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Category Archives: How to Read Poetry
Developing Voice
Monday, July 6, 2009
A cu p of want, a teaspoon of imagination and an ungreased cookie sheet is all we need to bake up a few poetry specific voices. Methods for mixing and icing will vary from person to person. Variety makes the world go round, brings spice to our lives and lays the cornerstones of individual thought; [...]
How to Read Poetry – Natural Hearing
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hearing as I read feels natural. Truth told, it takes considerable concentration to imagine any other way to read. When I hear words, with inner or outer ear, processing just happens. Context in reading emerges as quickly as in conversation. Originally, poetry was meant to be heard, recited. We now rely on books for delivery. [...]
Did Johnny Lose His Voice
Monday, June 22, 2009
For years, I assumed everyone heard words as they read. I am no longer sure they do. I got my first reading voice after Mrs. B, our teacher, said to another student “Johnny, read silently so the rest of us don’t have to hear you.” My inner voice jelled in that moment. Somehow I knew [...]
How to Read Poetry – My Keyboard
Friday, June 19, 2009
Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world, a world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans. And that led me wonder, If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn’t we really be talking about plural realities? And if there are [...]
How to Read Poetry – Poetry and Pianos
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Reading poetry and playing the piano have many things in common. Piano has Music. Poetry has Language. Piano has music theory. Poetry has prosody. Piano has a keyboard. Poetry has voice. Piano has notes. Poetry has words. Piano has notes on pages. Poetry has words on pages. We would not consider teaching someone to play [...]
How to Read Poetry – Restart
Monday, June 15, 2009
Enough already. I‘ve danced around the topic, crept in shadows and done a disservice to us all. Writers need background. Readers not so much. Time to get back on topic. Reading poetry contributes to the quality of life in unexpected ways. It is an enjoyable activity; for some much more satisfying than television or newspapers. [...]
How to Read Poetry: un-Defining Interpretation
Thursday, June 11, 2009
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. “It means just what I choose it to mean – neither more or less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s [...]
How to Read Poetry – The Role of Reader
Monday, June 8, 2009
Note – Before we begin, though I feel I should not have to remind I do remind that all written can be prefaced with IMO and absolutes can be modified to “some but not all.” “One only reads well that which one reads with some quite personal purpose.” Paul Valéry “The interests of a writer [...]
How to Read Poetry – What’s in it For Me?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Why read poetry at all? Why bother to become better? Most who read poetry read to experience joy, the beauty of language jitterbugging through time; the satisfaction of turning the key that unlocks the door to a room filled with wonder; the apotheosis of participation in sacred rites created by writers; the sudden, sacrosanct, orgasmic [...]