hearing my friends sing an aria or duet in Italian, German or whatever other language. My appreciation does not stem entirely from the text itself, no matter how high the quality. Rather, I enjoy the words themselves - how they sound, separately and with the rest of the song - and the delivery of those words. Recently, my college gave an honors recital for those performers that did exceptionally well in previous recitals. One of my favorite pieces was "The Girl from Ipanema." I had always been familiar with the song, and some of its English lyrics. However, these were only added later: the original lyrics were in the melodic Portuguese language. Sitting there, listening, I realized that the sound of the words were really what I was enjoying. They did indeed flow together. Also, the singer's silky tenor added to the effect. "The Girl from Ipanema" illustrates, as do many other foreign language songs, that poetry need not be understood to be enjoyed.

"The Girl from Ipanema" illustrates that appeal can come from beautiful sounds. However, appeal can also come from a lack of beauty. Onomatopoeia (words that sound like what they describe) has always existed in some form or another. In this way, "The Bells" has great appeal. Just last week, our Directing class put on a series of one acts. One director chose to transform the work into a stage piece. One particular section, the alarm bells, illustrates my point. Upon beginning, the actor spoke the lines in a loud and harsh manner. His tone of voice underwrote the text and brought out the ugliness of the alarm bells themselves. Other sections play with vocal dynamics, but none were so apparent as this section. Here, the director's instruction to the actor brought out the appeal of the poetry: "icky" sounds that grab our attention.

Both examples above focus less on the meaning behind the words, and more on the sounds of the words themselves. I'm sure critics have argued this point, that sound is the significant factor of poetry, before. but I would like to issue a challenge. It is this: write poems in, or as if you were writing in, another language. Why do I ask this? Because you would have less knowledge of synonyms and culturally-mandated context. You would chose the word based on how it works within the context of YOUR poem, and nothing else. I'm not arguing that the meaning is completely irrelevant: rather, I am imploring you to also consider the words themselves. By all means, have someone fluent in the language look it over, if you so desire. If you're not comfortable with any other language, still keep my advice in mind as you compose.

A poem, then

Is the flow

Of the words

On the page

In the air

In the soul