What is Poetry??

Most of this information was gathered directly from the book....

Perrine's
Sound and Sense
~Thomas R. Arp

~Poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient. The most primitive peoples
have used it, and the most civilized have cultivated it. It has been regarded as
something central to existence, something having unique value to the fully realized
life, and something we are better off for having.
Poetry takes all life as its province. Its primary concern is not with beauty, not with
philosophical truth, not with persuasion, but with experience. Beauty, Philosophy and
persuasio are just one of many aspects of Experience. There is no shapr distinction
between poetry and other forms of imaginative literature.
Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of literature.
Therefore poetry can be recognized only by the response made by the reader.
Someone who has acquired some sensitivity to poetry. To some, it may seem dull and
boring.
Poetry is a kind of multidimensional language. Ordinary language is one-dimensional.
Poetry, which is language uses to communicate experience, has at least 4 dimensions.
It must be directed at the whole person, not just your understanding. It must involve
not only your intelligence, but also your senses, emotions and imagination.
Poetry acheives extra dimensions by drawing more fully and more consistently than
does ordinary language. It uses: connotation, imagery, metaphors, symbols, paradox,
irony, allusions, sound repetition, rhythm, and pattern.
If poetry is to "come alive," it must be as cunningly put together and as efficiently
organized as a tree. It must be something whose every part serves a purpose.
Imagery can be defined as the representation through language of sense experience.
Sound (auditory); Smell(olfactory); Taste(gustatory); Touch(tactile);
Sight(optic)"mental image"; Internal Senses (organic)"hunger, thirst, fatigue, nausea";
Movement of tension (kinesthetic);etc...
Since imagery is a peculiarly effective way of evoking vivid experience, and it may be
used to convey emotion, suggest ideas, and cause a mental reproduction, it is an
invaluable resource for poets.

Symbol can be defined as something that means more than what it is.
The symbol is considered the richest and at the same time the most difficult of the
poetic figures.
The meaning of a poem is the experience it expresses- nothing less.

~~The attempt to evaluate a poem should never be made before the poem is
understood; and, unless one has developed the capacity to feel some poetry deeply,
any judgements one makes will be worthless.~~
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