Poetry Journey
Poetry: A Learning Process
Throughout our exploration of poetry in class this year, I’ve been able to expand my knowledge of the different techniques used by poets to create meaning, but also further explore the ideas of voice and identity. My notes now contain a whole list of questions and techniques that I can use to rip apart a poem for analysis, and with each poem we encounter I get to refine these skills more. Something that I particularly liked about studying poetry was studying rhyme – all the different types of rhyme, and especially how they can be used in a musical context (whether that’s in the cadence and pacing of a poem, or in songs themselves).
We looked at one poet in particular – Philip Larkin, exploring the way he uses slang, colloquialisms and coarser, more vulgar language in poetry and the effect that this has on the way the reader perceives the speaker of the poem. I found this interesting because of the way we often view poetry as something formal or something ‘beautiful’ to be appreciated, but there’s nothing ‘beautiful’ about the word ‘piss’.
Something challenging for me while exploring poetry (and something I’d like to continue working on in the future) is in the way that I read it. Being so accustomed to reading prose, sometimes the enjambment and/or sudden stops in lines confuse me, and I start thinking of it as a grammatical error rather than a purposeful choice made by the poet in the way they structure their poem.
I look forward to reading other different poems from different poets (BIPOC/LGBTQ+ poetry, for example)!