With things that I love, it's always impossible for me to choose favorites, but I suppose that in poetry, I can break it up into my favorite poem from a particular category.
Philosophical Poem: "Poem 42" by E.E. Cummings. The sensation that I got the first time I read this poem was amazing. When I finished reading it, I had to stop for a moment and just think about it. It sank in like falling into a pool; it surrounded me entirely. I think that the way he decided to structure this poem is the most brilliant execution I've ever seen. He brings his message across so clearly and strongly in a pure instant as I've never felt when reading poetry before.
The thing I like most about it, though, is that you can only feel that "Whoa" moment once - the very first time that you read it. You can never get the same effect twice from this poem, after you know what it says.
Romantic Poem: "i carry your heart with me" by E.E. Cummings. It's just the most touching love poem I've read. Anytime I need some romantic inspiration for my writing and such, I just have to read this poem or recite it to myself and I get insta-love-scene. Then again, I'm a helpless romantic, so anything so soft and emotional such as this would make my heart flutter ^w^;;
Death Poem: "Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep" by Mary Frye. As much as I love the poem itself, I think that what gives its effect an extra boost is the story behind it. Mary Frye, as far as I know, was not a poet. She was a woman who lived in Switzerland, and this poem was engraved on her tombstone. The man who posted this on the site where I found it said that his Swiss roommate recited it one night while they were looking at the stars. He'd memorized it after walking by Mary's tombstone everyday on his way to school as a child.
This is another philosophical poem that I love, because I share the same ideas of death that this woman did. It gives a perspective that death is not a goodbye nor a loss of someone, and it's a beautiful work.
Lesson/Moral Poem: "The Grass so little has to do -" by Emily Dickinson. As in all of her poems, Emily has a brilliant talent for personifying and describing things that are usually intangible in a very vivid way that holds unique truth in it. I love her experimentations and the sheer audacity that she shows in her works when it comes to language and structure; she is truly a master wordsmith.
"Again, the poem has two other Dickinson hallmarks...the teasing use of almost-rhymes that veer towards and away from similarity of sound, before ending in a perfect rhyme (almost as if to say 'see - I could do it all along')." - the description by the person who posted this poem on the [minstrels] poetry website.
I love this poem especially because it takes the idea of "The grass is always greener on the other side" to an entirely new place, and she tells it in a way that I've never heard of or thought of before. People usually try to teach that lesson by manner of comparison, saying "you think that this is wonderful, but let me tell you what you have that I don't". Emily instead handles it differently, from the perspective of someone who sees all the wonder of her own position and is ignorant enough not to realize it or care, and she also uses the novel idea of transition - that the persona will eventually become what she wishes to become, but because she's looking so far ahead, she can't enjoy or appreciate what she has right now.
So, those are a few of my favorites =) If you're reading this line...I applaud your patience and attention span. I talk a lot, I know.
If you would like a little sunshine in your story, please PM me!
Gender:
Points: 890
Reviews: 2