Brothers,
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)--romantic, humanist, and transcendentalist--is professed to be the greatest American Poet and, if not that, then the "father of free verse": a type of poetry without strict meter (beat) or rhyme.
That's not to say, however, that Whitman's poetry was not rhytmic. It certainly had its "flow" as we might say.
You ask, but what is "poetry" in the first place? Well, that's not easy to answer. Poetry, origining from the Greek, poiesis--"making" or "creating"--is an art formed in speech and word.
It is a type of language, really. It is a way of expressing thought and emotion through images, through symbols, through description and metaphor (drawing on comparisons between objects and people, for instance).
That said, consider what we've done in class: taking an image, an emotion, or a theme; transforming it through the imagination; and expressing it through poetry.
Pick from the following list of abstractions (or make up your own) and expound on one "idea" with some lines of free verse. Try to stay away from rhyme, but keep in mind the importance of rhythm even though there is no professed "meter" (or syllabic beat) involved:
faith, soul, body, mind, spirit, eterninty, the forest, fire, water, the universe, the cosmos, the common man, music, buildings, home, hatred, love, the ocean, the mountain, the coast, prayer, family life, friendship, school, sports, clothing, heroes, enterntainment, villains, God, Buddha, the Over-Soul, religion, conformity, nonconformity, isolation, loneliness, solitude, joy, despair, hope, grief, baptism, funeral, the sacraments, war, peace, burning churches, sea-faring adventures, fish, animals and the list could go on..........
BRob
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expressive and uncontrollable
the notes on the page are symbols
the sounds that the notes expel are full of life
the sounds of happiness
the sounds of war
the sounds of death
the sounds of life
music can last for a moment
music can last for eternity
it is a gift
and it is blessing
it is everything
and it is nothing
thought is within music
and music is within thought
never known to a single man,
nor seen by the eyes of us all
music is a form expression
and its message has a life of its own
The mountain
Tall and flowing they are
Far and everlsting they are
Giants of the sky
Patrolling the clouds
Masterful rulers over all that they encompass
Kings majestic and beautiful
Ruling their peasants
They are which we all look upon and bask in their glory
Servaying all the land
Shadowing the skies as emporers and empires
Vast and greatful
Religion, so powerful yet underestimated, we do not respect the power that religion has over us
Religion,free will, free choice, under our own decisions do we decipher his power,
Religion, seperates us from others, gives us something to look up to, wonder and awe, no words to describe, the grasp of religion over us
Religion, we want to worship, we want to be led, we want to be taught, we want to live
Upon the mountain top, sits a little thinking spot.
Devoid of all things evil, wrong, or scarry.
An oasis in life from the monotonous hustle.
In this little spot, rests a wooden table top.
Upon this little seat I sit and ponder.
I wonder of the past, the present and the future.
I escape from past the present and the furure.
Open to the sun this clearing sits, Silent of others words, here i gain my wits.
A walkway long and old pounded by the feet of many.
Upon the open, tranquil, silent, calm, jovial yet melancholy mountain top.
Fear is painful
It embodies our darkest times
Like an avalanche
It comes crashing towards us
As we stand shivering in the cold
When we are happy
It crushes
When we are proud
It destroys
When we feel welcome
It kills
It causes the best of friend to become the worst of enemies
Fear becomes hate
Hate becomes violence
Violence becomes war
And war becomes annihilation
Nothing can protect us from our horror
It comes from within us
We are it’s plaything
And we become less than human
Crying out for help
Praying for an escape
But you will find no escape from fear
Ever
Music
Music has rythm
has words
has beats
has ryhme
has many differnt types
rap
rock
hip hop
country
classical
and more
it has feeling
and power
music has everything
The mind takes on shapes
it may be a demon
it may be an angel
it may be a child
it may be a maniac
but whose to say which shape is right?
The sullen tears of a man in solitude,
outcast from humanity due to his thoughts judged wrong.
Though he never gets the chance to have a son,
And he never gets a chance to live a free life,
He serves to show us all,
what shapes were chosen as flawed.
fish weaving through the water like a knife through butter. colors changing, scales shimmering, tail wagging. it hears movment, qucikly darts to the side, eyes wide and always looking. once clear, the fish continues its search for food, for company, for safety. its hopeful for survival, but cannot reasist the bait. comes nearer and is drawn in by the worm. and in one quick swoop, is impaled upon a sharp hook, desguised as food.
Peace
It is what we strive for,
It is one of our ultimate goals in life,
Peace can bring the world together in harmony,
It can put an end to all of the fighting,
Unifying the human race
Unifying the universe
Bringing an end to the pain
that has been caused by war and hate,
But it wont happen in this lifetime,
people are filled with too much hate and anger,
It is like the thing we want the most but can not have.
War
Two contries with one large disagreement or feud
Sometimes an unjust amount of bloodshed and violence, both want to gain the victory but really
both gain a greater loss
Anger
Sadness
Fear
Isolation
Death
and darkness
There is no happieness unless you are of the corrupt who had started it all.
War, a gruesome creation of man,
Spurred from man's resentment as a means to solve problems,
The result of man's evilness,
An expression of anger and hatred,
A dreadful solution for man's problems,
Killing as a means to solve problems,
How is killing a solution?
Is it justified?
War is not a solution,
Rather it intensifies problems,
But can war be avoided,
Or is it a necessary act?
isolation is the feeling of complete separation from others
the state of solitude
being alone in fear
people not wanting your presince
questions like why people feel less of you and wondering whats going to happen to you
confusion in the mind
total absence of human activity
being a creature
creapy sensation of being uncomfortable
starvation
not being able to function
the one intention when being isolated is to get Free, released from a place where you never want to go back to agian.
realating also to loneleness
Water, a life neccessity
it can revive a dehydrated person
water can heal
water can kill brutally
water can destroy creations
it is a continuous cycle
water can put out fire
you still alive?
or is your life so empty that you just pretend
you accept without question
leading yourselves deeper into the darkness
you think what your told to think
read what your told to read
individuality is gone
the mob rules supreme in the search for originality
the inimitable you is a product
packed and sold in the corner store
prove your alive
think for yourself
those that do are just the same as us
-join groff's poetry writing clinic. enroll today and in 8 weeks you'll be churning these little ditties out by the bushel. sessions include "nature whats that all about?" and "syllables for simpletons"
many days alone with no one but yourself
what a terrible feeling of isolation
day by day with no out side contact
as the minutes tic by you life stands still
everyone you know is having a good time
everyone you hate have the best time of thier lives
you begin wither like a plant partictions from water
or like child from his mother
than you are reunited with society
and the clouds open
the plant that is you is given a second chance.....
burning churches all around but not a sound reaches the ear not the people screaming not cracking of wood not even the sirens of someone coming to help. but the churches arent burning down they are being held up by the fire. but this isnt real fire is it...
courage,
the force that helps you go on
the little thing in inside telling you to move forward even when have nothing else to give
something telling you to give a little extra
to do the impossible
shock the world
shock everyone
shock yourself
something that seperates you from everyone else
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