11-28-2013, 06:28 PM
Which is more important?
I thought the following comment I received in a pm was worth some further consideration:- They are into what poetry is; and I'm into what life is and how poetry expresses that.
When writing poetry, what is the most important aspect when you write? Is it to capture the moment or the image that has gripped you and to stay as true as you can to this…are you into life and want to use poetry to express this; or is it that the poem, the sounds and the structure – the poetry of the poem, is the ultimate end point and objective of the exercise…are you into what poetry is.
(Personally, for me, I think it is both; I write because I feel passionate about something (hate, love , inspirational what ever the passion is), but there comes a point in the creation of a poem where the poem itself becomes my new passion and I become more detached from the original idea or image in my quest to create something of equal worth to the original object of inspiration. Like scales with the inspiration on one side and the poem on the other I always want the quality of my poem to match the inspirational impact and passion of the original object or thought.
But just occasionally I think we write a poem that is so close to home that it is difficult to be detached enough to edit. Then the boundaries become blurred because we feel the need to keep such a tight control – each word carries personal meaning and to edit these individual word choices is almost like editing our own lives. Personally when this happens I write a poem for myself and squirrel it away and then write a second poem for public consumption.
Any other experiences or thoughts on this aspect of writing poetry?
I thought the following comment I received in a pm was worth some further consideration:- They are into what poetry is; and I'm into what life is and how poetry expresses that.
When writing poetry, what is the most important aspect when you write? Is it to capture the moment or the image that has gripped you and to stay as true as you can to this…are you into life and want to use poetry to express this; or is it that the poem, the sounds and the structure – the poetry of the poem, is the ultimate end point and objective of the exercise…are you into what poetry is.
(Personally, for me, I think it is both; I write because I feel passionate about something (hate, love , inspirational what ever the passion is), but there comes a point in the creation of a poem where the poem itself becomes my new passion and I become more detached from the original idea or image in my quest to create something of equal worth to the original object of inspiration. Like scales with the inspiration on one side and the poem on the other I always want the quality of my poem to match the inspirational impact and passion of the original object or thought.
But just occasionally I think we write a poem that is so close to home that it is difficult to be detached enough to edit. Then the boundaries become blurred because we feel the need to keep such a tight control – each word carries personal meaning and to edit these individual word choices is almost like editing our own lives. Personally when this happens I write a poem for myself and squirrel it away and then write a second poem for public consumption.
Any other experiences or thoughts on this aspect of writing poetry?