Why does poetry move us? (my theory)

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Hardcore Literature Lecture Series
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Happy reading!

[UltimateKyuubiFox]

As an atheist, that was perhaps the most compelling evidence for God I’ve ever heard.

[clairescoffin]

The line that has stuck with me since I read it as a teenager was: “Know then, O waiting and compassionate soul, that there is nothing to fear, not even in Hell.”
It was from one translation of the Inferno by Dante. I used to look for it in every copy of the Inferno I came across but I don’t remember finding it outside of that one translation. I own at least 6 copies of the Inferno now but I don’t have that copy anymore, unfortunately. Doesn’t matter, though, because it’s always stuck with me.

[Mia-veec]

In the words of Philip Pullman, "When it comes to human affairs, a billion invisible filaments connect us to our own pasts, as well as to the most remote things we can imagine". And I do think that poetry, as well as a thousand other things accessible to us in daily life- a certain melody, dreams - are all filaments of meaning which connect us to something else.

[redthread]

Intriguing theory! I would add that poetry touches upon the mystery of language itself. We are so used to grasping and manipulating the world with our concepts that sometimes it is only poetry that reminds us how much of the world is still beautifully wild and inaccessible to our appropriation. God the Word.

[jamescalandrillo]

You've just given me a "unified field theory" of life, art, and immortality. I cry. I shake with recognition.

[Lunar.]

I love your theory! Your argument for God is compelling. It is weird, as you said, that those memories at death have no evolutionary purpose. That will need some reflection.

Through the past years I have reflected on why poetry moves us so as well. For me, who writes poetry casually, I see it as like a fleeting enlightened feeling. It is very specific moments of sumblime, or, to use a Melville phrase, when my hypos get the uper hand of me, I am inspired to write and read poetry. It is about experience on the edge of consciousness, feelings you cannot possibly describe, and a feeling that you can only feel in dreams. To me, the great poets are able to capture these breakthroughs of emotions or thoughts like lightening in a bottle.

I do not know if that made any sense, just some thoughts.

[kaylashae]

Your theory of poetry really struck me! I find it fascinating and agree so much.

[vanja]

I love reading poetry. It helps me to better understand the significance of words themselves. For me, poetry is powerful, because at the correct rhythm and cadence, it can play our emotions up and down like a trained concert pianist. 😌🎹
Yet, learning poetry in school remains unbearably boring, as it completely eschews all of the powerful emotional connections involved that make poetry valuable.

[ianwild]

Very interesting theories. I loved Smith's line 'Oh no no no it was too cold always ...' or hausman's 'into my heart an air that kills'. I believe that great art can give us window to another's soul. That might be the aspect that we are resonating with.

[whichypoohs]

This is SO deep, feeling very emotional listening to this.

[kynaatawan]

I couldn't help but agree. I feel blessed that I am able to access and appreciate poetry in both hindi-urdu and English. There is poetry that forces you to think outside yourself. In the Indian tradition a lot of great poets work is put alongside music and is forever sung in many rendition over the years. How I wish I could recommend them to more people in West. The translations don't do it justice because the trend is to prefer rationalism over emotion. At least that is my experience. Nothing is sacred or profound if it can be explained through science. There are poets that say the intellect ties you in knots but love breaks them. It is through love you are able to transcend the mind, transcend language. It's breathtaking.

[floriandiazpesantes]

When I first listened to some of Shakespeare’s lines recited by a bard in Winchester’s ancient city centre on my way home after an exhaustive day at work, it nailed me to the floor. I did not know enough English of that kind to understand the half of it, but my body, my soul understood I don’t know how. Even my lips could speak the words I heard in trance. So in good poetry is so much power, one doesn’t even have to know the language it is written in.

[rebelsage]

Wonderful food for thought. I think the poetry we absorb is as much what the great Joseph Campbell called ' the psychic heritage of us all' replete with archetypal signatures that we recognise but do not necessarily cognicize. He was talking about mythology of course, but this foundation is sound for the begiining of all story and experience. I am also acutely aware as a poet, that what Rainer Maria Rilke experienced - as in the entirety of his worthy canon produced in a little udner 3 weeks, as a stream of consciousness is an ever-present possibility. Thank you for your insights.

[jackbailey]

Poetry is almost subsumed nowadays by its use as lyrics for music: rap, rock and etc. I think that is the form of poetry people are responding to today. For instance, Bob Dylan is perhaps the best poet for people of a certain demographic in America. Or perhaps Ice T for another demographic. Who really reads written poetry today? A lot of people, but not enough to make much difference. The one poem I hear people quote most often today is Yeat's 'The Second Coming'. This seems to be because so many people think this is the end times or that some catastrophe is imminent. I think music is a valid form of poetry; Leonard Cohen and some others, although really good lyrics that are original are rare, But those who do make the effort to appreciate and understand good written or spoken poetry will be rewarded.

[versfier]

This is why I prefer poetry over prose; especially narrative poetry.

[raonei]

I had a DMT experience out of trauma because of a lupus crisis and I saw some giraffes and other wild animals. I saw a wolf at the end of an alley ready to devour me. In actuality, my mom was just pushing my wheelchair to the x-ray room.

[Srilankanenglishteacher]

First off, I guess Mr. Benjamin going over all the comments that he gets, because I am looking forward to getting my heart '❤️'. All right, whilst thanking him a lot for all these works where he puts his heart's out all the while being to managed to be passionate and himself, is just unbelievable and I am loving every moment of it.

Secondly, I find that the difference and reason why a viewer like myself and a lot more others find his work interesting is that he's different from the mainstream English literature YouTubers.

When I listen to Mr. Benjamin he speaks directly right into my heart, and that keeps me locked onto what he present next, so much so I don't want it to be end.

Anyway, I found renewed love for English literature thanks to Mr. Benjamin and I look forward to working on building my love and passion for English literature with the help of his videos where he gives out tons of valuable stuff absolutely for free.

[brendaholmes]

What a beautiful talk on poetry!! There are simply too many ways in which this touched and enhanced my current life experience to share here. But I am so deeply grateful. I am very new to your channel and have enjoyed listening to your lectures and Q&As, going through all of them in an order supportive of my current reading. My husband is in end stage Young Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. It has been a long and lonely time. Books have been my ever present companion and support.
I have long held the belief that poetry and music even that special alchemy the brain performs to turn marks on a page into meaning, are indisputable proof of a Benevolent Maker. But oh so comforting have I found your explanation of what happens in the brain just before death! You, in sharing that bit of information have supported me today. My prayer is often that my husband’s passing brings with it no fear, that his heart be at rest and peaceful.
Thank you for this invaluable bit of information. And thank you for not hoarding your knowledge but freely sharing it.

I know this video is a couple years old but I do so hope that you receive my comment, as it is born of a genuinely and deeply grateful heart.

[kikiwylde]

The first stanza of Thomas Hardy's 'Neutral Tones' gets me every time. "...They had fallen from an ash, and were grey".

[Scarlett.Rosemary_]

Beautiful video, thank you so much. Some of your comments brought to mind Proust’s Madeleine episode - the flooding of a memory from an unsuspecting source or sensory trigger, and the inability to fully grasp its richness and complexity.

I was wondering if you would consider doing an exploration video on T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Just a recommendation. I recently read it and found it perplexing nonetheless fascinating; in particular Eliot’s inspiration being that of James Frazer’s The Golden Bough and Jessie Weston’s From Ritual to Romance.

Thank you for making these excellent and thought-provoking videos for mutual lovers of great literature! :)
I am currently waiting to hear back from Oxford for a (possible) interview offer 🤞, your channel has been an invaluable joy and guide for me in my preparation and as a way for me to feed to passion for literature, language, and its all-encompassing evocations of the human condition.