Is Prose Superior To Poetry?

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Over the years there have been many occasions when I have heard somebody ranting about the superiority of prose, particularly fiction,over poetry. By contrast, rarely have I heard anyone suggesting thepoetry is superior to fictional prose. Does this say something about the supporters of one as opposed to those of the other? Is there an underlying difference between fans on prose and fans of poetry, and are fans of poetry, as an audience, more mature and open-minded?

I would venture to say there may be a little of this involved, but only a very little. My hunch is this: that people who value poetry will, by and large, value prose too as those who enjoy and are able to read poetry will also have the ability to enjoy and read prose. By contrast there is a distinct possibility that those who enjoy prose will not, by necessity, understand poetry. Poetry and prose are entirely different breeds of art which are like largely only in that they share the same tools.

I have heard it said that poetry is for those who cannot write sustained prose, and that the real skill of an author is in writing at length while retaining depth and keeping the reader interested. However, I would immediately like to interject on this point. For whoever holds any such opinion is missing something of dazzling clarity: what kind of prose writer is able to write at length in a manner or style akin to most poetry?

Poetrys aim is different to that of prose, and in this difference is in no way lesser to the skill of writing prose. Most poems want to convey with great weight a particular issue in a way which calls for the readers close attention. It is this attention which grants the poem a great emotional force without a huge narrative to underpin it.

The answer to the question: is prose superior to poetry? is that prose and poetry are two distinct entities which are relatively incomparable but which both require degrees of astuteness and skill in their authors if they are to be successful. Writers of poetry are just as skilled as writers of prose, and its worth remembering that many poets are also successful authors (such as Leonard Cohen). As such, the view that a prose author is superior to one of poetry says more about the knowledge and capacities of the one holding the view than it does about any real differences between the two literary forms.

Poetry vs The Internet

Posted on 19. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Poetry is the mastery of words in all their variations and subtleies to express in an eloquent manner that which cannot be expressed in silence. Emotions of the heart, a looking glass into the soul, a way to make amends, and a way to build vistas exploring humanity and all it’s relationships. Poetry is all this an much more. Poetry is also much less, and in a more simplified manner, it is only words. Just words. But used in such a way, as to make us think and feel about others, events and things in a way we could never have imagined. Poetry cleanses, fortifies and inspiries the reader, while at the same time fuels the creative passions and allows for cathartic emotional release on the part of the writer. Poetry is powerful, poetry is petty, poetry is loving, and poetry is hateful. But above all, poetry is human, it is a reflection of of the human experience in all it’s glory and all it’s shame. But, it’s something else as well. It’s words.

It’s Only Words

Words are what define the internet. It’s not technology, it’s not servers, it’s not protocols, it’s not browser wars. The internet is made up of words. And words are poetry. So, is the internet poetry? In a sense yes. Sure it’s pictures to, but words were there long before there were pictures. An internet of pictures would be pretty, but it wouldn’t be poetry. It would be thousands of words yes, but what would it say? Words are a business now online. We bid on words, we sell words and information. We sell poetry. Entire industries have sprung up based solely on words. Google is in the word business, as is Yahoo, and MSN. But, these guys are no poets, and long before them their were others in the business of words.

Words Are All I Have

For generations, authors and poets have been in the business of words. For that matter musicians were to. Music is really just poetry with a beat. And these guys and girls have never really prospered from a financial perspective. Oh sure, a few like Shakespeare and Stephen King did pretty well. But just being the tip of the ice cube, there were countless thousands of creative literary genuises languashing in poverty. Starving artists include poets, writters, and musicians. But hey, it’s a new day, and all that can change. The internet has open the door for artists of all inkling to support themselves with their passions of calling. Few have taken up the guantlet though. Perhaps, for poets and the like, suffering for their art is core to their being. A cruel but inspiritional muse. Dosen’t have to be that way though. It’s time for the poets to embrace the world wide web, and voice their words to the masses. The internet is about words, and words are about poetry. Arise poets, your time has come. Write you poetic fools, write.

The Art of Poetry Writing

Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Poetry can be described in so many ways, but one general concept people have about poetry is, it stems from an emotion, an inspiration, or from a particular event in the poets life. Poetry is an art form that uses metaphors to express a certain thought or story.

While telling the tale as it is can be easier understood, poetry is not into expressing one definite meaning, but rather into making the reader think and determine for themselves what the writer may be trying to put forth. The artistic use of words to represent something is else is common in a lot of poetry writing styles and is viewed as the norm by most poetry writers. Poetry, however, is basically indefinable and this may be due to the multiple writing styles available to the art.

People who write poetry for the first time usually write from the top of their heads. This means, once inspiration hits them, they write down whatever they felt during that inspired moment in the simplest possible words that they could use. While this does not make for good poetry writing, this could be very well the base for a good poem.

Like all books and other reading material, poetry can only improve with rereading and some rewriting. Some of your emotions from that inspired moment may have been expressed accurately enough for you, however, to help it transcend into art, some careful scrutiny and deliberation may be needed to further complete your work of art.

While certain words may be accurate enough for the writer in terms of expressing the emotion they are trying to convey, this, however, does not ensure that the poem is good.

Here is where metaphors come into play. You can use certain comparisons to how you feel by pairing them off with things and happenings around you. For example, if you are feeling sad, you do not just write in your poem that you are feeling sad or there is sadness in you.

Try to find a phrase that can encompass what you feel without being too direct so as to leave the rest of the thinking to the imagination of your reader. A good comparison to the word sad would be dark or darkness. Another possible word you can use would be deep or depth.

These two word choices may not be totally negative or describe the word sad if taken all by itself, but combined with a few other words, you can artistically portray the feeling of sadness in your poem.

Not all poems are expressions of sadness and negativity, however, despite there being quite a number of them being created and having been created. This is not surprising since sorrow is a very strong emotion and writing can be quite an outlet for this feeling. Anger, as well, has found an outlet in putting pen to paper, along with confusion and even hate. More positive feelings are also common fodder for the poet, with the astounding number of love poetry that is available making this apparent. Other stronger emotions often used for poetry include happiness, and, well, the other predecessors and by-products of happiness.

Whatever the inspiration a person has for writing a poem or poems, poetry is indeed a literary art form that is, as indefinable as it is, something that a lot of us can do well, with a lot of feeling and some practice.

One of the rather useful tools to better yourself at poetry writing is your basic thesaurus. It offers you quite a few choices in terms of word selection to further express what you feel in your writing.

Poetry Scammers. Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing!

Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Fake poetry contests cheat authors out of $10 million per year. It’s the lure of big money prizes and the chance to be published that convinces a lot of honest folks to hand over their money.

There are many legitimate contests but hidden among them are sponsors who only care about making a quick buck. They care little about writing or authors.

They exist solely for profit through so-called writing or poetry contests. Many times you’ll find these “free” poetry contests advertised in your local newspaper. Before you consider entering any free on-line literary or writing contest, do yourself a favor. Inform yourself about these unscrupulous people and study how they operate so that you can avoid being one of their next victims.

Prospective victims are sent flattering letters, saying that they are great poets and that the panel of judges’ or ‘sectional committee’ strongly believes their submission is worth publishing.

The scammers may even go so far as to state that you have been nominated for the ‘Poet of the Year’.

They will attempt to appear legitimate by quoting credible sources and previous “winners” of their international contests.

Q. How do you know if a contest is actually a poetry scam?

A. A contest is a poetry scam if you must buy one or more copies of the book in which you will be published.

Here’s a run down of signs indicating that you may be someone else’s prospect for their poetry scam.

Everybody Wins!

Scams often have huge numbers of winners. They make money by publishing books of poetry that are bought almost exclusively by the “lucky winners”. In other words, they publish YOU because they expect you to buy copies of the book. These books contain many hundreds of poems in them. This way they can charge as many people as possible. Besides the book, they may offer to publish your poetry on a plaque, an audio CD or even a web site… for a fee of course.

Huge Prize Offers!

Unfortunately, contests with unusually large prizes are probably not for real. If you can win thousands of dollars or more, chances are that you’ll shell out more money than you’ll be getting.

Reading and Entry Fees

Many contests make money by charging you to enter or charging to read your poems. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! These are contests you should be very cautious about entering. Contests that charge an entry fee are either funding the prizes with the fee or funding the prizes and pocketing the difference. Either way, it’s not a good deal for you. Legitimate poetry contests generally have small prizes and no fees. If you enter a contest with a fee, be aware that you are paying to compete with other poets.

Travel

While it’s flattering to be asked to read your poetry in front of a gathering of fellow poets, be careful if a contest selects you as a “winner” and then tries to sell you a trip to a gathering of poets or writers. If it’s going to cost you several hundred dollars out of pocket, and they’re the ones getting the money, then you’re probably being scammed.

Classes

One of the all time favorite scams is that you will be selected for special poetry writing classes. The scammers tell you that your poem is very good, but that you could benefit from lessons conducted by one of their teachers. There’s nothing wrong with you taking poetry classes to improve your skills, but it is misleading to disguise advertisements for classes as a legitimate poetry contest.

For novices and those trying to make a living by writing, poetry scams are a disappointment to say the least. Don’t let poetry scammers squash your dreams.

An Introduction to Urdu Poetry

Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Many of you may never have heard of Urdu Poetry before, and even fewer of you may know what Urdu Poetry actually is. This article is a humble attempt to give you some basic knowledge about Urdu Poetry.

An appropriate place to start at would be the Urdu language. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken by an estimated 250 million people in India, Pakistan and neighbouring South Asian countries. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and is the major language in some Indian states. But the language is not confined to the sub-Indian continent; Britain has one of the biggest Urdu communities in the world today.

The Urdu language emerged in the 13th century in North India as a mixture of the Hindi language, other local languages, and the Persian language that was brought to the area by merchants and military men. Many Arabic and Turkish words have also been incorporated into Urdu. Its colourful mix of elements from many languages is the main reason for its highly poetic nature.

Urdu Poetry traditions are deeply rooted in time, but like with many other types of poetry, a firm starting point simply cannot be established. Some of the major literary influences for later Urdu Poetry can be traced as far back as Kabir (1440-1518) and Amir Khusro (1253-1325 AD).

Urdu Poetry is a melodic and elegant type of poetry whose major themes include human feelings, nature’s beauty, and the passion for love. A majority of Urdu Poetry is written in Nasta`liq calligraphy, a beautiful Perso-Arabic script. Since Urdu Poetry is very popular in India, where there are many people who can understand Urdu but are unable to read the Nasta`liq script, many of the poems have been translated into the Devanagari script that is used by Hindi speakers. With the advent of globalization, there are even some Urdu poems that have been written in Roman Urdu. Roman Urdu is simply the Urdu language written using the Roman alphabet.

Poets of Urdu Poetry use a pen name which is called a takhallus. The takhallus will normally become a part of a poets real name and is added at the end of it. In Urdu Poetry, the takhallus is incorporated into the last couplet of the poem to act as a sort of signature.

Mushairas, or Urdu Poetry recitals, are entertaining events where poets perform their works. The Mushaira is a deeply-loved and cherished part of the Pakistani and North Indian cultures. At a typical Mushaira, several invited guest poets will sit along a long table at the front of the room, just like you would expect with a panel of judges. There is one host who will invite each poet to perform his work. The audience participates by calling out “va” at the end of important couplets.

An Urdu Poem is essentially composed of couplets, or pairs of versed lines that rhyme and have similar meters. One couplet is called a “Sher” and many couplets are called “Ashaar”. Although Urdu Poetry is characterized by several basic ingredients, there are many different forms of Urdu poems.

The study of Urdu Poetry is an extremely intricate subject that simply cannot be covered in a single article. It has captured the interests of many people around the world and continues to thrive as a form of cultural expression. Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into that intricate world of Urdu Poetry.

Hindu Poetry and You

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

There are many reasons that you may need to learn about Hindu Poetry. What is it really? Why should I learn about it? What can it do for me? These are all questions that you may be asking yourself.

What is Urdu Poetry?

It’s a form of Hindu poetry that has been around for many years. You may not understand it if it has not been translated for you into English but it is a great form of poetry to learn about. If you are not familiar with the Hindu language, you may have trouble reading it because it is normally dine for those that can read Hindu and not for those that are only English speaking. You can have it translated but it may lose the thing that helps make it so special in the first place. This choice is up to you and what you want to do with it as well as what you may want to learn from it.

What Can It Do For Me?

There are many things that learning this Urdu poetry can do for you. It can teach you to respect other forms of art and to learn about them whenever you can. You may not be able to read the Urdu poetry right away, but taking the time to learn shows great respect for the culture and for the poetry that it is. Art is something that should be loved and learned when it can be. People take for granted the power that words can have over a person or even a country. It’s made to get to the heart of you and your life. If you can learn to listen to it, then you are well on your way to learning to appreciate the poetry that it can be.

Why Should I Learn It?

You should learn about it and maybe even learn the language that it is in because of the cultural benefits that you can get from it. You may also be able to learn about what the Urdu poetry is really saying to the world. Many people are not aware of what this can do for them and what benefits learning a new language for art can do for them. You should keep an open mind so that you can absorb what the Urdu poetry is saying to you as a person.

As you can see there is a lot that you can learn from Urdu poetry and a lot of reasons that you should learn as much as you can from it. Many people don’t take the time to learn about it and figure out what it’s saying to them as a human being. You can learn a lot about how a person feels just by paying attention to the words that they wrote in the first place. You can learn a lot about people and yourself along the way. You may want to consider the thought of learning to read Hindu so that you can understand the words as they were meant to be read.

How to Embrace Romance Poetry

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Romance poetry is part of society. Just like love and affection cannot be divorced from us, we need romance poetry for everyday life. Sometimes, they say water is life and love is poetry. It is only these beautiful literally words that can make it possible for us to really communicate. The beauty about poetry is that it does not have to be dramatic. There are very many people who get scared at the thought of poetry. It is what we eat and drink, the little sentences that are often neglected. When you wish to speak or write good poetry, there are several things that you need to know. First, you need to consider whether your heart is pure. You do not have to be an angel; however, you need to be sincere. False poetry is one that is not inspired from the heart by love. Therefore, it is not judged by the rhyming words but by the depth of those words. The next time you consider writing it, look deeper and take time, you will definitely impress your audience.

After that brief overview of romance poetry, you need to understand that your most important audience is your spouse. This can also be the person you are in a romantic relationship with. For this reason, you are better placed. You know what they like and what they do not like. You can come up with something very personal or customized just for them in regard to poetry. Romance is a sure builder of all relationships and, you need to be in a position where you are ready and willing to please your mate. The main problem that people find when it comes to lack of romance is the unwillingness to give. I’m talking about giving romance or giving love. It is this act of giving that is able to revitalize your relationship. Therefore, if you want to think poetry, you have to change your mind and attitude. Be a willing giver. This way, you do not have to wait for them to do something for you; you simply take the initiative of loving them.

Romance poetry will not only help your spouse love you better but, it will also make you feel lovable. Loving yourself is necessary before you love another person. Romance poetry while mature will translate to great changes in your relationship. Since you feel better about each other, you will be in a position to romance better further improving intimacy. You will be inspired to find ways of improving your sex life and it can all start with poetry. If you are the kind of macho man who does not believe in the power of poetry, you will have to suffer the consequences of a dry love life. Otherwise, you must believe in the power of poetry for things to be better in your relationship. Most people are lay men and nobody expects you to be a career poet. Breath and feel poetry and the rest will be clear to you.

The World of Chaos, Theory, and Art in Michael Dickel’s New Poetry and Art Collection

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Michael Dickel’s poetry defies easy characterization. The art in his new book, The World behind it, Chaos, including photography and digital art, moves like his poetry between the lyric and the surreal. While his poems also have a political bent, the visual art seems less inclined to the worldly. With the sound and imagery of the poems and the colors and textures of the photographs, both his poetry and art converge on the erotic. This book is not an art book, only; and it is not a poetry book, only. It is both art and poetry, exploding off the page into the domain of the reader. No essay or review can fully capture the tensions and complementariness of Dickel’s work, soon to be available from wv? eBook Press.

This book of poetry, photography and digital art has its own world of chaos and order; while no fractals appear as part of the art work, there is some sense of Chaos Theory here as much as of the disorder that is often behind the view screen of our lives, or just under the surface of our humanity / civilization. While this eBook makes use of the computer, the words and images do not feel like something from a computer—the layout of the book provides a unique juxtaposition of image and text that feels more like art than technology, despite the online format (I read the book in Adobe Acrobat—pdf—format, but it will be released in Flash and Flash Projector format).

Few books, whether print or e-books, in few book shops, will provide the experience these poems and this art provides. Michael Dickel begins this collection with the sharp intake of breath as inspiration in the form of a deer leaps across his path. He ends, however, with the stormy sea washing away the urban landscape, collapsing history in the forms of skyscrapers turning to sand beneath the force of waves. Yet, somehow, the poetry leaves us with a sense of hope, of love, of human possibility in the spiritual realm. The last poem, in the form of a nightmare, presents more of a warning of what happens if we don’t heed our own better natures.

The release of this book will support the theory that eBook press publication frees publisher, like wv? eBook Press, to make available books that otherwise would be too expensive to release. Color photos, in high quality, cost a lot to print. This poetry book will be available free of charge—that’s right, it’s a free eBook. While it would be nice, no doubt, for Dickel to receive money for his book, he has chosen to have readers / viewers first.

Some of this art and poetry has a deeply intellectual quality combined with spirituality. A photo may seem a bit mysterious, and, sometimes, transform from photo to something painted (Labyrinth 1-3). A landscape appears mysterious, overlaid with various seasons all at once (Autumnal). This is Not  a Poem, one of Dickel’s poems, tries to reach cubist aesthetics, taking words from one part in different order in the second, and lines from the first part re-arranged in the third part. The first word of each line of the first section, with some modification, is arranged in order (from first line to last) to form the first line of the second section, then the second words form the second line, and so on. The first line of the first stanza of the first section is the first line of the first stanza of the third section, but is then followed by the first line of the next stanza, and so on. Dickel, in this way, conveys the cubist sense of three dimensions in one flat painting. Michael Dickel’s use of form stems from aesthetics of painting and sculpture here as much as from conventional poetics.

Yet, sound, image, rhythm, all play a part in his writing. As does (with variation), at least one traditional form, the sestina. The sestina has six stanzas of six lines. The word at the end of each line is repeated in each stanza, but in a different order. Dickel’s poem, Sestina, responds to Elizabeth Bishop’s poem of the same name. And, in addition to the usual pattern, he places the six words of her Sestina (or close words) into the middle of his lines, rotating them in the same pattern.

This is not done obviously—as with the cubist form of This is Not a Poem, what is happening by way of words moving around in a nearly mathematical (are these the fractals of his chaos theory?) manner requires attention on the part of the reader to be noticed. The poems flow, the words of Sestina making sense and not sounding repetitive as they change meaning in their dance across the page. The same with the cubist form, while each section contains the same words (more or less), like the three dimensions of space, the reading of them does not make this obvious until a reader takes the time to study the craft behind the poem. There is a sense of abstraction, but also of coherence, language, sound, meaning. These poems, like the photographs and digital art accompanying them, do not overtly reveal a craft that is both real and innovative.

The media rituals of reviewing poetry and art, the painting rituals, the writing rituals of poetry all come to this, in my review of The World behind it, Chaos: Michael Dickel is a poet and artist worth paying attention to, worth noticing, worth reading. His innovations challenge a reader who wants to dive in, but his work also serves a reader who wants to understand. And the cost of this book is just right: free.

More of Michael Dickel’s previously published poetry, as well as photos and art, can be found on his web site. While this collection of poetry and art provides a coherent representation of the varied voices and styles of Dickel, his web site provides a nice way to peruse the work of a poet and artist we should all be paying more attention to. The book will be available from the eBook publisher arm of why vandalism? journal of art and poetry, wv? eBook Press.

Where to Find Urdu Poetry

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

If you understand what Urdu poetry is then you may want to know where to find it so that you can read it on a regular basis. There are really only a few places that you can find it for the purpose of reading it. Your library, the Internet and your family.

The Library

The library is great place to look for Urdu poetry because they normally have a lot of books to choose from and may have a great section on this kind of poetry. You can look up the authors of the poetry in the file index at the library. This is the best place to start when looking in your local library. You may be able to find translated poetry this way for you to use in your Hindu learning. It’s also a great way to learn the culture that you may not be familiar with at all.

The Internet

The Internet is another great place to start looking because it is a great place to get a lot of information fast and conveniently. Urdu poetry is easy to find on the Internet because anyone in any part of the world can add their web page and their information to it. Urdu poetry is something that anyone that loves to read poetry can look for and learn to read with ease. If you find that you start to love the poetry, then you can even learn Hindu from the web so that you can read it in the language that it was meant to be in, in the first place.

Family Members

If you are Hindu, then you may be able to learn a lot from your family and maybe be able to get some Urdu poetry from them as well. This is great for you because you will be able to learn thesis kind of thing from your family and start a tradition that you can pass on to your own kids in the future. Families that have this kind of thing to hand down are more apt to be closer and have more things to share as a family unit. If you think that you want to pass these Urdu poetry pieces down to your kids as well as keeping a tradition alive that has been around for many years. This may not have started in your family but you can keep it going with one easy step.

There are many reasons that you should go looking for ways to learn about Urdu poetry. You will get a lot of culture from it as well as learn a new language if it’s not one that you already know or can learn that easily. If you take the time to look for the perfect Urdu poetry book and learn what they are saying you will get so much more out of it then you ever thought you would. Take the time to learn what they mean and what you should take from them.

Wedding Poetry To Use At A Wedding

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by admin in Poetry

Wedding poetry has been used to spice up any ceremony. It is amazing how poetry’s play of words effectively translate the heart’s language. This is basically the reason why poetry reading is a standard activity in wedding activities. Poetries are usually used a part of wedding vows, activity programs, ceremonial weddings, speeches and toasts.

There are limitless selections of wedding poetries you can choose from for that big day. You can just grab some snippets from a longer poem or get a shorter one and entirely use it with modifications. Popular poetries are those written by George Sand, Thomas Moore, Kahlil Gibran or Shakespeare. There are other contemporary writers having the same passion that are eminent in traditional poetries. Just by surfing on the internet, you can find poetries that can be used for wedding ceremonies that are submitted by ordinary people. These contributors are simply inspired by love and their poems are very well written too.

If you feel you do not relate with any of published works or submitted poems, you can go ahead and create one or hire a personalized wedding poetry vendor. The interne is a portal to find one. A phone interview or an online conference will be conducted by the vendor. This will be used as a reference for his writing. It is recommended that both the bride and groom will attend the interview.

Looking for poetry provider is not a hard job. You can ask your wedding coordinators, the head of your clergy for recommendations. You might even have a friend or a family member who can write real well. Professional wedding poem providers may charge as high as a hundred dollars. Compare prices and sample works of at least three vendors. This way you can weight your options and select the best vendor with a reasonable price. Pick the one you are comfortable in dealing with. Give the provider ample time to complete the poem, a good one would take time. Be sure to order around six months or so before the wedding.

In personalizing poetry consider the type of ceremony you will be having. A formal event might need elegant and romantic poems while you can add on some humor if it is an informal one. Poems used in wedding toasts must definitely have a lighter note to it. Take note of the mood that you wanted to project. It is important to know your guests and the person who would read the poem.

Poetries along with a good musical background can truly set that romantic atmosphere in any weddings. Through poetry reading you can express your deepest emotions of love and hopes. You can either read your chosen prime poetry during the ceremony itself or during the reception.

Tell every one of your joy and contentment of finding your true love by scribbling wedding poetries on invitations. Another option will be to print out a line or two of you favorite poem on your wedding souvenir. Poetry verses can come along with your photograph, the celebrant’s name, date of your wedding and your message.

Poetry compliments that romantic atmosphere in any weddings. It can surely add magic on your wedding day. A well rehearsed and a well written poetry can make your partner’s feet weak and make your heart jump a mile. Nothing can truly beat something that comes from the heart.