Amazon.com Widgets Passionate Colors Newsletter ~ #8 ~ Poetry Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out

"Poetry is the voice of the soul, whispering, celebrating, singing even." ~ Carolyn Forche

Daily Celebrations

I have always been amazed at the number of people who have shown an interest in my poetry at Daily Celebrations. Poetry has always been a way for me to slide words on paper and massage a message, a feeling, and an experience. There has always been a driving impulse to write poetry. A purpose, a passion. Even in pain, a celebration.
~~~~~~~~~

COMMUNICATE BEFORE UNDERSTANDING...
"Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood." ~ T.S. Eliot

Poet Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) is best known for his bleak, 433-line epic poem The Waste Land (1922). A genius of form, balance, and sound, during his lifetime he was called "the greatest living poet writing in English."
~~~~~~~~~

DELIGHT AND WISDOM...
"A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom." ~ Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) was America's unofficial poet laureate and once called himself "an awakener." He won four Pulitzer Prizes (1924, 1931, 1937, 1943) and recited two works at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration.

"A poem begins with a lump in the throat,” he said. “Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat."
~~~~~~~~~

JOY, PAIN, WONDER, AND DICTIONARY...
"Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

Creator of beautiful poetry, Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) wrote the masterpiece The Prophet (1923), an autobiography of 26 poetic essays. With words and wordlessness, he celebrated the sacredness of life and the presence of God everywhere.

"Wisdom is not in words," he believed. "Wisdom is meaning within words."
~~~~~~~~~

WHERE POETRY EXISTS...
"A vein of poetry exists in the hearts of all men.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

Historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) knew about the importance and prevalence of poetry.

For me, poetry is
rhyme, sound, sense
alliteration, assonance
music, meter, method, personification

Truth.

theory, practice, pens,
symbols, similes, sighs
and a celebration of:
keats, shelley, cummings, and poe
dickinson, angelou, frost

onomatopoeia

AND SO MUCH MORE...
"Reading poetry is a way of connecting--through the medium of language--more deeply with yourself even as you connect more deeply with another." ~ Edward Hirsch

Visit: Celebrating Poets | Poetry Quotations