Poetry and its distribution..and more

After reading the Dickinson poems for class tomorrow, I did not feel as I did after the Whitman poems we read. For me, reading the Dickinson poems was less relatable and something that I found myself rather disinterested in. This may be because this week is the most stressful for me in terms of school, because today is Easter Sunday and I just spent the weekend at home with family, or because I am just simply not a poem person! Either way, the Whitman poems gave me a different view on poetry. It showed me that not all poems have to rhyme or have a particular form and that they can be historic as well as imaginative. While reading the Dickinson poems, I did not feel the same way. Here, I felt the subjects were not as in tune with me or my feelings. I felt they merely skimmed the surface of certain topics rather than going into detail. I do not know much about Dickinson and she may have other poems that do actually fit those descriptions, but I do not believe that was seen here.

Another thing that surprised me after finishing with Whitman was the length of poems. Hers were fairly short, especially in comparison to Whitman. It also reminded me of the length of poem we would read when in elementary school. The poems seemed to be short, perfectly rhyming and about simple subjects (not implying that these are!). Now I am starting to question the way poetry is taught in our country, if at all. There are so many people who write and love poetry, but does all of it get circulated as widely as it should? Do poets get their due? I honestly think there are many people who consider themselves good poets, who are not. However, I think there are many poets that also do not get the respect they deserve or get read enough. I do not know how this can be changed, but it seems to be a problem with literature in general as well. Personally, this class has raised my awareness about the seemingly shrinking world of literature. This could just be because I have not read a lot myself and the people in my field only read academic articles, magazines or books. I have a hard time reading while in school because I cannot invest myself fully while also dedicating myself to school, but I do believe that once I am done with school I will become an avid reader once again.

I am not sure how I got so far from the original topic of poetry, but through this semester these thoughts have come to mind and since we are winding down, I thought now would be a good time to share them!