Poetry Month Tag

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.