Poetry is one of the most important and powerful forms of writing because it takes the English language, a language we think we know, and transforms it. Suddenly words no longer sound the same or mean the same. The sentence pattern sounds new and melodious. It is truly another language exclusively for the writer and the reader. No poem can be read the same way, because the words mean something different to each of us. For this reason, many find poetry to be an elusive art form. However, the problem with understanding poetry lies in how you read it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay By reading it logically you get a general, rigid and immutable understanding. However, reading it emotionally allows the nuances and paradoxes to enter our understanding. Anyone who writes poetry can attest that you have to write it with an open heart. So, as readers, we must do the same. All poems are insights into the innermost workings of the writer's mind and soul. To read it coldly and rationally would be to close the door on the relationship the writer is trying to establish with you. Opening your heart to poetry is the only way to gain satisfaction from it. If you imagine poetry as a journey, you must be willing to trust the writer to guide you. Reluctant readers will never experience every part of the adventure in the same way that open-minded readers do. The journey can be full of dead ends and suffering or endless joy and happiness. And yet, you continue. Take the poem, read, listen and feel. Each student has the opportunity to experience this phenomenon, to reach a new level of maturity as they attempt to unravel the meaning of each poem, as if attempting to unravel different challenges in future life. So far in my course we have studied Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath and Seamus Heaney in depth. Each with their own unique and fascinating life stories that they highlight in each of their poems. Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century. By the time she took her own life at age 30, Plath already had a following in the literary community. In the following years his work attracted the attention of a multitude of readers, who saw in his singular verses an attempt to catalog desperation, violent emotions and an obsession with death. This complex and desperate woman had achieved such a level of universality through her works. While she may not be the most idealistic role model for our generation, she is a woman who shows no apprehension in sharing her innermost thoughts and feelings with the world. Seamus Heaney, also known as the "King of Poetry", was defined by New York Review of Books essayist Richard Murphy as "the poet who has shown the best art in presenting a coherent vision of Ireland, the past and of the present". Heaney secured his title as a humble and thoughtful man and poet, capable of identifying with and understanding others. His poetry, as a result, is sensitive and sympathetic, as it shows us a man meditating on his childhood and various treasured relationships. Heaney has another image of a poet who celebrated the traditional crafts and identity of the country's inhabitants. Through his poetry, Heaney recognizes what is good and appreciates and celebrates it. This is something our generation is missing, this obsession with materialism is consuming us as of now and studying a poet who recognized the simple but beautiful elements of life is inspiring. My favorite poet of the course is Elizabeth Bishop.As I studied his poetry, I became more impressed with his poetic abilities and the many challenges he had to overcome throughout his life. I have become more mature in the process and I am so grateful that my teacher included her in our studies. What strikes me most about Bishop as a poet is that she never hid her flaws and the scars of her past from her readers. He described everything as it was. She was an honest and authentic poet, capable of asking her readers to focus not only on her, but with her. Each of these poets had such a level of wisdom, brilliance and creative power that all English Tutees are striving for. For example, I believe Heaney's poem "The Forge" can perfectly reflect their desire. Heaney emphasizes the sacred nature of the art by describing the blacksmith at work and then writing poetry himself. In 'La Forgia', the blacksmith works his raw material, hammering and shaping it until it takes on the desired shape. Likewise, the poet must use his skill and his art to shape poems with words from the raw material of his own experience. From the beginning we are aware of Heaney's great admiration and awe of the blacksmith. He says "All I know", meaning he himself is aware that he has a lot to learn before he achieves the skill exhibited by the blacksmith, I guess you could say we are all like Heaney, as he looked towards the blacksmith for inspiration, we are looking for inspiration from Heaney himself. But for now we are just observers. With each poet we study, we immerse ourselves in the talent they produce and become familiar with their stories and personalities. We almost feel as if we have been given the key to all their thoughts and memories and can interpret it in any way we find satisfying. It's a gift. I believe that poetry is an element of English that we will carry with us on our journey into adulthood. The sheer inspiration that these poets hold for their readers is so beautiful and their works are so captivating that it would be impossible to forget them. Various factors in my daily life push me to remember some of the brilliant works of these poets. For example, I was walking along Salthill Peer with my mother and noticed a small sailboat with a little boy and his father spending the glorious evening fishing. I immediately remembered Bishop's poem "The Fish". Bishop was a painter as well as a poet in her time and we could vividly see the traces of her brush in this particular poem as it gives us such an intimate and beautiful portrait of the "extraordinary fish". I really enjoyed this poem for its careful observation and detailed description, culminating in a moment of insight. She expected to catch the fish, but what I found very interesting was that it was actually Elizabeth Bishop who was "caught" by the fish. Each of the poet's innovations comes from everyday life, like that of the fish, the harvest bow in Heaney's poem "Harvest Bow" reminded him of his father. This poem captures the intensity and power with which memories can visit us. Touching the bow, Heaney's memories of an evening long ago come flooding back. There is also a strong sense of nostalgia in the depiction of the poet and his father walking along the 'railway slopes', Heaney with his 'fishing rod' and his father with his 'stick'. We see this in the poet's statement that he was "already homesick/for the great relief of these evenings." Heaney now connects the past with the present. He realizes that these good times are now gone with feelings of intense disappointment. Maybe that's why these memories mean so much to him and why he paints such an ordinary event as extraordinary it isbecause, deep down, he knows that these special moments with his father are over. Of course also in Plath's poem 'Dark Tower in Rainy Weather'. “A wet black rook arranging and rearranging its feathers in the rain” is a symbol of how the “lesser light” of life can suddenly shine through mundane objects. The tower is a normal bird, which serves to focus Plath's vision. It's a ploy she chooses to instill patience in herself. It is content with its lesser light while it awaits a more transcendent vision. This poem is a deeply personal poem which reveals a lot about Plath's state of mind. The tower and the harvest arch, two inanimate objects that I certainly wouldn't give more than a glance at, are analyzed by both Plath and Heaney and shown to have a completely new meaning for them. They explore the surface of every everyday object they encounter that displays works of genius. Thus attributing to these objects a surreal and rewarding meaning for their readers. It has definitely made me more aware of my surroundings and I can now recognize the simple but beautiful aspects of life. Poetry at its best evokes our deepest being. It challenges us to free ourselves from the safe strategies of the cautious mind; it calls us, like wild geese in the open air. It is a magical art, and always has been: creating linguistic spells designed to open our eyes, open our doors, and welcome us into a greater world, one of possibilities we may never have dared to dream of. This is why poetry can be dangerous as well as necessary. Because we may never be the same again after reading a poem that speaks directly to our lives. I know that when I encounter my life in a great poem, I feel opened up, clarified, confirmed somehow in what I sensed was true but had no words for. Anything that can do this is surely necessary for the fullness of human life. Poems are necessary because they honor the unknown, both in us and in the world. They come from an unknown country; they take shape thanks to the power of language and are free to fly on the wings of images and metaphor. Imagine a world where everything is already known. It would be a dead world, without questions, without wonder, without other possibilities. This is what my world can look like sometimes when my imagination has gone into retreat. I have discovered that poetry is the phoenix on which I can fly to return to that forgotten land. Yet for all its magic, poetry uses the common currency of our everyday discourse. It uses words known to all of us, but in a sequence and order that surprises us compared to our normal linguistic rhythms and linear thought processes. Its effect is to brighten our lives and breathe new life, new vision, new flavor into the world we thought we knew. Poetry is also a way to save the world from oblivion through the practice of attention. It is our attention that honors and values ​​living beings, that gives them their proper name and particularity; who recovers them from the general's darkness. Poems that stimulate my attention shake me. They convey their attention, their prayer to me, the reader. This is why poetry can make us more fully human and more fully engaged in this world. Seeing the young people of my generation so absorbed and immersed in the world of technology, which is also a brilliant and wild place at the same time, saddens me. In the past, poets have used poetry as a forum for expression. They have inspired many people with their significant works. It is a worthy expression of emotion and aesthetics and gives a sense of what is beautiful in the world. However, young people now want to get all their information and ideas from the Internet...