Lecture Notes: Understanding Poetry

Introduction to Poetry

• Muhammad Ali's quick creation of the shortest poem: "Me, we."
• Captivated Harvard's graduating class in 1975 with a message of unity.

Defining a Poem

Key Questions

• What makes a poem a poem?
• Poets have used metaphors to define poetry.

Common Characteristics of Poetry

1. Musical Qualities

   • Emphasizes language's rhythm through:
     • Rhyme
     • Rhythm
     • Meter
   • Examples: Shakespeare's sonnets, Confucius's odes, Sanskrit Vedas.

2. Condensed Language

   • Like literature with "all the water wrung out of it."

3. Intense Feelings

   • Rumi's spiritual poetry, Pablo Neruda's "Ode to an Onion."

Evolution of Poetry

• Early rhythmic patterns helped remember stories before writing.
• Modern poetry transcends traditional definitions.
• Examples of visual poetry:
  • Reinhard Döhl's “Apfel”
  • Eugen Gomringer's "silencio"
  • E.E. Cummings with shape-based poetry.

Poetry and Music

• Debate on whether songs are poems.
• Notable songwriters: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Tupac Shakur.
• Elements of poetry in rap:
  • Rhyme
  • Rhythm
  • Imagery
  • Example: Notorious B.I.G.'s lyric illustrates vivid imagery.

Structure of Poetry

• Line breaks help navigate rhythms.
• Prose poetry:
  • Uses vivid images and wordplay but formatted like paragraphs.

Broader Perspectives on Poetry

• Poetic elements in:
  • Spiritual hymns
  • Famous speeches (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK).
  • Social media posts like Joanna Smith's tweet from Haiti earthquake.
  • Comparison to haiku: brief intensity in three lines (5-7-5 syllables).

Conclusion

• The definition of poetry has evolved; boundaries between poetry, prose, song, and visual art are blurred.
• Origin of the word "poetry": ancient Greek poiesis meaning "to create."
• Poets as craftsmen shaping raw materials into human understanding.
• Dartmouth researchers' experiment with AI creating poetry:
  • AI poems were easily distinguished from human-written ones (100% success rate).