In my mind, poetry has but one purpose: to show us the best of things in life - not in intellectual ideals for us to ponder - poetry shows us the best of things in life by convincing our hearts that there really are things in the world worth fighting for, things worth longing for, things of a rarer substance than the humdrum malaise that often crowds our days.
"When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality" Henry David Thoreau.
Poetry is for the unhurried and wise, those who long to discover better things in life than the petty fears and pleasures that often come to find us; something romantic, for lack of a better word.
This is what I believe: it is the duty and privilege of every person to spend a time pondering those timeless, meddlesome questions that have troubled the whole of mankind.
It is his duty, I say, to spend a season simply pondering his life in its whole economy, dipping his toes within the stream of time through which he often swims - and while there, to stand in awe of that grand, elusive scheme intertwining all of humankind.
Our only challenge is can we gain the stillness and wisdom to truly be inspired by the timeless feeling in the poems we read? That is the challenge to any who are willing to delve into the world of classic poetry: to, for a time, wipe away the petty fears and pleasures, and to realize that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value.
Why classic poetry? That is just my preference.
In my opinion, classical poetry has the best renditions of romantic poems as well as nature poems, which are the two genres of poems I think most people enjoy.
anything that has the potential to inspire the sleeping spirit, the telling of love can invigorate those childlike ideals and fairytale notions most of us have long forgotten about.
But there is such a large composition of classical poetry, most of which the average reader would never enjoy.
So then, where should a person start in classic poetry? I myself only really latch on to small number of the overwhelming supply.
But the ones that do stir the soul are like buried treasure.
Though there are many, a person can't go wrong with names like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
I had the luck of reading a lot of good classic poetry while in the northern forests of northern Minnesota, in a small town of 93 residents, in a log cabin no less.
That might have something to do with my affinity for good classic poetry.
If you're reading this, especially if you're on this paragraph, it probably means you're already interested and at least a little bit versed in poetry.
If that wasn't so, how would you have found this article in the first place, unless you were looking for it? Do some online searches for some of the above mentioned poets.
I promise, you won't be let down.
And when you find a poem you fall in love with, don't just save it on your computer, print it out and take it outside with you at sunset and feel the mystic wonder of the world come and fill you up.
"When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality" Henry David Thoreau.
Poetry is for the unhurried and wise, those who long to discover better things in life than the petty fears and pleasures that often come to find us; something romantic, for lack of a better word.
This is what I believe: it is the duty and privilege of every person to spend a time pondering those timeless, meddlesome questions that have troubled the whole of mankind.
It is his duty, I say, to spend a season simply pondering his life in its whole economy, dipping his toes within the stream of time through which he often swims - and while there, to stand in awe of that grand, elusive scheme intertwining all of humankind.
Our only challenge is can we gain the stillness and wisdom to truly be inspired by the timeless feeling in the poems we read? That is the challenge to any who are willing to delve into the world of classic poetry: to, for a time, wipe away the petty fears and pleasures, and to realize that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value.
Why classic poetry? That is just my preference.
In my opinion, classical poetry has the best renditions of romantic poems as well as nature poems, which are the two genres of poems I think most people enjoy.
anything that has the potential to inspire the sleeping spirit, the telling of love can invigorate those childlike ideals and fairytale notions most of us have long forgotten about.
But there is such a large composition of classical poetry, most of which the average reader would never enjoy.
So then, where should a person start in classic poetry? I myself only really latch on to small number of the overwhelming supply.
But the ones that do stir the soul are like buried treasure.
Though there are many, a person can't go wrong with names like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
I had the luck of reading a lot of good classic poetry while in the northern forests of northern Minnesota, in a small town of 93 residents, in a log cabin no less.
That might have something to do with my affinity for good classic poetry.
If you're reading this, especially if you're on this paragraph, it probably means you're already interested and at least a little bit versed in poetry.
If that wasn't so, how would you have found this article in the first place, unless you were looking for it? Do some online searches for some of the above mentioned poets.
I promise, you won't be let down.
And when you find a poem you fall in love with, don't just save it on your computer, print it out and take it outside with you at sunset and feel the mystic wonder of the world come and fill you up.