I think one of my difficulties with poetry was never hearing it read aloud (and also not being exposed to very much poetry growing up) In many ways that is the purpose of poetry to be a memory kept recitation, an imaginary supplement by which you increase your view of the world.
It wasn’t till I was older and I heard poetry read aloud and something shifted, It was much like what you said, something good was there that was just out of reach. A pure form of the expression of human experience in the most beautiful form of language.
I think it’s purpose is to naturally body forth these things along by observing creation:
“”For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.“
”speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,“
(Rom 1:20, Eph 5:19)
To behold the creation which beholds God, is to therefore behold what is known about God by making windows into his creations via poetry and words.
The words may not be obviously “religious” at every turn, but they express God at every turn. As long as you speak of the creation your work will have the fingerprint of the creator. What other materials do you have to work with?
As an American that currently lives in England and never drank tea besides when I was sick I resonate immensely with your tea analogy, I now I have a cup every morning and often one or two in the afternoon/evening but always with a little sugar or honey. Growing up around people that didn't fully appreciate tea or understand it, neither did I, but over here in the land of tea, one could say I'm properly steeped in it... I've gotten a much greater appreciation for it.
Your pondering and poesy writings are as being in England was to tea for me. I feel I have a fairly similar past with poetry as you seem to, in school I could always tell there was something more there but I just couldn't fully appreciate it. I've always enjoyed the rhythm of spoken word and enjoy the IDEA of poetry but I have never been able to truly enjoy it as much as I feel like I could. If you have any recommendations of some good poesy I would love to try slowing down and pondering some with a good cup of tea. I've always been an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader and Tolkiens work in the lord of the rings has always felt semi-poetic to me, as if the writting was too grand and precise for a simple story yet too plentiful for a poem if you take my meaning.
I love what you say about Tolkien's work! I think you describe his style quite accurately. That way of writing is also part of what I love about Medieval literature.
I take your meaning perfectly, and I think you hit the nail on the head.
Though I was writing some poetry before I'd heard his name, I blame Malcolm Guite for turning that pet hobby into something more like a passion and true appreciation. He has a couple anthologies that are fantastic introductions to a wide range of poets ("The Word in the Wilderness" for Lent and Easter, and "Waiting on the Word" for Advent and Epiphany), and their central themes (not to mention his exposition) really helps to draw out some of the meanings in the poems. I found (and continue to find) both those collections really enriching. If you want to take a deep dive into Guite's theology of the imagination, check out his "Faith, Hope, and Poetry" where he delves into the imagination as a truth-bearing faculty, complementing rather than combating reason.
If you haven't read them already, and especially considering your (well-placed) appreciation for Tolkien, I'd also highly recommend George MacDonald's "Phantastes" and "Lilith" - though the latter's a bit bizarre - if you're looking for poesy in fiction.
I'd love to hear what other passers-by in this thread would recommend as well!
As an American that currently lives in England and never drank tea besides when I was sick I resonate immensely with your tea analogy, I now I have a cup every morning and often one or two in the afternoon/evening but always with a little sugar or honey. Growing up around people that didn't fully appreciate tea or understand it, neither did I, but over here in the land of tea, one could say I'm properly steeped in it... I've gotten a much greater appreciation for it.
Your pondering and poesy writings are as being in England was to tea for me. I feel I have a fairly similar past with poetry as you seem to, in school I could always tell there was something more there but I just couldn't fully appreciate it. I've always enjoyed the rhythm of spoken word and enjoy the IDEA of poetry but I have never been able to truly enjoy it as much as I feel like I could. If you have any recommendations of some good poesy I would love to try slowing down and pondering some with a good cup of tea. I've always been an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader and Tolkiens work in the lord of the rings has always felt semi-poetic to me, as if the writting was too grand and precise for a simple story yet too plentiful for a poem if you take my meaning.
I take my tea without sugar, and I prefer free verse poetry in my reading and writing as well. ;) But your thoughts here resonate and, even in my own writing, I have wondered if what I have written is a poem or the shorthand version of something I'd do better to write as prose, whether story or essay, if I wrote that sort of thing. Thanks for the recommendation on Owen Barfield's Poetic Diction. I look forward to finding and diving into that one.
I am both very much a coffee person and a dedicated tea-lover, which feels like it might be weird. I like a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and tea in the afternoon/evening. I take my tea without sugar, but occasionally add honey.
I also find free verse harder to understand than metered! Haikus, too, remain consistently enigmatic to me.
George MacDonald's *The Princess and the Goblin* is one of the first poesy things I came across. It is steeped in metaphor and glimpses of something greater in a way that makes me feel like Tolkien's Niggle, trying to see the mountains behind the leaves.
Question: do you pronounce "poesy" POH-ZEE or POH-eh-zee?
I also meant to ask if you've ever read Gerard Manly Hopkins' poetry? If not, I would highly recommend "God's Grandeur" and "As kingfishers catch fire." Working through these in class opened the door to poetry as something profound and meaningful for me.
GREAT poems. I refer to them often. I've been meaning to pick up a collection of Hopkins' poetry so that I don't have to consult the ol' Google whenever I need another fresh read, but alas, have not done so yet.
That's a great definition of poesy: something that makes you feel like you can see the mountains behind the leaves. Love "Leaf by Niggle"!
Good question on pronunciation. It's been ringing in my head as POH-eh-SEE, though I could be wrong. I'm sure you'll get by as long as you say it with confidence, however you pronounce it 🙂
I haven’t read Poetic Diction, but as I love what you’ve gleaned from your reading, it seems that it should find a place in my home library. 😊 This was a great read, Tyler. As for warm cups, my go-to is coffee, but I also enjoy tea and sweeten with honey. When I have chai with Kenyans, they go big on the sugar, and I like it best when it’s a bit spicy, especially with some ginger brewed in during the steeping. So many ways to enjoy a cup of tea!!
I think one of my difficulties with poetry was never hearing it read aloud (and also not being exposed to very much poetry growing up) In many ways that is the purpose of poetry to be a memory kept recitation, an imaginary supplement by which you increase your view of the world.
It wasn’t till I was older and I heard poetry read aloud and something shifted, It was much like what you said, something good was there that was just out of reach. A pure form of the expression of human experience in the most beautiful form of language.
I think it’s purpose is to naturally body forth these things along by observing creation:
“”For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.“
”speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,“
(Rom 1:20, Eph 5:19)
To behold the creation which beholds God, is to therefore behold what is known about God by making windows into his creations via poetry and words.
The words may not be obviously “religious” at every turn, but they express God at every turn. As long as you speak of the creation your work will have the fingerprint of the creator. What other materials do you have to work with?
This could be the observation of a simple thing.
As an American that currently lives in England and never drank tea besides when I was sick I resonate immensely with your tea analogy, I now I have a cup every morning and often one or two in the afternoon/evening but always with a little sugar or honey. Growing up around people that didn't fully appreciate tea or understand it, neither did I, but over here in the land of tea, one could say I'm properly steeped in it... I've gotten a much greater appreciation for it.
Your pondering and poesy writings are as being in England was to tea for me. I feel I have a fairly similar past with poetry as you seem to, in school I could always tell there was something more there but I just couldn't fully appreciate it. I've always enjoyed the rhythm of spoken word and enjoy the IDEA of poetry but I have never been able to truly enjoy it as much as I feel like I could. If you have any recommendations of some good poesy I would love to try slowing down and pondering some with a good cup of tea. I've always been an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader and Tolkiens work in the lord of the rings has always felt semi-poetic to me, as if the writting was too grand and precise for a simple story yet too plentiful for a poem if you take my meaning.
I love what you say about Tolkien's work! I think you describe his style quite accurately. That way of writing is also part of what I love about Medieval literature.
I take your meaning perfectly, and I think you hit the nail on the head.
Though I was writing some poetry before I'd heard his name, I blame Malcolm Guite for turning that pet hobby into something more like a passion and true appreciation. He has a couple anthologies that are fantastic introductions to a wide range of poets ("The Word in the Wilderness" for Lent and Easter, and "Waiting on the Word" for Advent and Epiphany), and their central themes (not to mention his exposition) really helps to draw out some of the meanings in the poems. I found (and continue to find) both those collections really enriching. If you want to take a deep dive into Guite's theology of the imagination, check out his "Faith, Hope, and Poetry" where he delves into the imagination as a truth-bearing faculty, complementing rather than combating reason.
If you haven't read them already, and especially considering your (well-placed) appreciation for Tolkien, I'd also highly recommend George MacDonald's "Phantastes" and "Lilith" - though the latter's a bit bizarre - if you're looking for poesy in fiction.
I'd love to hear what other passers-by in this thread would recommend as well!
As an American that currently lives in England and never drank tea besides when I was sick I resonate immensely with your tea analogy, I now I have a cup every morning and often one or two in the afternoon/evening but always with a little sugar or honey. Growing up around people that didn't fully appreciate tea or understand it, neither did I, but over here in the land of tea, one could say I'm properly steeped in it... I've gotten a much greater appreciation for it.
Your pondering and poesy writings are as being in England was to tea for me. I feel I have a fairly similar past with poetry as you seem to, in school I could always tell there was something more there but I just couldn't fully appreciate it. I've always enjoyed the rhythm of spoken word and enjoy the IDEA of poetry but I have never been able to truly enjoy it as much as I feel like I could. If you have any recommendations of some good poesy I would love to try slowing down and pondering some with a good cup of tea. I've always been an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader and Tolkiens work in the lord of the rings has always felt semi-poetic to me, as if the writting was too grand and precise for a simple story yet too plentiful for a poem if you take my meaning.
I take my tea without sugar, and I prefer free verse poetry in my reading and writing as well. ;) But your thoughts here resonate and, even in my own writing, I have wondered if what I have written is a poem or the shorthand version of something I'd do better to write as prose, whether story or essay, if I wrote that sort of thing. Thanks for the recommendation on Owen Barfield's Poetic Diction. I look forward to finding and diving into that one.
I am both very much a coffee person and a dedicated tea-lover, which feels like it might be weird. I like a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and tea in the afternoon/evening. I take my tea without sugar, but occasionally add honey.
I also find free verse harder to understand than metered! Haikus, too, remain consistently enigmatic to me.
George MacDonald's *The Princess and the Goblin* is one of the first poesy things I came across. It is steeped in metaphor and glimpses of something greater in a way that makes me feel like Tolkien's Niggle, trying to see the mountains behind the leaves.
Question: do you pronounce "poesy" POH-ZEE or POH-eh-zee?
I also meant to ask if you've ever read Gerard Manly Hopkins' poetry? If not, I would highly recommend "God's Grandeur" and "As kingfishers catch fire." Working through these in class opened the door to poetry as something profound and meaningful for me.
GREAT poems. I refer to them often. I've been meaning to pick up a collection of Hopkins' poetry so that I don't have to consult the ol' Google whenever I need another fresh read, but alas, have not done so yet.
That's a great definition of poesy: something that makes you feel like you can see the mountains behind the leaves. Love "Leaf by Niggle"!
Good question on pronunciation. It's been ringing in my head as POH-eh-SEE, though I could be wrong. I'm sure you'll get by as long as you say it with confidence, however you pronounce it 🙂
I can also appreciate the coffee + tea combo. Good choice 👍
Now I must read Poetic Diction. It’s been on my shelf, waiting.
I haven’t read Poetic Diction, but as I love what you’ve gleaned from your reading, it seems that it should find a place in my home library. 😊 This was a great read, Tyler. As for warm cups, my go-to is coffee, but I also enjoy tea and sweeten with honey. When I have chai with Kenyans, they go big on the sugar, and I like it best when it’s a bit spicy, especially with some ginger brewed in during the steeping. So many ways to enjoy a cup of tea!!
I love a good chai, but I can't say I've ever brewed one with ginger. Sounds like an experience!