Written March 14, 2010
During my time preparing to take the Literature in English GRE Subject Test in November 2009 (go
here and
here if you're hankering to study for this mammoth exam), I was forced to take time for poetry. True, I had read a few things here and there (some of Paradise Lost, for example) and I had had the good sense to write some poetry of my own
(no comment on its general quality), but it was not until fall of last year was I forced to prove whether I believed poetry was as cool as I knew it was supposed to be.
It was.
While I still struggle to read enough poetry (I already struggle to read my Bible enough!), what I have read has enriched my mind.
Poetry, like asparagus and consumer math, is one of those things that you are
supposed to enjoy, but don't particularly care for. "Let the literature people read poetry. I'll just...read a fantasy novel." While there is nothing wrong with a
good fantasy novel (like
this one I just read), digesting such a volume barely scratches the surface of what you can glean from reading.
What is the place of poetry in the life of a believer?
As a Means of Glorifying God. This is probably the most obvious to anyone who has been in a church long enough to notice the pattern of communion services. "Of course it should glorify God," you say. "Everything should." Does this mean that all poetry written by believers should be sacred? Does every poem about my struggles need to end in a moralizing expression linked directly to a Bible verse? While there's nothing wrong with such an expression, I don't believe it to be necessary for a poem to explicitly glorify the Maker of Language for it to glorify Him at all.
We know that God is a God of order (
I Corinthians 14:40). Shall the creations of our hearts and minds not reflect that order?
A greater poet than I put it well when he wrote
I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; prose—words in their best order; poetry—the best words in their best order.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk (July 12, 1827)
One of the things that makes poetry as beautiful, as strange, as enjoyable, as disturbing, or as powerful as it is—is order.
As a Mode of Human Expression. Though you may consider the highest form of human expression to be creating new software code, I politely disagree. Poetry, to me at least, speaks more directly to and of the human condition than anything I know. As plumbing as a novel can be, there is something special about poetry that elevates it to one of the highest positions of art possible. Even
poetic satires seem better than many of their prose counterparts.
I recall listening to my church's youth pastor deliver a message from a Psalm (I forget which one) where the Psalmist did not turn the initial expressions of exasperation and despair into a concluding positive message. One of the points that my friend drew out of the passage was this: God values sincere human expression. It makes sense: God loves us and understands what we are going through. Jesus Christ lived 33 years as an earthbound human being, so He would know!
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. — Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)
As a Means of Expanding your Brain. Let's face it, not all poetry is easy to understand. In point of fact,
most of it will not jump off the page and decry its meaning to you and any innocent bystander.
Aside from warding off premature senility, reading poetry improves your ability to express your mind—to think! Just like knitting and playing first-person shooters, thinking is an activity which, if neglected, becomes difficult to successfully pick up on a whim. The more you do of it, the better you become.
Simply because a poem takes effort to digest does not mean that it is not worth that effort.
So next time you are assigned
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens as required reading, don't grumble. You may be able to find something interesting in a poem written by one of those Poet Individuals. Even
a poem that is particularly bad may provide some instruction (i.e. what not to do).
While I do not consider myself fully initiated into the ways of poetry consumption, I do believe that poetry is worth the time. For Christians poetry is a means of glorifying God, expressing human feelings, and expanding our brains. I still have much thinking to do on this matter before I can consider my ideas on this matter fully formed, but until then, I not planning on dropping the poetic ball. Or pen.
A Few Poetry Resources:
The Art and Craft of Poetry
Poetry Writing Tips
Wikisource
