How to Enjoy Poetry
Find a topic or a particular writer that interests you., Get an anthology of poets to read., Read poetry online., Try reading contemporary poetry., Read lots of different kinds of poems., If you don't like a poem, just put it aside., Keep reading...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find a topic or a particular writer that interests you.
If you want to find some poems that you like, there are a variety of ways you can go about finding them.
If you have a particular subject in mind, you can find poems and writers who write about that theme, or writers who adhere to a particular school or style that you enjoy, but write about many subjects.Here are some common themes people enjoy:
Traditional religious poetry:
George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christian Wiman Funny poetry:
Heather Cristle, Kenneth Koch, Daisy Fried, Ron Padgett Love poetry:
John Donne, Allen Ginsberg, Kiki Petrosino Working class narratives:
Philip Levine, Brenda Coultas, Bob Hicok, Karen Kovacik Nature poetry:
Wendell Berry, Robinson Jeffers, Mary Oliver Confessional poetry:
Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, David Trinidad Experimental poetry:
Jack Spicer, Cole Swensen, Ben Lerner, Rae Armantrout -
Step 2: Get an anthology of poets to read.
Poetry anthologies are great ways to familiarize yourself with lots of new writers, both new and old.
The Norton Anthology, or the Penguin Anthology are books full of poems in English from all sorts of eras.
Read the ones you like and skip the ones you don't.
Spanish duende, French Surrealism, English romantics: there's a huge world of different poetry and traditions out there for you to explore.
Get some anthologies in translation and start exploring to have fun in the world of poetry.
It shouldn't be work.
If you don't like it, ignore it.
Likewise, research different "schools" and eras of poetry that might be fun for you to explore.
If you don't know the difference between William Shakespeare and John Ashbery, it's going to be hard to have fun with poetry.
Check out beat poetry, New York School poetry, confessional poetry, formalist poetry, flarf, and language poetry. , Online poetry magazines are one of the easiest way to have contemporary poetry right at your fingertips.
The quality is high and the subscription is free.
Here are a variety of online poetry publications in which you can read contemporary poems written by people writing today, and poetry written a long time ago:
Poetry Magazine Interrupture Sixth Finch Octopus Boston Review Diagram , Poetry doesn't have to be about Greek wars, flowers and trees, or religion, and it doesn't have to be written by dead guys.
There's a whole weird world of contemporary poetry out there that's exciting and worth exploring.
Find something that you're interested in.
Kenneth Goldsmith writes poems collaged from newspaper articles and disaster reports, while Matthea Harvey writes poems from the point-of-view of zombie marching bands.
Matthew Rohrer has a whole sequence of poems based on the CIA's mind control LSD experiments called "MK Ultra." Likewise, a lot of contemporary poetry is traditional, meditative, and exciting at the same time.
Check out Carl Dennis's domestic songs, or Mary Jo Bang's dark elegies.
These are the poets writing about life in the 21st century. , Read the classics and read some limited-run chapbooks by contemporary poets.
Read translated poetry in different editions and read poetry in your own language.
Read poetry written for kids and read poetry written by dying Japanese monks.
Read stuff that you don't like and decide what you don't like about it.
Read stuff that speaks to you and decide what you enjoy.
Read everything.
It's also good to specialize and stick to what you like.
If you find a particular writer whose work inspires you or is just plain fun for you to read, research the poet a little.
Get one of that writer's books and decide if you like it.
You can find more works from them, and further your knowledge of the writer.
You may even find more authors with the same form or style of writing. , There's no sense in banging your head against the wall of some difficult poetry if it's doing nothing for you.
While it may be tempting to only read difficult pieces that will seem impressive, it is better to start off with poetry that you can understand and enjoy.
Don't dive right into "The Wasteland," or you may get turned off of poetry forever.
Simpler poetry isn't "bad" poetry.
Reading poems that you understand will foster your interest in poetry.
The more interested you are the more you will read, and then eventually you can move onto far more complex works.
It is better to read poems that you can understand and internalize really well than to look at Shakespeare's sonnets and just read the words. , Poems may only contain a few words, but you can wrestle with a few of them for a lifetime.
Found something that really speaks to you? Make yourself a copy and keep it in your pocket.
Read it over and over again.
How does it make you feel? What imagery does the poem create inside your mind? If you take the time to develop a true opinion about the poem, it will better your judgement, and you might even learn life lessons from the poetry. -
Step 3: Read poetry online.
-
Step 4: Try reading contemporary poetry.
-
Step 5: Read lots of different kinds of poems.
-
Step 6: If you don't like a poem
-
Step 7: just put it aside.
-
Step 8: Keep reading the poems you like.
Detailed Guide
If you want to find some poems that you like, there are a variety of ways you can go about finding them.
If you have a particular subject in mind, you can find poems and writers who write about that theme, or writers who adhere to a particular school or style that you enjoy, but write about many subjects.Here are some common themes people enjoy:
Traditional religious poetry:
George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christian Wiman Funny poetry:
Heather Cristle, Kenneth Koch, Daisy Fried, Ron Padgett Love poetry:
John Donne, Allen Ginsberg, Kiki Petrosino Working class narratives:
Philip Levine, Brenda Coultas, Bob Hicok, Karen Kovacik Nature poetry:
Wendell Berry, Robinson Jeffers, Mary Oliver Confessional poetry:
Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, David Trinidad Experimental poetry:
Jack Spicer, Cole Swensen, Ben Lerner, Rae Armantrout
Poetry anthologies are great ways to familiarize yourself with lots of new writers, both new and old.
The Norton Anthology, or the Penguin Anthology are books full of poems in English from all sorts of eras.
Read the ones you like and skip the ones you don't.
Spanish duende, French Surrealism, English romantics: there's a huge world of different poetry and traditions out there for you to explore.
Get some anthologies in translation and start exploring to have fun in the world of poetry.
It shouldn't be work.
If you don't like it, ignore it.
Likewise, research different "schools" and eras of poetry that might be fun for you to explore.
If you don't know the difference between William Shakespeare and John Ashbery, it's going to be hard to have fun with poetry.
Check out beat poetry, New York School poetry, confessional poetry, formalist poetry, flarf, and language poetry. , Online poetry magazines are one of the easiest way to have contemporary poetry right at your fingertips.
The quality is high and the subscription is free.
Here are a variety of online poetry publications in which you can read contemporary poems written by people writing today, and poetry written a long time ago:
Poetry Magazine Interrupture Sixth Finch Octopus Boston Review Diagram , Poetry doesn't have to be about Greek wars, flowers and trees, or religion, and it doesn't have to be written by dead guys.
There's a whole weird world of contemporary poetry out there that's exciting and worth exploring.
Find something that you're interested in.
Kenneth Goldsmith writes poems collaged from newspaper articles and disaster reports, while Matthea Harvey writes poems from the point-of-view of zombie marching bands.
Matthew Rohrer has a whole sequence of poems based on the CIA's mind control LSD experiments called "MK Ultra." Likewise, a lot of contemporary poetry is traditional, meditative, and exciting at the same time.
Check out Carl Dennis's domestic songs, or Mary Jo Bang's dark elegies.
These are the poets writing about life in the 21st century. , Read the classics and read some limited-run chapbooks by contemporary poets.
Read translated poetry in different editions and read poetry in your own language.
Read poetry written for kids and read poetry written by dying Japanese monks.
Read stuff that you don't like and decide what you don't like about it.
Read stuff that speaks to you and decide what you enjoy.
Read everything.
It's also good to specialize and stick to what you like.
If you find a particular writer whose work inspires you or is just plain fun for you to read, research the poet a little.
Get one of that writer's books and decide if you like it.
You can find more works from them, and further your knowledge of the writer.
You may even find more authors with the same form or style of writing. , There's no sense in banging your head against the wall of some difficult poetry if it's doing nothing for you.
While it may be tempting to only read difficult pieces that will seem impressive, it is better to start off with poetry that you can understand and enjoy.
Don't dive right into "The Wasteland," or you may get turned off of poetry forever.
Simpler poetry isn't "bad" poetry.
Reading poems that you understand will foster your interest in poetry.
The more interested you are the more you will read, and then eventually you can move onto far more complex works.
It is better to read poems that you can understand and internalize really well than to look at Shakespeare's sonnets and just read the words. , Poems may only contain a few words, but you can wrestle with a few of them for a lifetime.
Found something that really speaks to you? Make yourself a copy and keep it in your pocket.
Read it over and over again.
How does it make you feel? What imagery does the poem create inside your mind? If you take the time to develop a true opinion about the poem, it will better your judgement, and you might even learn life lessons from the poetry.
About the Author
Jean Thomas
Committed to making crafts accessible and understandable for everyone.
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