Poetry
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
...the art of saying everything and reducing it to nothing...
-Barbara Hyett
According to the Webster’s...poetry, n.
1. the writing of poems;
2. poems; poetical works.
3. something like poetry in quality or emotional effect; as, that acting is pure poetry.
4. poetic quality or spirit; as, the poetry of motion.
poem, n.
1. an arrangement of words in verse; especially, a rhythmical composition, sometimes rhymed expressing facts, ideas, or emotions in a style more concentrated, imaginative, and powerful than that of ordinary speech: some poems are in meter, some in free verse.
2. a composition, whether in verse or prose, having beauty of thought or language.
3. anything beautiful in a way suggesting a poem.
The assignment was to visit this poetry site and write a reflective essay one of the quotes found there. He requested that, since we were already using the internet to get the assignment, we should try and make the assignment as high-tech and funky1 as possible. Since h2g2 has such a sweet little easy-to-use mark-up language, truly interactive discussion boards, and free space to store my text, (not to mention a snazzy blue look) I decide to place my assignment here and simply hand in a link.
Barbara Hyett’s statement is ambiguous enough that it could apply to most every situation. Though it is obvious that most poems do not in fact say everything, it is safe to say that a poem says everything that needs to be said about a specific subject or idea. As far as nothing is concerned, we could say that since a very large concept is being reduced to measly words on a page, it is a matter of relativity, and therefor, the words, relative to the idea, are negligible. We could take this further and say that since the words are negligible, and can be considered nothing, and anything is infinitely larger than nothing, then the ideas, relative to the words, are everything.
A poem takes a situation, or a feeling, and condenses it into as few words as possible. While a piece of creative writing may take the time to explain every explicit detail, a poem will concentrate on specific aspects of its subject and allow the reader to extrapolate the rest. This could mean omitting the details and focusing on the larger picture, or even focussing on the details, and allowing the reader to imagine the rest. One common way of doing this is focussing on the emotions and feelings surrounding a particular event, thus allowing the reader, once having felt the intended feelings, to create in their own mind, a personalized vision of what the poem described. Another way would be to visually describe a scene and allow the reader to relate these visions to feelings and emotions that they are familiar with. Both of these methods, and these are just two of the endless possibilities, accomplish the same thing. That is to say, they both express as much as possible with the fewest amounts of words. By abstracting one aspect of a large idea, the entire idea, and more, can be demonstrated. This condensation creates a very conceptually dense poem, or rather one that is very pithy.
A good example of a poem that contains more than can fit in its few words is Alfred Edward Housman’s Infant Innocence. It is a very concise poem that depicts a child that has been eaten by a bear but does not know it. Though it may seem very simple at a first glance, after a few seconds, the deeper meaning begins to hit you. You begin to realize what it means to be innocent. The memories ignorance that comes with childhood flood your consciousness. Soon you are immersed in deep thought and self-contained philosophical debates. Your mind ricochets from thought to thought, marveling at the profoundness of the short four-line poem. It amazes you that infinite streams of thought can be triggered by, and are contained in, this short four-line poem. Then you think what can this author do with eight lines, or even better, two?
As far as Sad2 is concerned, Hyett’s statement holds truth. The author (whose name remains unknown to me) has managed to convey infinite possibilities of ideas, concepts and feelings, all with one word. Due to the vagueness of the poem, its meaning can vary greatly. In reading it, one might conjure up old memories of a depressing or traumatic event, or be reminded of feelings that are common to us all. It can remind us of the universality of emotions, allowing us to be more empathetic with one another. One might even think of the word sad in the sense of pathetic, as in the state of poetry in this day and age. The point is that poetry is subjective. What it means to one person may have nothing to do with what it means to another person, or even the same person at a different time. By “saying everything,” words can offer endless possibilities of meanings from which the reader can pick and choose as he3 sees fit.
Keep in mind, Hyett’s definition refers to poetry as art, so regardless of how pithy and conceptually dense a poem is, it is still from the heart. The statement, in itself, is poetic. Being poetic, it fits its own definition, saying everything and being reduced to nothing. The statement is concise yet it manages to say so much more than words can describe (yet somehow words describe it). Even though I proved4 the truth of Hyett’s statement, there is only so much that relativistic philosophy has to do with poetry, and since the entire subject of art and poetry is (pardon the redundancy) subjective, then attempting to prove anything proves futile. So Hyett’s statement may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it still holds truth.
-Barbara Hyett
According to the Webster’s...poetry, n.
1. the writing of poems;
2. poems; poetical works.
3. something like poetry in quality or emotional effect; as, that acting is pure poetry.
4. poetic quality or spirit; as, the poetry of motion.
poem, n.
1. an arrangement of words in verse; especially, a rhythmical composition, sometimes rhymed expressing facts, ideas, or emotions in a style more concentrated, imaginative, and powerful than that of ordinary speech: some poems are in meter, some in free verse.
2. a composition, whether in verse or prose, having beauty of thought or language.
3. anything beautiful in a way suggesting a poem.
The Assignment
The assignment was to visit this poetry site and write a reflective essay one of the quotes found there. He requested that, since we were already using the internet to get the assignment, we should try and make the assignment as high-tech and funky1 as possible. Since h2g2 has such a sweet little easy-to-use mark-up language, truly interactive discussion boards, and free space to store my text, (not to mention a snazzy blue look) I decide to place my assignment here and simply hand in a link.
A Matter Of Relativity...
Barbara Hyett’s statement is ambiguous enough that it could apply to most every situation. Though it is obvious that most poems do not in fact say everything, it is safe to say that a poem says everything that needs to be said about a specific subject or idea. As far as nothing is concerned, we could say that since a very large concept is being reduced to measly words on a page, it is a matter of relativity, and therefor, the words, relative to the idea, are negligible. We could take this further and say that since the words are negligible, and can be considered nothing, and anything is infinitely larger than nothing, then the ideas, relative to the words, are everything.
Short And Sweet
A poem takes a situation, or a feeling, and condenses it into as few words as possible. While a piece of creative writing may take the time to explain every explicit detail, a poem will concentrate on specific aspects of its subject and allow the reader to extrapolate the rest. This could mean omitting the details and focusing on the larger picture, or even focussing on the details, and allowing the reader to imagine the rest. One common way of doing this is focussing on the emotions and feelings surrounding a particular event, thus allowing the reader, once having felt the intended feelings, to create in their own mind, a personalized vision of what the poem described. Another way would be to visually describe a scene and allow the reader to relate these visions to feelings and emotions that they are familiar with. Both of these methods, and these are just two of the endless possibilities, accomplish the same thing. That is to say, they both express as much as possible with the fewest amounts of words. By abstracting one aspect of a large idea, the entire idea, and more, can be demonstrated. This condensation creates a very conceptually dense poem, or rather one that is very pithy.
A good example of a poem that contains more than can fit in its few words is Alfred Edward Housman’s Infant Innocence. It is a very concise poem that depicts a child that has been eaten by a bear but does not know it. Though it may seem very simple at a first glance, after a few seconds, the deeper meaning begins to hit you. You begin to realize what it means to be innocent. The memories ignorance that comes with childhood flood your consciousness. Soon you are immersed in deep thought and self-contained philosophical debates. Your mind ricochets from thought to thought, marveling at the profoundness of the short four-line poem. It amazes you that infinite streams of thought can be triggered by, and are contained in, this short four-line poem. Then you think what can this author do with eight lines, or even better, two?
Sad
As far as Sad2 is concerned, Hyett’s statement holds truth. The author (whose name remains unknown to me) has managed to convey infinite possibilities of ideas, concepts and feelings, all with one word. Due to the vagueness of the poem, its meaning can vary greatly. In reading it, one might conjure up old memories of a depressing or traumatic event, or be reminded of feelings that are common to us all. It can remind us of the universality of emotions, allowing us to be more empathetic with one another. One might even think of the word sad in the sense of pathetic, as in the state of poetry in this day and age. The point is that poetry is subjective. What it means to one person may have nothing to do with what it means to another person, or even the same person at a different time. By “saying everything,” words can offer endless possibilities of meanings from which the reader can pick and choose as he3 sees fit.
But Is It Art?
Keep in mind, Hyett’s definition refers to poetry as art, so regardless of how pithy and conceptually dense a poem is, it is still from the heart. The statement, in itself, is poetic. Being poetic, it fits its own definition, saying everything and being reduced to nothing. The statement is concise yet it manages to say so much more than words can describe (yet somehow words describe it). Even though I proved4 the truth of Hyett’s statement, there is only so much that relativistic philosophy has to do with poetry, and since the entire subject of art and poetry is (pardon the redundancy) subjective, then attempting to prove anything proves futile. So Hyett’s statement may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it still holds truth.
1In my words2a one word (title inclusive) poem mentioned on the board3or she... satisfied?4pretended to prove
