Poems give me the “ick” AIBU?

[Nevergotdivorced]

I saw an estrangement thread on Gransnet, the OP had sent her estranged daughter a card with a poem she had composed.

My immediate thought was NO!

I then thought I was being a bit harsh and some people would find it moving.

I think it’s really cringy.

Poems aren’t for me but I think we’re probably in the minority.

I don't mind reading poems but I really don't like listening to a poem being read out loud. I can't stand it for some reason.

Well written poems by actual poets - YABU
Twee doggerel written in laborious rhyming couplets - YANBU

Bad poems, of which there are many, give me the ick. I think writing your own poem, unless you are an experienced poet who does it regularly, could be very moving for the recipient but could also seem manipulative.

Same. I think it’s mostly because they’re read out in a pretentious manner that emphasises words in a weird way. When you just say them normally the beauty of the words and the rhythm can come out naturally

Actual poetry written by poets, which I can read quietly for myself in a book - that’s fine.

Poems written by random members of the public and sent to the local paper - awful.

Rhyming verse written by people in cards, invitations etc - awful.

Poetry being read aloud - awful.

Poetry being read aloud by the actual poet - the worst thing in the history of mankind.

[Presents Vogon poetry book]

Totally agree. Every word tediously dripping with meaning, and then when they’re read aloud the sombre pretentiousness and weird intonations makes it feel like I’m at my own bloody funeral!

Should be banned 🤣.

I always think of this whenever someone reads out a poem on Radio 4.

It sounds like there is a very sad backstory to this. If writing a 'poem' was helpful to the woman, that's a good thing, although posting it online probably wasn't a wise move.

Haha this. Can’t stand them

Gushy, sentimental poetry makes me feel a bit sick but I do love dark, Victorian poetry. I discovered it in an old book I found at home years ago. There are a lot of amazing poems in that book.

'Down by the Salley Gardens' is my favourite.

Home made poems not for me. At all.

I feel the same way about Am Dram.

It makes me want to turn inside out.

I'm the same. I hate poetry. I just don't "get it" at all, never have. I hated having to write poems/read poems and analyse poems back at school. I even cringe at verses in greetings cards! It all seems so much hard work and is pretentious.

I suspect it boils down to how I was "taught" at school, as we had a couple of utterly useless English teachers (we had a lot of utterly useless teachers for other subjects too!), who never even tried to impart the alleged "joy" of poetry - lessons were so unbelievably dull, just constantly analysing the technical/structure side of it, i.e. rhyming couplets etc (still couldn't tell you what they are as it all just turned me off!).

Years later I did an English A level in the adult education college, and even with a different (much better) teacher, I still lost marks on the poetry question - I'd have got an A if it hadn't been for Seamus Sodding Heaney, so ended up with a B because I dropped a lot of marks on the poetry essay question where I was supposed to get excited and write lots of detail on "bog people" which I found dreadfully boring.

Oh a big yes to Am Dram - my mother was the secretary of our town's Am Dram society so I had to suffer watching their shows year after year! Randomly bursting into song and dance, all the dancers doing exactly the same routines year after year, Urghh! My idea of utter hell.

Absolutely with you OP. Written, I generally just don't "get" them as a moving or otherwise experience. Often find them irritating in the way they are written. Spoken, I have an absolute adversion - cannot stand them. Sadly I have family members who are very fond of poetry, and I regularly get gifted anthologies.

And yes, if a relative (estranged or otherwise) wrote me a self-composed poem, I was have very strong feelings (not positive ones!)

I remember when I was doing my English A level, I said to my (brilliant) English teacher that I didn’t like poetry. She replied in an exasperated manner that it was tantamount to saying I didn’t like furniture.

However, over sentimental and personal poetry should be kept private. I defy you not to find some small amount of joy in the wording of The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock.

This.

Although studying poetry still wasn’t my favourite thing to do I can appreciate the skill behind a good poem.

Wee Brenda who writes rhyming couplets about her dead cat or the Royal Family and sends it in to the local newspaper or Take a Break type magazine, not so much.

My friend and I actually have a thing where we send screenshots of bad poetry to each other.

I also find poetry icky. I find it pretentious.

I like poetry, but I know what you mean - I like some poetry. I don't care for naff amateur rhyming verses, nor do I care for pretentious poems which are more or less just pompous stretches of prose with odd line breaks. I also don't care to learn about dactylic hexameter or anything like that.

Exactly this. I know someone who posts poems on LinkedIn about all the events she's done at work: she's very senior in a sensible job but I think she thinks it gives her a fun, quirky air and I haaaaaaaaaaaate it.

Yes.

Something like The Tiger (by William Blake) gives me the shivers. High Flight (by a WW2 pilot who was subsequently shot down) makes me cry. I also love Kubla Khan by Coleridge.

But anything by Maureen up the road (and her ilk) that appears in the local magazine makes me want to throw something.

Given the solemn atmosphere that hovers around poetry, when I came to read Chaucer (Canterbury Tales) I was surprised at how funny he is. We did The Franklin's Tale at school, but I managed to miss all the humour.

One of my favourites ….

Midnight. A knock at the door.
Open it? Better had.
Three heavy cats, mean and bad.

They offer protection. I ask, 'What for?'
The Boss-cat snarls, 'You know the score.
Listen man and listen good

If you wanna stay in the neighbourhood,
Pay your dues or the toms will call
And wail each night on the backyard wall.

Mangle the flowers, and as for the lawn
a smelly minefield awaits you at dawn.'
These guys meant business without a doubt

Three cans of tuna, I handed them out.
They then disappeared like bats into hell
Those bad, bad cats from the CPL.

the cats protection league by Roger mcgough

I think I just genuinely don’t like poetry, full stop. Some individual examples are ok (Stevie Smith makes me laugh) but fundamentally, I really like prose, particularly prose that is crisp and clear. The whole ‘guess the allegory’ thing with most poetry just feels like such hard work - like doing a cryptic crossword. Why not just say what you mean [I do realise that’s a big part of the skill/enjoyment for poetry enjoyers - it’s just not my bag, at all.]