Promiscuous Poetry
Rene Char was wrong when he said "a poem is always married to someone." A person may have a deep connection with a poem, but a poem is inherently a polyamorous creature and would not be confined in something as binding as marriage. At any one moment, many people will be in love with the same poem, and a poem doesn't do hierarchy. Free love for poetry!
A Poem's Heart
A poem's heart is fickle, it
may love you now, but then
it meets another pair of eyes
and falls in love again.
A poem sings to you alone
until you leave it be
and then another turns the page
and lets its song be free.
A poem is promiscuous,
the lover of the poet,
it steals a kiss from anyone
and everyone who'll know it.
To let a poem marry
is a very foolish blunder:
Keeping love from everyone
will tear its heart asunder.
A Poem's Heart
A poem's heart is fickle, it
may love you now, but then
it meets another pair of eyes
and falls in love again.
A poem sings to you alone
until you leave it be
and then another turns the page
and lets its song be free.
A poem is promiscuous,
the lover of the poet,
it steals a kiss from anyone
and everyone who'll know it.
To let a poem marry
is a very foolish blunder:
Keeping love from everyone
will tear its heart asunder.
I like this solution! I agree with your idea that a poem can love many people, and your own poem describing this adds a nice touch. It captures the spirit of poetry. The poem loving many people is representative of how one poem can be so important to different people in different ways. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a clever blog post response! I really like how you described poetry as being its own, unidentifiable entity that is free to love whomever, whenever, however. And from the imagery to the figurative language to the rhyme scheme, I think the poem you wrote captures just that essence! I definitely agree with your argument because as you said, "a poem doesn't do hierarchy" and bluntly speaking, there really are no established rules which define how a poem loves. To me, that is a very elegant quality of poetry that readers should embrace! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! I thought the addition of the poem was perfect. I agree that a poem can't be married to someone. I also loved it when you would refer to a poem as a creature and explained how "a poem doesn't do hierarchy". I really enjoyed reading this post and thought is connected together very nicely!
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice solution! Your depiction of poems remind me of celebrities. To the audience, the relationship feels personal, but to the celebrity its just a broad audience. The poem similarly reaches out to a great amount of people.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I was thinking. A poem can't be held down by someone, if anything it'd be more like dating, but a non-serious relationship at that. Poetry is powerful, it don't need no man. Poetry is meant to be shared with all, not tied down to one person. Poetry is kind of like knowledge in a sense that enriches what people know and it is a right that everyone has access to it. Good post!
ReplyDeleteYou present a convincing argument. Readers of a poem could never claim it as "theirs", since a poem is innately able to be read and loved by anyone. If a poem were to be married to anyone, I suppose the most convincing case could argue that it is married to its author. The poem still has affairs with other people, but remains loyal to its creator in a sense? Maybe the poem and the author have a non-exclusive marriage? (I guess that's an oxymoron...)
ReplyDeleteThis is a backwards approach than what I had considered for this question, I like it! People are always said to fall in love with poetry, but to give poems life and a sense of love towards people is such an interesting concept. "A poem is promiscuos" is a great line, well written poem!
ReplyDeleteI love the cute poem you wrote to answer this problem. Polyamory is a convincing way to define a poem's 'relationships.' Kevin, I think your observation of poetry being able to be read freely is an important supporting claim.
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed the metre: how it seemed rigid at first with alternating eight and six beats per line, then transitioned from six to seven, and then in the last stanza completely flipped it around. I'm not sure how intentional this was, but I think it accentuates the argument nicely.
I never really thought about how a poem could love other people, and while I do love the way you argue it, I don't know if I agree. I think poems don't actually love people, they're too good for us. Also, just because many different people can love a poem, doesn't mean the same poem loves them all back. I'll agree that one poem cannot be tied down by marriage, but I don't think it's for excess love, but for lack thereof...
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this post, I was enlightened. I had never thought to conceptualize poems (or other works) as being in relationships with the reader/viewer/audience, but now I can see that. I also agree with the conclusion of this post -- the work has a relation with every member of the audience, equally to all of them.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this post, a poem is too free and complex to ever be committed and bound to one person. I also really enjoy the poem that you used to express your ideas, I think it added in a nice layer to complement your post.
ReplyDeleteEEEE i love this post. The words are carefully chosen and so eloquently answer the problem. I agree with Julian, the poem on the surface is so well crafted and thought out. While a reader and a poem may share experiences, they are worlds apart and I agree cannot be tied down. Again, great post and poem.
ReplyDeleteI thought your solution and portrayal of poetry was actually very accurate and meaningful, while humorous. A poem must have multiple "relationships" with its audience in order for the message to spread to a number of people. I think that the freedom of poetry is important and that it cannot be held back from reaching various people. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem, Hannah! I agree that poetry should be polyamorous. I think every good poem has enough love to go around.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone has already said, I love the solution to the problem, and 100% agree that a poem would never be bound to someone by marriage. It will love whoever loves it, and many people love a poem at the same time. I also like the poem you wrote about a poem's heart, I like the rhyme of it, and it's short and sweet and to the point. Great post!
ReplyDeleteLike other people who have commented already, i totally agree that a poem isn't married to someone. Instead it moves around and takes many lovers if you will. That being said that doesn't mean one can't like or even love a poem for a long time. The poem was also an amazing addition to the post and will written.
ReplyDelete"A poem's heart is fickle". That line says it all. While the message was so deep, I really liked the clarity of this poem. It was simple and didn't have any unnecessary detail. Also, I love how you portray the poem as a person having human characteristics. Very creative. Great job!
ReplyDeleteNice solution to the problem. I agree with the fact that the a poem's heart is fickle. A poem can reach out to numerous people and although a person may feel very close to a poem, the feeling doesn't go both ways and the poem just appeals to a larger audience.
ReplyDelete