Writing and Living Poetry

I have to write it. Just a thought it is. But I need to pen it down. It begins with a question - Is a poet and the man are both different?

Let's hear Mr.Eliot, he has something to say on it. In brief, according to him, the man who suffers and the man who writes are two different men. A poet is a particular medium where different emotions,experiences, images, impressions come together to enter into a new combination.

Once I had read someone and luckily I got a chance to know that person closely. The poet appeared to be very different than his poetry. It compelled me to ask myself some questions: Should there be any similarity between poet and his poem? Is it necessary that noble poetry should be written by a noble mind?

I realized or rather accepted the fact that most of the times you actually dont mean what you write (specifically in poetry). If you were to ask one day later, you will not feel the same thing, in a same way, with the same intensity. You might even experience a complete change of emotion. Thus your poetry is a dishonest expression of your temporary honest emotion. The truth of poetry is not permanent, not temporary and may be both at the same time. But certainly you can not judge a man through his poem and a poem through the personality of man. When you meet a poet in real life , its like meeting two persons at one time. I am not sure though, I would have said the same thing for Dylan Thomas or Sylvia Plath.

Writing confessional poetry is the most courageous task on the earth. But once you begin to proud on it, the honesty is compromised at the altar of ambitious heart. Again, writing your personality into your poem is not that bad when you actually can hide it under your art.

Ogh! I am talking big today. But one last thing , Every writer, at his heart, aspires to be a poet. 

On Teaching : Not a Game and yet a Game

In my school days there was a strange thing that I wouldn’t be able to learn anything until I feign teaching an invisible audience. I loved the game. I would act like my favorite teacher. But imagine teaching real students and I would run ten miles away. But I didn’t. Am I a warrior? No, I am a poor teacher. No, in fact I am just a tutor. But then teaching is teaching whether you teach a student or two hundred.

Is it a pleasurable task? Yes, no , well sometimes yes and sometimes NO. I would say, choosing your students is important. If you are a tutor choose the very dull students. Bright and inquisitive students will not let you live and earn. And most important is to understand the “student psychology”. Yes! Recall the moments from your student life and you exactly know what students want from you. They want you to teach in a funny, informal way as if you are their friends. To take examples from real life. To laugh with them on their silly jokes (believe me a teacher has to be a good actor). To ignore their silly mistakes. Now even if they don’t think about this, you got to teach them through different mediums, for example, a video, a movie clip, photos, stories. It will give them good impression, a key to remember the original text or context, and a good change from text books. Most of the times you have to come down to their level to understand what they want and how they can get the most from you.

The best part of teaching is you come to know what you lack. Although its not as pleasing as it is when it is just a game, you can make it pleasing by thinking yourself a student, learning with them and making learn a fun.

Blogger World & English Poetry

Quite tensed is the blog scene now-a-days for me at least. My friends honor me by asking to review their work and I find myself in the most difficult position . Firstly, because I am a student of literature itself and unfortunately*  I think I have inherited The Great Tradition of Literature & Criticism. (*Unfortunately , because I sincerely believe -  Its folly to be wise where Ignorance is bliss) . Secondly , it becomes the case of "personal fallacy" in criticism as they are my friends and its very natural that my reviews are affected by the nature of my relationship with them.

I know I have not read much of literature but whatever I have read till now , by that and by my own nature I have formed few notions about the language & style of poetry in English Language. I strongly believe in Wordsworth's theory of poetry that it is - " spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions", and the language of poetry should be everyday language of common man because then it serves the first aim of poetry to give pleasure. And pleasure can only be derived  when without extra efforts you can understand the meaning of poem and when you understand the meaning you flow with the current of poem , deriving immense pleasure.

Now lets come to the point, lets talk about the Blogger World and its English Poets. Not every blogger is a scholar of literature but everyone of them have some thoughts which they feel they should pen down. But in jotting down their thoughts in the form of poem , the true nature of their thoughts is lost. May be it happens because of unconscious urge to attract attention and appreciation and then to be called an "intellectual". But poetry is not only about "intellect" , its the synthesis and harmony of "intellectual thought" and 'emotions". If you want to prove your intellect go and try your hand in Criticism or even Fiction. Its really sad to see that many bloggers do not understand the true nature of poetry. The most whimsical thing is that they work so hard to search difficult words to make a poem - a poem whose power of thought is so weak that after making the poem only structure remains and else all beauty is perished , meaning is lost. Hard diction is pardonable if thoughts are very powerful and myths , allusions , allegory & imagery have been used to strike a balance. Childish poetic style and diction can still make us smile but inane phraseology can do nothing but irritate us.

After the modern revolution in poetry - mellifluous poems with inane diction are out of trend. In already complex world we need a heart to heart connection which , I think can only come by simplifying things around us.

- Ojasi Mehta