"The importance of poetry"

 I'm keeping this here.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

 

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

 

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

 

Does anyone recognize this poem? Well it was written by one of the most important figures in American poetry, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson. So why do I choose this particular poem?

Because it signifies how you can put something that you can only feel in your chest and mind into words that not only have particular pattern but also rhymes?

 

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon, my name is Nur Adriana Batrisyia my topic today is The importance of poetry.

Before we go into depth, let’s have some insight on poetry.

The word “poetry” itself comes from the Greek word poieo meaning “I create,” and create it does. Poetry is used to convey love, lyrics, anger, hate, magic… poetry is a method of creation and manifestation. There are three importance of poetry that I want to stress about, first, poetry can develop critical thinking, second, poetry is a way to appreciate the beauty of language and lastly poetry as a form of therapy.

 

 

 

First and foremost, how can poetry develop critical thinking?

Poetry encourages critical thinking by requiring to pay attention to small details to understand the message of the poem. Every line in a poem carries a different meaning. Every metaphor being used symbolizes different thing. And as a reader we need to know how to put it all together, the connecting dots just trying to understand what the poet trying to deliver. And what really interesting is when we try to decipher the poems , all of us will have different perspectives, different ways of interpreting the poem.

For example, when the poet mention in a  line said “ There was silence after the storm”.

How would you interpret that? Well some people might say “The poet trying to describe after all the of hardships, she/he finally found peace” but some people might view it differently and think “Maybe the she/he just sit in silence contemplating everything they have lost after the Great War/ after the obstacles that they went through”

It teaches us to always see things from different angles and trying to understand a poem is like solving puzzles to get the real picture.

 

Next, poetry is crucial for us because it help us to appreciate the beauty of language.

Different elements like rhymes, figurative languages and meter being carefully chosen to create meaningful writing.

How can it enrich the language?

It is the usage of neologism. Neologism is the creation of new words as a creative expression from existing words. Typically, poets will use neology to enrich their poems and make their writings more unique and authentic. Apart from that, they will also use ancient words that might have been long forgotten. For example, ‘thou’ which means you, and ‘foe’ means enemy. This is how we can preserve old words, by putting them into writings. Poets also write lines that rhyme. Rhyme is the repetition of the syllable typically at the end of the verse line. It is how the poets try to make their poems more attractive and memorable. Sometimes, idioms of spoken language can also be added when writing poetry .

 

Last but not least, poetry is essential because it is a form of therapy.

Poetry can help us to express our emotions in a healthy way. As I said earlier, how can you put something that you can only feel in your chest and mind into words that rhymes? But that is how poetry works. Not everything can be conveyed through conversation and direct writing, some of it can be expressed beautifully through poetry. We pour our emotions and unspoken things into poetry.  We write about happiness, love, anger, grief and hope in our poems. Another thing is it help us to process our feelings. Based on my experience, sometimes I do not know what I feel at particular moment when I am going through something, but later on when I start to write about it in my poems, then I realized,

“Oh I was feeling sad because it happened, Oh I was mad because it was unfair, Oh I was very happy but that feeling was masked by anxiety that my happiness might not last long” and that’s how I process my feelings and thoughts. And when you write about things that you love, or memorable events in your life it gives you the privilege to experience all of the emotions over and over again every time you read your poem. That is why poetry is exquisite.

To conclude, poetry is not just to preserve the language, sharpen our cognitive skills and help us with our mental wellbeing, it is beyond that. So maybe you can start slow writing poem, start simple and maybe you can improvise over time. You can also show it to people you are comfortable with trying to decipher it together, it would be interesting.

Before I end my speech, let me recap all the points above, poetry is important for us because it help us to develop critical thinking, appreciate the beauty of language and it is a form of therapy.

Thank you.

Is there any question?