I should first state that I am an avid supporter and
reader of poetry. I also try my best to compose my own poetry. I have been
working on a chapbook for the last six months, but I am definitely reserved
about my talent. I believe my personal experience with poetry has helped me to
better understand why it appears so difficult for most students. Poetry is not
form. It is not vocabulary. Poetry is most definitely not something that can be
explained entirely. It means different things to different people. I believe we
must recognize how close poetry can be to someone. For this reason we should
also figure out how to tie poetry in more closely with our students. One
approach I have seen work is having them actually write their own poetry. Below
is an example of a poem I have been working on titled “The Brazen Head.”
The Brazen Head
We
don't fully comprehend the foundation,
the
bricks, the mortar,
and
the legends of the oldest pub in Dublin.
We
drink fiercely.
Underneath
stars and stone we are overtaken by the spirits of drink and dream.
Our
heads full of grainy imagery from days past,
we
waltz with the wonder of words once whispered within these walls.
Are
we a part of history as well?
Will
the Irishmen tell stories of the rowdy Americans:
the
men with spotty mustaches,
the
woman a bit plump?
There
is no way of telling.
The
dark black pints make us more honest.
We
slide over to share our stories with the stone faced locals.
We
clink our silver trimmed glasses
and
we tend to the scroll written in the stone.
The
scripture of stone rarely shows its face,
so
let us have another pint.
A
round for all my new friends.
If history be made let us not remember it.
I’m not sure if this poem is effective in conveying the
message I hope it will, but I do know that I’ve learned a lot from writing and
reading poetry. I tend to imitate my poetic idols in one-way or another. This
particular poem was inspired by the life of Dylan Thomas and the work of
William Butler Yeats, who are two of my favorite poets. Thomas is an
interesting character to me just because the way he lived his life. He had
immense talent, but choose to throw it away at the bottle of a bottle. Yeats is
probably my biggest inspiration. Something about his words just speaks to me in
a way that few poets have. I study their poetry to unlock my own feelings on
their subject matter, and I often style my work after theirs. This has helped
me to become a better poet and to define my own style. I think activities like
imitating or transcribing other poets’ work could be very valuable in the
classroom.
Here are a few more poems I would like to use in my
classroom:
W.B. Yeats “No Second Troy”
Dylan Thomas “Do Not Go
Gentle Into That Good Night”
William Carlos Williams “A
Celebration”
Walt Whitman “O Captain! My
Captain!”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge “The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Carl Sandburg “Chicago”
Langston Hughes “The Weary
Blues”
Joan Bauer “On a Flight to
Cedar Rapids”
