The Poetry Month celebration has begun at The Edge of the Precipice, and Hamlette has posted a tag with a few questions to answer. Poetry and I aren't close friends yet, but we'll see how I do ..... Fortunately the first questions is easy!
What are some poems you like?
The Lady of Shallot by Alfred Lord Tennyson
The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes
Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe
Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats
What are some poems you dislike?
Since I’m a rank amateur when it comes to poetry, I'm trying to
concentrate on poems which I think I’ll enjoy. I haven’t come across any I particularly dislike as of yet. As for poets whom I’m hesitant to read
because I think that I might not like their works, I can guess perhaps Lord
Byron and William Blake. But I
could read them and love them for all I know!
Are there any poets whose work you especially enjoy? If so, who
are they?
I’m very excited to read more Keats. His ability with words and images is
magnificent! Then I’d also like to
read more of Tennyson, Hilaire Belloc, and Oscar Wilde. Curious list, isn't it? :-)
Do you write poetry?
I used to write a little long ago when I was in high school. I remember that I wrote a haiku that my
teacher loved, so I’m going to try to find it and post it.
Have
you ever memorized a poem?
Yes! A few: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson,
Celery by Ogden Nash, and Ooey
Gooey by Unknown.
Do
you prefer poetry that rhymes and had a strict meter, or free verse? Or
do you like both?
I don’t
enjoy rhyming for the sake of rhyming, but with poems such as The Canterbury
Tales, the rhyming forms part of the tone of the stories and it’s
wonderful! Free verse has been less enjoyable for me, but again, I haven’t had much experience with it and my
opinion could certainly change.
Do you have any particular poetry
movements you're fond of? (Beat poets, Romanticism, Fireside poets,
etc?)(If you haven't got any idea what I'm talking about, that's fine!
You can check out this list
for more info, if you want to.)
I have no idea
what Hamlette is talking about!
Just kidding. ;-) I
actually enjoy epic poems best, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf,
etc. As for eras, I think I’d like the Romantics, but
again, I’m not sure.
For my first poem of the month, I'm going to read Narnian Suite by C.S. Lewis because I'd never heard of it before and surprisingly it seems very Tolkien-ish. Since they were part of the Inklings, a group that met together and read their writings to each other, it's perhaps expected that certain styles and tones of writing, might have rubbed off on each other.
Looking forward to your thoughts on the Narnian Suite - I haven't even heard of it but it sounds very intriguing, I'll have to look it up! :)
ReplyDeleteChaucer is my favourite, but Tennyson and Keats are close seconds.
Of course, I left off my absolute favourite of Homer! Argh! However, I tend to segregate Homer, Virgil, Chaucer, Dante, etc. in my mind because of the length of their poems and my familiarity with them. Perhaps it's a subconsciously conscious decision. ;-) If I include them, I can concentrate on poetry that I like and am familiar with, but if I forget them, that leave poets who produce shorter works and of whom I'm woeful ignorant. That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it! ;-)
DeleteWhy am I not surprised? I love the Highwayman and Ode to the Nightingale! I also remember memorizing Ogden Nash way back in school! So far epic poems are my thing too, though Ovid is making me kind of lose some of the lovin!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think we might share a brain, or at least part of one. ;-) I actually learned to like Ovid and while I didn't enjoy the final Roman stories as much as the Greeks ones, Metamorphoses was five stars for me. However, I still believe that I would have highly disliked him personally.
DeleteThe Highwayman & Jabberwocky! We listened to a song version of Jabberwocky by Donovan which helped me appreciate the poem & learn it!
ReplyDeleteA song!? I've never heard it in a song! Now I must go and look that up. Thanks, Carol!
Delete"The Highwayman" is awesome. It has such a great rhythm to it, like a horse galloping relentlessly onward.
ReplyDeleteI really like haiku! It's like the most distilled form of poetry ever, one little fragment of life captured in words.
Your first point is a good example of why poems should always be read aloud. I looked for the haiku today but couldn't find it. Argh! I can almost remember all of it, but it would have been nice to see the original. I'll keep digging awhile longer.
DeleteI, too, am pretty unsophisticated at reading poetry but some of it speaks to me powerfully. I'm having fun with this meme investigating other blog about favorite poems. My Poetry Answers
ReplyDeleteYes, isn't this a fun exercise? I'm getting a little better at reading poetry but it takes time. You have to read the poem slowly and ponder to really get the maximum benefit. I don't have lots of time at the moment but I am trying! :-)
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