Poetry can be intimidating as hell. It can seem archaic, overly formal, or cryptic. Sometimes it can seem like plain gibberish. Even the most intelligent, well-versed, literature-loving bibliophiles come across poetry that initially stumps them. Nevertheless, they keep reading and re-reading poems, and so should we. Here are six reasons you should still be reading poetry, even if it scares you.
1. You don’t have to understand poetry to like it.
A high school teacher of mine used to read poems beautifully, put the book down, and then say, “I don’t understand half of it. Don’t you love it?” For almost a year now I’ve kept a book of Frank O’Hara poems next to my bed to read on stressful nights right before I go to sleep, and I still have no idea what most of them are about. But that’s okay. You can still read a poem and get something out of it even if you don’t understand the “bigger meaning.”
2. Poetry exposes you to geniuses that you wouldn’t come across otherwise.
The world of literature wouldn’t be complete without poetry. From Shakespeare to Shel Silverstein, poets make up an indispensable part of the literary world. Without their perspectives, the universe would be significantly less rich, vivid, and meaningful. Their work needs to be recognized and celebrated just like the work of famous novelists.
3. Poetry can help you improve your own writing.
Reading poetry can benefit anyone who wants to do any type of writing. Reading a poem, just like reading any other type of text, will expand your sense of how to write, why to write, and what to write about. The creative uses of rhythm and word choice in poetry are particularly inspiring, and I guarantee they can be applied in other types of writing. Poets have proven that versatility themselves, managing to write entire essays and even novels that sound poetic.
4. Poetry cultivates an appreciation for details...
Because poems are so much shorter than other texts, you can slow down and focus on their details. Short, simple things that may go overlooked in something like a novel become the main attractions in poems. I’ve found that this type of reading has led me to focus more on the small, beautiful details in my own daily life.
5. ...especially the details of words.
I never paid so much attention to individual words as I do now that I read poetry: the sounds of words, the feelings of words, how words interact with one another. This close focus makes the words and phrases of poems much more memorable. Bits and pieces of poetry stick in my head much more so than the words of any novel I've read.
6. Poetry manages to wrap up the rich nuances of human experience into one tiny piece of text.
Ever felt like you wanted to read more, but didn’t want to invest the time required to read a whole novel? Read a poem! Poems can be just as meaningful and moving as books, but they’re shorter. Like way, way shorter. Take a sonnet, for example. A sonnet is almost always fourteen lines long. That’s not even a full page! And yet the best sonnets, and all the best poems, really, are able to enfold a multitude of ideas, feelings, and themes into each line.
In the end, poetry can be about whatever you want it to be about. Anything you get from a poem--be it a new word, a beautiful phrase, or even some feeling it evokes for you--is a valid discovery. And no matter what discovery you end up making, I can guarantee it’s important.
