Usually, when I write articles relating to writing and stereotypes it means that I am writing about stereotypes in writing itself. This time I am taking a different approach though and am going to instead tackle a stereotype relating to the writers!
Poetry And Me
This time the stereotype in question will be the "Depressed Poet." I first began writing poetry in middle school but never really cared much for it with novels being my main priority in writing until my junior year of high school. It was around that time that I began writing poetry as a way to easily exercise my writing anywhere I was and to my surprise, it actually got some attention. Soon I had founded my school's Creative Writing Club and when I was a senior I had a poem published by the American Library of Poetry. Whenever I tell anyone I am a published poet it honestly feels like a flip of a coin as to if they will react with the "depressed poet" assumption or anything else. For some reason, so many people associate writing poetry with having to be depressed or unable to expel emotion. Finally fed up with this, I decided to dig deeper into why this is and hopefully put this stereotype that us poets deal with all the time to rest.
Where Did This Come From?
The key to solving any problem is first understanding where it even came from. It honestly was not that hard to understand though once I put a little bit of thought and research into it. There are two main reasons that people easily attribute writing poetry to the Depressed Poet idea. The first reason is that of one singular Poet: Edgar Allen Poe. Poe is easily the most recognizable and influential American Poet. His dark stories pioneered the horror genre and even today his works of prose can create feelings of dread for even the hardiest of readers. For many people, this melancholy individual is the go-to when they imagine a poet. The second reason can also be tied into the first, and that would be a lack of understanding of poetry. For many people, poetry is that stupid thing in English class they wished would end. The idea of having to tear apart phrases to look for deeper meanings just did not intrigue them so the only thing they took away from it was that poetry was an expression of emotion without them stopping to ask what emotions were being expressed. This coupled with the fact that probably the only poet they learn about and actually remember is going to be Poe who was known for misery perpetuates this idea of poets being sad people who use poetry to let out their anguish thoughts.
The Truth!
Regardless of what may be popular to believe, poetry is not just some jumbled words that a sad guy is using to let out how upset he is. If you need proof look at any number of famous American Poets (NOT POE) such as Robert Frost who used poetry primarily to tell stories of the American Spirit or Walt Whitman who wrote as a way to express his unique personality and beliefs during his time. If you believe that all poetry is sad, you have never even scratched the surface of what the art has to offer. Poetry is an expression of emotion and thoughts that mere words could not capture and encompasses all emotions.
