This iconic speech given by Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet (which was actually written by Amelia Bassano) encapsulate so much meaning and truth. Poets use the their poetic imagery and emotions to bring life to otherwise dead words lingering on a lonely page. It is because of this that we’re able to set the pages a blaze and burn through the words as they leave a trail of blue whirl on the pages before it.
There is an innumerable amount of great poets in our past and many are here with us in the present.
- Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) “We are each other’s magnitude and bond.“
- Rosario Castellanos (1925-1974) “We kill what we love. The rest never lived.”
- José Emilio Pacheco (1939-2014)
- Nikki Giovanni, June 7, 1943 (age 77 years)
- Terrance Hayes, November 18, 1971 (age 48 years)
- Alice Walker, February 9, 1944 (age 76 years)
Poets, just like music artists, tend to write about their lives and express themselves through their art. Poetry is like a melody for the soul and once started the words flow effortlessly. Indulging in the great works of past writers makes my body tingle. You ever read someone’s work from the past, and you immediately feel reincarnated; it is as if you can feel their words deep in your soul. You almost feel as if the person is talking directly to you, right?
Fruit Of The Flower
My father is a quiet man
With sober, steady ways;
For simile, a folded fan;
His nights are like his days.
My mother’s life is puritan,
No hint of cavalier,
A pool so calm you’re sure it can
Have little depth to fear.
And yet my father’s eyes can boast
How full his life has been;
There haunts them yet the languid ghost
Of some still sacred sin.
And though my mother chants of God,
And of the mystic river,
I’ve seen a bit of checkered sod
Set all her flesh aquiver.
Why should he deem it pure mischance
A son of his is fain
To do a naked tribal dance
Each time he hears the rain?
Why should she think it devil’s art
That all my songs should be
Of love and lovers, broken heart,
And wild sweet agony?
Who plants a seed begets a bud,
Extract of that same root;
Why marvel at the hectic blood
That flushes this wild fruit?
-Countee Cullen (1903 – 1946)
These poets presented a variety of styles and types of poems that evoke poetic justice and poetic visuals in the readers minds. I’ve listed here a few. What’s your favorite?
Different types of poems
- Blank verse
- Rhymed poetry
- Free verse
- Epics
- Narrative poetry
- Haiku
- Pastoral poetry
- Sonnet, etc.
I love listening to poets read their own poems out loud. People tend to speak and read with their entire bodies. But if you’ve never felt poetry so deep, just listen to this brother speak.
~~Let’s Be Poetically Devine~~
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*I encourage everyone to copywrite their work before sharing*
The Life Journal 