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The Significance of Poetry
After a busy night listening to Eddie Benitez being interviewed by Olivia Wilder, writing, and doing miscellaneous other things (ah! the exciting life of a night owl!), I came to reflect on a topic that is very dear to my heart: poetry and its significance in this world. A few months ago, I had been asked a similar question about music, and my answer had been published in "The Spiritual Significance of Music", an online magazine.
It is only when I started writing poetry that I came to realize its meaning. When you study it in school or at university, it is honestly very dull and boring. I still remember one of the essays I had to write for the national examinations I was taking at the time to become a teacher (the most difficult exams teachers have to take in France). The topic was John Donne's poetry. I recall stopping in the middle of my 10-page essay and thinking: "This cannot be happening! Poetry is awful!" Never could have I imagined that I would be typing this blog article seven years later! The truth of the matter is that poetry stalked me until I was finally ready to give it a try. ;-)
A few weeks ago, one of my friends called me a "motivational poet" in a conversation. After almost five years in the poetic world, I thought I knew exactly what poetry was about. But sometimes, we need others to remind us that nothing should be taken for granted. As Krishnamurti says, “Life has to be discovered from moment to moment, from day to day; it has to be discovered, it cannot be taken for granted.” And it cannot be truer with poetry. We all have so many preconceived ideas about what it stands for, what it seems to mean, how we are supposed to read it, etc. In fact, human beings like to imagine that words and ideas have a life of their own, when all they do is create them and then put them in small boxes.
So, I started to reflect on the meaning of "motivational", "inspirational", and "spiritual". I did a bit of research in my etymological dictionaries, and this is what I found:
1) "Motivational"
"Motive" comes from the Latin word for "move". A motive is what causes/has power to cause motion; it is what moves or excites to action, inducement, reason. The verb "motivate" means: to provide with a motive; to induce. "Motivation"/"motivity" are nouns describing what has the power of moving or producing motion.
2) "Inspirational" and "Spiritual"
These two words are closely related. "Inspirational" comes from "inspire" and "spirit". "Inspire" means: to breathe or blow (into); to draw or inhale into the lungs; to instruct by divine influence; to instruct or affect with a superior influence; to animate (a person with feelings, thoughts). "Inspiration" is the act of inspiring or breathing in; a breath; instruction or stimulation by a divinity; an inspired condition/thought.
Here are a few synonyms of the word "spirit": vital principle; the soul; actuating emotion, disposition, frame of mind; animation, verve; courage; cheerful/exuberant vivacity; the real meaning, intent; etc.
So, if we pay careful attention to these three words, they have a lot in common! What causes motion will affect and animate the spirit, hence the soul, mind, and body.
The Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines "poetry" as such: "1 a: metrical writing; b: the productions of a poet; 2 writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm; 3 a something likened to poetry especially in beauty of expression b: poetic quality or aspect <the poetry of dance>" Source: http://cougar.eb.com/dictionary/poetry
Since I started writing poetry, my definition of the art form had always been "the language of the soul". My friend helped me to understand that when poetry truly comes from a deep place within us (heart, mind, and soul, what I also consider as the trinity), it becomes more than a language. It becomes motivation, inspiration, pure spirituality, and true beauty for the poet as well as the reader/listener. And in that sense, it has the power to excite/move/animate us to action and reflections. And that's exactly what the definitions of all the above words are!
Poetry is much more than simply writing words on a page, as well. It has rules and forms, and they were created for a reason: to help the reader see underlying messages that words alone may never be able to convey.
Great poetry is not hard to write. The important ingredients are: some basic knowledge of the written language and poetic forms (and it doesn't mean rhyming or following the same pattern all the time); the willingness to study one's own soul and listen to what God has to say (or whatever one truly believes in); and the desire to use one's own positive energy to create messages that will leave a lasting impression on people, and probably help a lot of individuals in the process.
And speaking of poetic forms, here are some cool resources for you!
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Poetic_form
2) Forms of poetry
Now, go write some poetry! :-)
It is only when I started writing poetry that I came to realize its meaning. When you study it in school or at university, it is honestly very dull and boring. I still remember one of the essays I had to write for the national examinations I was taking at the time to become a teacher (the most difficult exams teachers have to take in France). The topic was John Donne's poetry. I recall stopping in the middle of my 10-page essay and thinking: "This cannot be happening! Poetry is awful!" Never could have I imagined that I would be typing this blog article seven years later! The truth of the matter is that poetry stalked me until I was finally ready to give it a try. ;-)
A few weeks ago, one of my friends called me a "motivational poet" in a conversation. After almost five years in the poetic world, I thought I knew exactly what poetry was about. But sometimes, we need others to remind us that nothing should be taken for granted. As Krishnamurti says, “Life has to be discovered from moment to moment, from day to day; it has to be discovered, it cannot be taken for granted.” And it cannot be truer with poetry. We all have so many preconceived ideas about what it stands for, what it seems to mean, how we are supposed to read it, etc. In fact, human beings like to imagine that words and ideas have a life of their own, when all they do is create them and then put them in small boxes.
So, I started to reflect on the meaning of "motivational", "inspirational", and "spiritual". I did a bit of research in my etymological dictionaries, and this is what I found:
1) "Motivational"
"Motive" comes from the Latin word for "move". A motive is what causes/has power to cause motion; it is what moves or excites to action, inducement, reason. The verb "motivate" means: to provide with a motive; to induce. "Motivation"/"motivity" are nouns describing what has the power of moving or producing motion.
2) "Inspirational" and "Spiritual"
These two words are closely related. "Inspirational" comes from "inspire" and "spirit". "Inspire" means: to breathe or blow (into); to draw or inhale into the lungs; to instruct by divine influence; to instruct or affect with a superior influence; to animate (a person with feelings, thoughts). "Inspiration" is the act of inspiring or breathing in; a breath; instruction or stimulation by a divinity; an inspired condition/thought.
Here are a few synonyms of the word "spirit": vital principle; the soul; actuating emotion, disposition, frame of mind; animation, verve; courage; cheerful/exuberant vivacity; the real meaning, intent; etc.
So, if we pay careful attention to these three words, they have a lot in common! What causes motion will affect and animate the spirit, hence the soul, mind, and body.
The Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines "poetry" as such: "1 a: metrical writing; b: the productions of a poet; 2 writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm; 3 a something likened to poetry especially in beauty of expression b: poetic quality or aspect <the poetry of dance>" Source: http://cougar.eb.com/dictionary/poetry
Since I started writing poetry, my definition of the art form had always been "the language of the soul". My friend helped me to understand that when poetry truly comes from a deep place within us (heart, mind, and soul, what I also consider as the trinity), it becomes more than a language. It becomes motivation, inspiration, pure spirituality, and true beauty for the poet as well as the reader/listener. And in that sense, it has the power to excite/move/animate us to action and reflections. And that's exactly what the definitions of all the above words are!
Poetry is much more than simply writing words on a page, as well. It has rules and forms, and they were created for a reason: to help the reader see underlying messages that words alone may never be able to convey.
Great poetry is not hard to write. The important ingredients are: some basic knowledge of the written language and poetic forms (and it doesn't mean rhyming or following the same pattern all the time); the willingness to study one's own soul and listen to what God has to say (or whatever one truly believes in); and the desire to use one's own positive energy to create messages that will leave a lasting impression on people, and probably help a lot of individuals in the process.
And speaking of poetic forms, here are some cool resources for you!
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Poetic_form
2) Forms of poetry
Now, go write some poetry! :-)
Tags: inspirational, motivational, poems, poetry, significance, spirituality, writing
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