What is Poetry? | Close Reading Poetry for Beginners

Before we discuss close reading the main topic of this season, we must first confront the question: “What is poetry?” How we read poetry, and how we enjoy it, depend upon the basic question of what poetry essentially is. That question is what we’ll be exploring in this lecture.

There are three claims about poetry I want to make and I’ll tell you them upfront:
Poetry is a special mode of literature, different from prose.
A poem is the shape of sound and meaning.
A poem is not a mere description of an experience–it is an experience.

Thumbnail art: Great Piece of Turf, 1503 - Albrecht Durer

Keywords:
close reading
how to close read poetry
What is close reading?
What is poetry?
Understanding poetry
How to understand poetry
How to close read poetry
Close reading a poem
How to analyze poetry
How to analyze a poem
What is a poem?
Poetry definition
Course on close reading
The art of close reading poetry
How to read poetry
How to enjoy poetry
What is literature
Course on poetry
Reading literature
Close reading literature
close reading techniques

[letterscreative]

I become genuinely joyful inside when I see such delicate sensitivity blossoming and nurtured in the world. Oftentimes it is either supressed or tainted by other people's limitated understanding.

[sartreshizi]

As someone interested in poetry and looking to get a better understanding of the art form, these videos are a godsend. Thankyou🙏

[nostraa]

❤It's wonderful that you're creating these videos. Thank you!

[robertgainer]

Although the content is very similar to your previous treatment of the subject, the delivery is better. There is less background noise and the audio is clearer. I like the relaxed format. 👍

[nouvelraka]

I really love how you explain it and you've given me another perspective of understanding poetry. God bless you!

[cmoneman]

You've made a strong argument for enjoying poetry as more than just its "meaning"... thanks for the reminder! I've always adored poetry but have been recently confused by a poetry book in my hands and thus came to you

[melyssadurazzo]

High quality content. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the subject with us!

[sunnywu]

You've brought a new insight for me in appreciating poetry. I am going to view through all your clips and learn more about poetry. Thank you 😊😊

[williamfahey]

I enjoyed this very much.
Thank you,
Jeff

[marcelocampbell]

Excellent introduction to poetry. Thank you!

[tmann]

This video is about 21 minutes long but it took me much longer to watch it all because I had to pause and ponder. I wish I studied more about literature. I am in college now so maybe it isn’t too late! Thank you though this was so thoughtful and inspiring!

[KátiaPesquisadora]

Thank you for sharing! Hug from Brazil!

[sudesahin]

It’s a excellent video about the poetry! Please you can will read Turkish poems? Turkish people are veryyy emotionally…

[tamaradovgan]

Thanks from Sankt-Petersbourg, Russia

[TimiScou]

Are you available to have a brief discussion in regard your Udemy course

[jonathanrascol]

Bravo! Beautiful! Homages! ⚡️⚡️⚡️ JAR[RA] [壺 tsubo]

Let’s define POETRY formally, for the GOOD SAKES of ALL SENTIENT-BEINGS & the MILKY+VORTEX KŌSMOS' LOGOS:

POETRY as Rhythmic Epitomes of [Sublime] Beauty expressed through 10 [+3] DEUSAS MUSES’ Flowery Petals
[a.INTERPRETED.as good GUD’s elegant writing; & further the Sacred Paths, Divine Symphonies of the 4 SEASONS LOTUS]. ⚡️⚡️⚡️ JAR[RA] [壺 tsubo]

Time to...

[CasperLCat]

“Hikers go for the exercise, walkers go for the view “ ? As a lifelong hiker AND walker, my experience is exactly the OPPOSITE, or at best, it’s lacking this neat distinction. Hiking is walking upward; and that’s where the VIEWS are.

[SwelihleMvelase-ctqq]

was your definition of poetry trying to be exhaustive off all poetry there is in the world or were you defining poetry as practised by the Anglophone West? This is because every culture have different forms of poetry through mediums such as song or even musical accompaniment. And every poetry there is is produced by different languages which flow with different rhythms. Not all poetry is rhymed some cultures like mine.. we appreciate, in our traditional poems, rhythm more than rhyme .Even if you were talking about Anglophone poetry...where are your oral poets? The ones on stage coz not all poetry is written. Other poets are on their desks and others are performers!

[austinhelix]

A slight slightly different approah.

Language is sound. There are something like 4, 000 languages and about 200 languages that have a written form. So language is sound, not just writing.

Poetry is sound that calls attention to itself. Writing poetry is like writing prose, a sequential creation of squiggles to record the agreed squigly recording of the sound. in other works we have squigglt lines to remind us of the sound of the words we want to convey

Reading involves the reader resurrecting the sound and making mental associations wiwth the sound. The reader in a sense recreates the sound and builds a cognitive complex by associating emotions and ideas with the squiggles. The important thing is that words or syllables as such have no container into which I can put these emotions and associations. I have to depend on the reader. I have to trust the reader to create something out of their brain, their history, their emotions.

All reading (and hearing or parsing) is a mental labor of the recipient. Reading poetry is a more complex system, perhaps, than reading prose. But both arre creative acts. You are teaching, it seems, a skill.. More emphasis on skill and less on expensive books - well, I at least. would welcome that. Thanks for doing this.

As a closet writer I have shown my work to a few people. Any breach of strict privacy involves giving up control. You will be judged. You are trained well and have your documentation all lined up. But this will not protect you from misunderstanding and insult. I like what you are doing. But you cannot evade public scorn and nastiness with the truth. Be bold and just say what you want, it's easier.

PS Ezra Pound said : poetare est condensare. Poetizing is condensing. I guess I'm saying that writing poetry is a way of showing off.

[apricotAfterglow]

I dont get it. Sound like a challenge for a writer but not something worth reading for yourself.