Camden Rothleder

Mr. Shakely

English 2xl/period 2

15 May 2017

Poetic Vision Conclusion

This years Poetic Vision project managed to place my mind into a new thought

process. When given such an objective as to define poetic meaning, I found myself

discontent to use my own thought to find a definition. Therefore to arrive at such a

definition, I realized that I must look out upon the world around me to define such an

abstract concept. Through watching many movies and plays, listening to hours worth of

music, reading numerous poems, and even attempting my own take on poetry, I

managed to arrive at a current definition of poetic meaning.

First, poetry is an art. It is, by no means, limited to poems themselves. While

poems are the most evident example of poetry, poeticness is found within many

different experiences. These defining moments are found within films, photos, songs,

stories, as well as experiences in our own lives.

The first pattern I found among all my poetic content lies within the art forms

ability to strike its viewers emotionally. Poetry, when experienced, is not just thrown

at readers without being comprehended. The words, images, experiences make an

emotional connection to their onlooker. For instance, all the photos which I have

logged have an emotional trait. Some make viewers sorrowful, while others make

viewers rejoiceful. Nonetheless, they all provoke thought within the mind of that who
experiences their content. Poems such as In the Desert and Word on Statistics carry

such depth because they relate to a greater portion of their audience.

To relate to all those who experience a form of art is no easy task. Every human

has their own personal interest, careers, ideals, etc. Therefore the main theme we see

within poetic content is their relationship to human nature itself. Because poetry tells of

some type of human truth, it seems to hit readers as a real interaction with life. This

trait of poetic meaning is critical to the character of poetry itself and why many consider

poetry to be alive and breathe. Professor Keating of Dead Poets Society words it

well when saying, We read and write poetry because we are members of the human

race. Like Keating said, poetry has meaning and that meaning gives wisdom: a natural

human desire.

A poetic trait lies within the content itself. Something is not deemed poetic by an

outside source, for they are experiencing its very nature. Looking at two things, one

obviously meaningful and the other seemingly empty helps to illustrate the traits of

poetic content. For instance, Kendrick Lamar, who would be considered to be a modern

day, shows poetic meaning in his wisdom rich lyrics. Lamar freely expresses a topic

to which humanity as a whole is affected. In songs like, Art of Peer Pressure he sings

of political injustice. However in other songs like Sing About Me, Im Dying of Thirst, he

uses personal experience to sing of death and fate. All these themes, in some way,

relate to the aspects of human life. Conversely a song like Rebecca Blacks Friday

simply has no meaning. It is a micro story of her ideal fun Friday which has no greater

or eye-opening insight to humanity.

 When exploring how poetry is used, one can evidently see the value of poetic

meaning. The Bible for instance uses poetry throughout its many stories and books.

The Bible, for christians, provides humanity with the truth of both God and his

creations. In books like Song of Songs writers of the Bible, at some point in history,

developed artistic strategies to help exchange teachings with their audience. The

beauty in these poems of the Bible lie within their soul truthful nature. They tell of the

everything of human nature; from the beauty and flourishment, to the sorrow and

destruction. At the roots of their function, they give Catholics a greater sense of

understanding to the world around them. These impactful lessons present

themselves not only in the Bible, but in all poetic meaningful content. Songs express

these lessons, pictures show them, stories give these lessons of humanity context, and

poems demonstrate these impacts through patterns.

This knowledge given by poetry makes it so valuable. Poetry is so unique to the

human species. We are given the ability to rationalize. We have a creative nature in our

thinking process which pushes us beyond just surviving. We have the gift of

discernment and judgment. Poetry is the free expression of this gift we call reason;

no rules, no conventionality, just raw knowledge.

This definition may or may not be complete. I do not know and perhaps may

never know whether or not I am correct because poetic vision is an ongoing process.

Nonetheless, as I age and my horizon of knowledge widens, I may just arrive steps

closer to an answer.