You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. Beginning with that notorious anti-poet Plato and stopping off for brief conversations with Shelley, Wordsworth, Stevens, Eliot and even Louise Glück, Parini gives us a generous, knowledgeable tour of why poetry matters to us now. In an era of Twitter and texting, poetry matters more than ever, said Dana Gioia, poet laureate of California, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and author of five poetry collections. Why poetry matters now. May 5, 2020. HuffPost is part of Verizon Media. But, undeterred, he commences a deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives. Vanessa Hua January 16, 2020. It doesn't matter if you're reading a poem by Poe or Dickinson about death or a poem by Shakespeare or Donne about love. 'Why Poetry Matters offers itself as a timely, passionate defence of the poetic. Get this from a library! Text settings. Step right up and watch its last gasp, they seem to say. Welcome to this continued exploration of why poetry matters, especially during quarantine. But, undeterred, he commences a deeply felt meditation on poetry, its language and meaning, and its power to open minds and transform lives. There are plenty of different kinds of poems to appeal to people's different tastes. He lives in Weybridge, VT. Click here for an extended question & answer discussion with the author. Charlie Dark performs his poem, 'Airborne' Duration: 01:37 Related Content. Our shopping cart only supports Mozilla Firefox. Special guests include Theresa Monteiro, an MFA student at the University of New Hampshire, and Montrose sophomore Jenn Uche. They are like genres of music, everyone has their preference. Poetry is as old as the human need to communicate and enriches human consciousness, Gioia said in an address at the National Press Club April 20. By contributor Jennifer Cox. Why Poetry Matters. — Matthew Bevis, Modernism/Modernity Vol.17, Carolyn Forche; Foreword by Stanley Kunitz. The author’s love of poetry suffuses this insightful book—a volume for all readers interested in a fresh introduction to the art that lies at the center of Western civilization. Why poetry matters Contributor 10.30.14. There are at least two reasons why the situation of poetry matters to the entire intellectual community. It's threatened in a larger sense, in that its root, which is the particular idiosyncratic stuff of selfhood, may itself wither or become as rare as a Florida Panther. The first involves the role of language in a free society. It is not threatened, not in the sense that people are about to stop writing it or reading it or thinking about it. Poetry matters because it is both free and deeply structured. — Matthew Bevis, Modernism/Modernity Vol.17 Indeed, a poet might well be described (in Aristotle’s terms) as someone capable of noticing likenesses. "—Molly Peacock, poet and creative nonfiction writer, author of. He argues that a poet’s originality depends on a deep understanding of the traditions of political poetry, nature poetry, and religious poetry. They … Poetry is a powerful language that speaks of the value of each and every thing, and it doesn’t matter if anyone else at all thinks it – or you – are valuable. English professors looking for a textbook that explains what poetry is and how students can benefit from reading it should order. Unfortunately, many had a bad experience and long ago concluded they just aren't the poetic type. One reason is because it can touch different people in different ways. Dana Gioia, chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts under President George W. Bush and poet laureate of California, talks about the importance of poetry in the United States. As my friend, the mythologist Michael Meade writes, “It is easy to feel lost and betrayed in a world of increasing alienation, where greed, injustice, and dull materialism obscure the underlying dream of life. 'Why Poetry Matters offers itself as a timely, passionate defence of the poetic. Poetry indeed matters. The one sort they have never liked is the sort they are told to like. The book ranges far and wide with chapters on poetry's engagement with voice, metaphor, tradition, politics, religion, and the natural world.' I hoped that the bears were asleep. And as long as the world needs changing, we’ll need poetry. Author: Emilia Phillips | Nov. 21. By the end of the book, Parini has recovered a truth often obscured by our clamorous culture: without poetry, we live only partially, not fully conscious of the possibilities that life affords. Mum … By the end of the book, Parini has recovered a truth often obscured by our clamorous culture: without poetry, we live only partially, not fully conscious of the possibilities that life affords. To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select 'I agree', or select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices. Nightly my father lulled me to sleep with the many poems he knew by heart. Log In. From magazine issue: 8 August 2020. iStock. Writing with a casual grace, Parini avoids jargon and makes his case in concise, direct terms: the mind of the poet supplies a light to the minds of others, kindling their imaginations, helping them to live their lives. Poetry doesn't matter to most people. Why Poetry Matters — David Xiang our team Jun 05, 2020 Jun 05, 2020 Poetry can give us back our dailiness in musical technicolour: in a thousand yarns or snapshots. "With gentle insistence, Parini's book makes the case that poetry is worth reading—indeed, that it must be read—especially in a dark time like our own. In this article I will attempt to articulate why poetry is important to read and also to write. Poetry indeed matters. When I read a poem that resonates I feel like I have found a long lost friend. We bring our own past to bear on poetry's metaphors to achieve a great consolation, a way to be sympathetic with another human being's private utterance. Jay Parini, a poet, novelist, and biographer, is D. E. Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College. He was, Dana Gioia said, the finest poet of his generation and the greatest American Christian poet since Eliot. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps. 2016. His poems, articles, and reviews appear regularly in such journals as the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Harper’s, Poetry, the New York Times Book Review, the Guardian, and the Times Literary Supplement. Why poetry matters. Furthermore, Why Poetry Matters provides a perspective on poetry that suits both Gioia’s literate reader and the practicing poet. Subscribe Today. Why Poetry Matters. More clips from Why Poetry Matters. [Jay Parini] -- Poetry doesn't matter to most people, observes Jay Parini at the opening of this book. By Jay Parini June 27, 2008 Premium content for subscribers. Please ensure you're using that browser before attempting to purchase. Why Poetry Matters. This is the perfect hip-pocket compendium of signposts to Poetryland. Often when he talks about why it matters, it comes off as if poetry were a sacrament, akin to Christian communion. Exactly how metaphor works in poetry, and why this matters, will be the subject of this chapter. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Instead, poems can be a space where uncertainty and complexity commingle. Richard Wilbur died last month. Poetry helps build early literacy skills. On long journeys or stuck in traffic-jams we played rhyming games or changed the lyrics to songs and nursery rhymes. "If you are going to tell Jay Parini that poetry doesn't matter, you should probably start working on your debate points now—he's got a lot more. Truth & Dread: Why Poetry Still Matters & The Risk of (Too Much) Empathy. However, the nicest line in this book says something like, ‘poetry can … It gives voice to certain intimacy and connections that would otherwise be lost. When we needed her lessons -- each of us … 2 quotes from Why Poetry Matters: ‘Poetry is a language adequate to one's experience.’ Why Poetry Matters. A gifted poet and acclaimed teacher, Parini begins by looking at defenses of poetry written over the centuries. 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