Defining Poetry Is a Hopeless Pursuit, So Stop

It seems that all words that pertain to artistic expression are scrutinized to death. What is art? What is music? What is poetry? These questions are part of an antique, yet hopeless, pursuit; they are the irrational obsession of making something tangible.

Poetry is defined as “the writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm.” Because it is already defined, questioning its meaning is one of life’s less profitable pastimes. But that’s not to say there aren’t questions left be asked.

My question is not “what is poetry?” Rather, it is “why poetry?” This is an inquiry without a definite response and without a “true” answer. Over the course of this ELI, however, I have come closer to creating my answer. There are many factors that led me there.

First, we have all read epic Greek poems such as The Odyssey (that to some seem “epic” in name only). These poems have survived centuries. They were passed down from generation to generation until Homer, among others, transcribed them. Something about the words was worthy of being remembered. One element of poetry that makes it special to me is that it can be timeless. A poem from Ancient Greece can still be taught today. The morals it presents and the questions that it poses are the same that we still struggle with, and which I daresay we will for the remainder of human history.

In the same way that poems are not limited by boundaries of time, they are also not bound by social limits. Take the example of the Space in Prisons for Arts and Creative Expression (SPACE) Program in Providence, Rhode Island. Their mission is the bring poetry to high-security prisons. Convicts are given an outlet to reflect and a place to share their thoughts. Many are able to find refuge in their writing and use it as a method of coping with the situation. What I find most surprising about this program is that coordinators report that very few participants choose not to share their poems. Poetry is powerful because it excludes no one and offers a kind of home to visit.

A third reason that I love poetry is its ability to give life to language. It’s only apparatus is toolbox of 26 letters that succeed in coalescing in endless ways. What sets poetry apart from other forms of writing is the special attention paid to each word’s place. A poem is itself what it is. It embodies the message it is presenting. If it is about a violent storm, then the words themselves are violent and curt: “I’ve seen it rip tin roofs from huts.” If it is about childhood, then there may be a childish end rhyme: “The kingdoms I conquered were bountiful and wide: / Multiplication tables, state capitals, and reading road signs. / And yes, my castle was merely a cardboard box / and the mote… was a row of dirty socks.” The poet Archibald Macleish describes this in his poem Ars Poetica: “a poem should not mean / but be.”

I love poetry because the words are limitless and have a life of their own. I’m not searching for a definition, but rather for a reason. I suppose that the many hours spent looking at a blank page require some sort of justification.

~Luisa