To feel Poetry has died a death in modern society?

[Marmitemother]

Out of curiosity I searched MN expecting to find a topic page on poetry and literature....have I missed it somewhere?

Semi retired, children flown the nest, hubbie and I always busy with projects yet still find time to read poetry most days.

I'm wondering if others, particularly younger folk (we're in our 60's) didn't learn to appreciate poetry at school or just don't have time or the inclination to read, share and discuss compared to all else available these days (TV, phones, cinema, social media etc)

I read The Journey by Mary Oliver this morning and thought about how it spoke to many posting on the Relationship page.

“One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.”

I think the younger generation still appreciate poetry but now it’s just more in the form of lyrics and quote type stuff posted on Instagram. I don’t think they’d tend to pick up a poetry book and read it

I believe it depends what they're exposed to
On a blustery night I sat outside with a young lass to tell her the old story of The Highwayman, and the look on her face was pure magic: "Tell me another one Puzzled!!"

For the occasion this was the most suitable poem I know by heart, but I've since introduced her to loads more and now she loves both the "Instagram stuff" and more classical pieces ... and so do I

I suppose rap and song lyrics can be counted as a kind of poetry.

I would define a poem as a short story of verse delivering a thoughtful often powerful message succinctly.

It is good to know so many still listen or read poetry. Totally agree the older poets may not appeal to the youth of today and school curriculums should include more modern poets, such as Brian Bilston and Nikita Gill.

LOL at Sam smith being a rap artist

By any sensible definition rap is poetry. I suspect many of the "that's not poetry" crowd would happily accept the OED as a good source of definitions so here you go:

Composition in verse or some comparable patterned arrangement of language in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; the art of such a composition.
Traditionally associated with explicit formal departure from the patterns of ordinary speech or prose, e.g. in the use of elevated diction, figurative language, and syntactical reordering.

Yeah okay you need to get done done done done
— Patterned arrangement of language, given intensity by the distinctive style and rhythm
That’ll work come over
We just need to slow the motion
— Figurative language (with a literal subtext)
Don’t give that away to no one
— Rhyming with "done", patterned again
Long distance I need you
— Syntactical reordering
When I see potential I just gotta see it through
— More rhyming patterning
If you had a twin I would still choose you
— (Slightly) elevated diction — people don't generally use "choose" while chatting
I don’t wanna rush into it if it’s too soon
— Expression of feelings and ideas here and elsewhere in the extract
But I know you need to get done done done done
— Patterned language — repeat of the unusual pattern above

I've no idea whether verse I quoted above is rap or a song lyric because I haven't heard it before, but either way, when written down it fits the OED definition of poetry. Singing it to a tune might put it in a different category, but with actual rap, there's no sensible way to completely separate it from any other spoken form of poetry.

Poetry is alive and well but nowadays it’s usually set to music and played on radio. We call it songs.

Go to festivals! Many poetry and spoken word gigs happen

We had spoken English lessons, which introduced a lot of poetry (and prose).

I have a bookshelf of poetry books, but learning them the way we did for English GCSE was a bit boring really. I don't mind analysing language and looking at comparisons, but learning the Lady of Shalott a couple of years earlier was much more fun. We talked about Arthurian legend, illustrated copies of the poem etc, but a big part was learning where to stress, where to breathe etc.

I don't think I ever heard the GCSE poems read out all the way through, let alone 'performed'.

For those who doubt rap is a form of poetry, go and have a look at the rap battles you see portrayed in films like 8 Mile, then read about the old Scottish poetic tradition of flyting.

I see lots of modern forms of poetry - spoken word appears in adverts all the time. I'd also agree that narrow definitions will be the death of poetry. It doesn't have to be the restricted formats of the ancient past.

I love poetry. I follow Secret Chords on Instagram who post a poem every day. Coincidentally today's is also by Mary Oliver - In Blackwater Woods

I respect your appreciation for poetry but personally have zero interest whatsoever I’m in my early forties. It just doesn’t resonate with me, I find it tedious and frustrating to read and tail off before reaching the end. I’m the same with classic literature, we were forced to read the likes of Thomas Hardy at school and I developed a hatred for it. With the internet and social media I’m sure there’s plenty of interest and accessibility for it for those that have a love for it. But it’s not for me.

Poetry is everywhere! My DC2 is a young poet. They are at uni and regularly attend poetry evenings and share what they are writing. There are also many poetry communities online.

I agree that poetry is analysed to death in the school system and that completely turns young people off, but they do come back to it. I also agree that a narrow definition of what poetry is helps no-one.

I cant stand poetry, just hate hate hate it.

Can I ask why you hate it?

I’m 33 and I enjoy poetry very much, although I mainly read ‘classic’ poetry like T. S. Eliot. I get lost in his poems. I have a whole shelf of poetry books. I wrote a lot when I was younger and recently started writing again, which has been very cathartic. I don’t really know what to do with it though as I must admit I don’t enjoy listening to people’s amateur poetry, and no doubt nobody would want to hear mine. I do like to look back on my poems from time to time though as they evoke such strong memories of people and places.

I was actually just saying to someone the other day that poetry seems to have died a death. I know it still exists of course but it doesn’t seem to be as popularised as it once was.

Yes, it is. It uses rhythm, meter, rhyme, alliteration, personification, structure, diction, allusion, tone and any number of poetic devices to convey a message. It is absolutely poetry. It's just not posh white people from years ago poetry.

And if you don't believe me, perhaps you might Seamus Heaney.

I’m in my late thirties and I have loved poetry since I was a little kid. I found a book of poems by Walter de la Mare in the school library and I was hooked.

I certainly didn’t learn to appreciate poetry in school. We didn’t learn much about it til secondary school and if anything, studying it put me off a little.

I remember we were reading ‘Morning Song’ by Sylvia Plath in class and I got excited and started talking about some of her other poems. The other girls were staring at me like I was a lunatic and the teacher just said very coldly “Well, those poems aren’t on the syllabus.” I still cringe to this day thinking about it 🫣
After that my love of poetry was kept more or less private.

Some of my favourites are:
Survivors by Siegfried Sassoon
No Second Troy by WB Yeats &
Miranda’s Song by WH Auden
I also like some of Nabokov’s poetry. I have a book of it.

Actually, it makes me a little bit sad that now that I think of it, I haven’t read any poetry since I was pregnant with dd and that was four years ago. I haven’t read much at all in fact. I was reading a book of short stories by Shirley Jackson when I was pregnant and I didn’t even finish it.

Writing this has made me remember how much I loved to read when I was a younger. It was like a whole world opening up, discovering new books. I even used to write some poetry. It was dreadful but I loved it. It’s sad that I don’t feel the same now.

Interestingly, there are a lot of books aimed at young adults written in verse. (Eg The Crossing, The Girl Who Became a Tree, Long Way Down)

We run creative writing contest in schools- participants can write in any genre they want and so many write poems so I think that some people are definitely drawn to them.

You seem to be enjoying the idea that no one but you appreciates poetry, OP, as the rest of us are scrolling slack-jawed through the internet. For what it’s worth, poetry is alive and well, and I’m seeing very good younger poets emerging — Seán Hewitt, Liz Quirke, Leanne O’Sullivan, just off the top of my head — and there’s a thriving spoken word scene in my city. My university department offers a poetry prize in memory of an undergraduate who died before he graduated, and it’s always attracted a healthy number of entries.

PS. I think Mary Oliver’s work is sentimental Hallmark guff, but tastes differ.

I remember we were reading ‘Morning Song’ by Sylvia Plath in class and I got excited and started talking about some of her other poems. The other girls were staring at me like I was a lunatic and the teacher just said very coldly “Well, those poems aren’t on the syllabus.”

What a miserable teacher. I mean, maybe she was fantastic at getting everyone through the exam, and imparting knowledge and techniques or whatever, and didn't want her lesson plan disrupted by having to spend two or three seconds encouraging a student with a genuine interest, but if when faced with a young person with an unprompted enthusiasm for the subject you shut it straight down, what's the point of being a teacher?

I think the preponderance of bad poetry (mostly rhymes and slam poetry) floating around on the internet has killed any passion I may have naturally had towards it...

However, the beginnings of my hatred for poetry probably started with having to analyse it for GCSE English (where every word would be painstakingly over-analysed, often with the analysis coming out of the teacher's arse).

There's a few poems that have genuinely moved me, but mostly I find them a bit crap (or at least, to me, too waffly...she says in a Mumsnet post that could be accused of being overly waffly itself)

Back to my post in verse books for YA audience- also thought of some more - rebound and clap when you land. Then realised that all the authors are POC - could it be the posh white people publishing poetry aimed at a middle aged white audience has died out ?