A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver

Introduction

***** Exercise
Poems:
- written in emotional freedom
- the content of the language

"A poem that is composed without the sweet and correct formalities of language, which are what sets it apart from the dailiness of ordinary writing, is doomed. It will not fly. It will be raucous and sloppy - the work of an amateur."


Getting Ready

"Writing a poem is not so different - it is a kind of possible love affair between something like the heart (that courageous but also shy factory of emotion) and the learned skills of the conscious mind. They make appointments with each other, and keep them, and something begins to happen. Or, they make appointments with each other but are casual and often fail to keep them: count on it, nothing happens."

*** a passionate relationship and speak what is in tis own portion of your mind, the other responsible and purposeful part

"A final observation. Poetry is a river; many voices travel in it; poem after poem moves along in the exciting crests and falls of the river waves. None is timeless; each arrives in an historical context; almost everything, in the end, passes. But the desire to make a poem, and the world's willingness ti receive it - indeed the world's need of it - these never pass."


Reading Poems

"The truly contemporary creative force is something that is built out of the past, but with a difference."

"To be contemporary is to rise through the stack of the past, like the first through the mountain. Only a heat so deeply and intelligently born can carry a nee idea into the air."


Imitation

"It demands, finally, a thrust of our own imagination - a force, a new idea - to make sure that we do not merely copy, but inherit, and proceed from what we have learned. A poet develops his or her own style slowly, over a long period of working and thinking - thinking about other styles, among other things. Imitation fades as a poet's own style - that is, the poet's own determined goals set out in the technical apparatus that will best achieve those goals - begins to be embraced."

Poetry of the Past
"To be without this felt sensitivity to a poem as a structure of lines and rhythmic energy and repetitive sound is to be forever less equipped, less deft than the poet who dreams of making a new thing can afford to be. Free verse, after all, developed from metrical verse."

"The presentation of metrical verse first is often so off-putting that it is worthwhile letting it rest on the tracks. There is much to be said for the idea of reading, talking about, and imitating contemporary - and I mean congenial contemporary - poems first, and then, later, as students become more confident, ambitious, and sophisticated, suggesting that they move on to (or back to) the difficult patterns of metrical verse."

"The space between daily language and literature is neither terribly deep nor wide, but it does contain a vital difference - of intent and intensity.

**** in structure or statement

"Language, ... , is the medium that will be quick and living - the serviceable clay of one's thoughts."

Poetry of the Present

*** "the familiarity of the language itself - not very different from the language that we use daily - gives confidence."

"One learns by thinking about writing, and by talking about writing - but primarily through writing.
Imitating such poems is an excellent way to realize that they are not very similar after all, but contain differences that are constant, subtle, intense, and radiantly interesting."


"Emotional freedom, the integrity and special quality of one's own work - these are not first things, but final things. Only the patient and diligent, as well as the inspired, ..."


P. 1 Introduction - P. 18 Imitation
A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide To Understanding And Writing Poetry
by Mary Oliver
A Harvest Original, Harcourt, Inc. , 1994

Soul Mountain 1

Soul Mountain 1

"Of course, it isn't hard to find places like Lingtai, Lingqiu, Lingyan and even Lingshan on provincial maps and you know very well that i. The histories and classics, Lingshan appears in works dating back ti the ancient shamanistic work Classic of the Mountains and Seas and the old geographical gazetteer Annotated Water Classic. It was also at Lingshan that Buddha enlightened the Venerable Mahakashyapa." (P. 5)

"They're mostly locals and all know one another. You try using the mellifluous local accent to be friendly, you want to be one of them. You've lived in the city for a long time and need to feel that you have a hometown. You want a hometown so that you'll be able to return to your childhood to recollect long lost memories." (P. 8)

"Today, you can't know what traumas tomorrow will bring. You've learnt through experience everything you need to know. What else are you looking for? When a man gets to middle age shouldn't he look for a peaceful and stable existence, find a not-too-demanding sort of a job, stay in a mediocre position, become a husband and a father, set up a comfortable home, put money in the bank and add to it every month so there'll be something for old age and a little left over fir the next generation?" (P. 9)

A Few Don'ts by an Imagiste, Ezra Pound

"An "Image" is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex on an instant of time."

"It is the presentation of such a "complex" instantaneously which gives that sense if sudden liberation; that sense of freedom from time limits and space limits; that sense of sudden growth, which we experience in the presence of the greatest works of art."

"Pay no attention to the criticism of men who have never themselves written a notable work. Consider the discrepancies between the actual writing of the Greek poets and dramatists, and the theories of the Graeco-Roman grammarian, concocted to explain their metres."

LANGUAGE

"Use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something."

"Don't use such an expression as "dim lands of peace." It dulls the image. It mixes an abstraction with the concrete. It comes from the writer's not realizing that the natural object is always the adequate symbol."

"Go in fear if abstractions. Don't retell in mediocre verse what has already been done in good prose."

"Be influenced by as many great artists as you can, but have the decency either to acknowledge the debt outright, or to try to conceal it."

"Don't allow "influence" to mean merely that you mop up the particular decorative vocabulary of some one or two poets whom you happen to admire."

"Use either no ornament or good ornament."

RHYTHM AND RHYME

"Let the candidate fill his mind with the finest cadences he can discover, preferably in a foreign language so that the meaning of the words may be less likely ti divert his attention from the movement."

"Let the neophyte know assonance and alliteration, rhyme immediate and delayed, simple and polyphonic."

"Don't imagine that a thing will "go" in verse just because it's too dull to go in prose."

"Don't be "viewy"-leave that ti the writers of pretty little philosophical essays. Don't be descriptive."

"Consider the way of the scientists rather than the way of an advertising agent for a new soap."

"Don't chop your stuff into separate iambs. Don't make each line stop dead at the end, and then begin every next line with a heave. Let the beginning of the next line catch the rise of the rhythm wave, unless you want a definite longish pause."

"Naturally, your rhythmic structure should not destroy the shape of your words, or their natural sound, or their meaning."

"A rhyme must have in it some slight element of surprise if it is to give pleasure; it need not be bizarre or curious, but it must be well used if used at all."

Polly Honeycombe #2

"Polly.
I have not read so many books for nothing. Novels, Nursee, Novels! A Novel is the only thing to teach a girl life, and the way of the world, and elegant fancies, and love to the end of the chapter." (P. 72)

"Polly.
Lord , Nursee, if it was not for Novels and Love-letters, a girl would have no use for her writing and reading.-But what's here? [reading.] Poetry!" (P. 77)

"Polly.
Lord, Papa, how can you be so angry with me? - I am as dutiful as any girl in the world.- But there's always an uproar in the family about marrying the daughter, and now poor I must suffer in my turn." (P. 86)

"Polly.
Dispose of me!-See there now!-Why you have no notion of these things, Papa!-Your head's so full if trade and commerce, that you would dispose of your daughter like a piece if merchandise-But my heart is my own property, and at nobody's disposal, but my own.-Sure you would not consign me, like a bale of silk, to Ledger and Co.-Eh! Papa!" (P. 87)

"Honeycombe, alone.
Zouns, I shall run mad with vexation-I shall-Was ever man so heartily provoked?-You see now, Gentlemen, [coming forward to the audience.] what a situation I am in!-Instead of happiness and jollity,-My friends and family about me,-A wedding and a dance,-And every thing as it should be,- Here am I, left by myself,-Deserted by my intended son-in-law-Bully'd by an attorney's clerk-My Daughter mad-My Wife in the Vapours-And all's in confusion. -This comes of Cordials and Novels. -Zouns, your Stomachicks are the Devil-And a man might as well turn his Daughter loose in Covent-garden, as trust the cultivation of her mind to
A CIRCULATING LIBRARY." (P. 109)

According to Polly,
"Novels are Hotbeds for your forward Plants.
Not only Sentiments refine the Soul,
But hence we learn to be the Smart and Drole;
Each awkward circumstance for laughter serves,
From Nurse's nonsense to my Mother's NERVES:"

"NOVELS will teach us all the Art of War:" (P. 110)

Polly Honeycombe #1

"But why need an English Author put himself to that trouble, when the learned and impartial gentlemen of the Reviews are so ready to take it off his hands, unless it were, like Dryden, to turn the thunder of the Critkck's own artillery against himself, and to confute it anticipate his censures, by proving the Fable, Characters, Sentiments, and Language, to be excellent, or, if indeed there were some parts of it inferior to the rest, such parts were purposely underwritten, in order to set off the superior to more advantage? This, indeed, Dryden has often done, and done so inimitably; that I shall not attempt it after him. To the Gentlemen, therefore, above mentioned, the self-impannelled Jury of the English Court of Criticism, without Challenge, I put myself on my Trial for the High Crime of writing for the Stage, trusting that their candour will send me a good deliverance."

"The Good Gentleman, hurt at the confusion, and in pain for my success, tells me with much warmth, and as dogmatically as any Male Critick could possibly do, that She is astonished at my attempting to violate the received laws of the Drama-That the Catastrophe (that was really her word) is directly contrary to all known rules-That the several Characters, instead of being dismissed, one by one, should have been industriously kept together, to make a bow to the audience at the dropping of the curtain-That, not withstanding any confusion, created by the Girl's whimsical passion for Novels, in the course of the Piece, all parties should be perfectly reconciled to each other at last."

On Preface, pg. 59-60
"Polly Honeycombe"
George Colman the Elder
Edited by David A. Brewer
Broadview edition, 2012

Poetry for dummies #1

Part 1) Reading and Understanding Poetry
Chapter 1) Poetry 101

What is Poetry and Why do People write it?

"Poetry is the practice of creating artworks using language." (P. 10)

Unique elements make poetry special are
1) Attentiveness, 2) Concentration, 3) Experiment, 4) Originality, 5) Form

Poets: exploring experience through the written words, every kind of experiences, and the emotions and feelings, into art through the way he uses language.

- Creating an intense emotional experience
- Drawing attention to something that is true

Bringing Poetry into Your Life

- Checking out libraries
- Browsing through bookstore
- Attending readings
- Seeking cyber-poetry

Terms:
Metaphor: unspoken comparison
Similes: comparison using "like" and "as"
Anthology: collections of poems from different poets

Reading Poetry Aloud

- Why you should read poems aloud
1) Poets design their poems to be read aloud
2) You'll experience the whole poem if you read it aloud: sound and rhythm
3) You'll understand and remember more if you read aloud.

- The basic steps to good reading
1) Have the right tools handy: a dictionary, a book about the history and forms of poetry
2) Read silently first: Scope out the poem, get some background information> Read the poem silently, to yourself> Take notes as your read silently, if you want-it becomes a sort of journal for them, a history of their reading and their thought processes over time.

Terms:
Stanzas: groups of lines
Allusions: references to persons, places, things, or history

- Note surprise and unfamiliar words
***** "Stop, repeat, go back, dwell." If you really like certain lines, reread and enjoy them again. If the poem is in a book you own, underline the part you like or note it in the margin. And keep your dictionary by your side so that you can look up words you're not familiar with.

- Find an engaged, conversational tone
- Don't rush

Terms:
Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds

- Pause for power: 1) Any punctuated pause, including dashes, commas, semicolons, or periods. 2) Any surprise. 3) The end of one stanza (or group of lines) and the beginning of another. 4) The ends of lines

- Pay attention to line endings
- Treat white space as time
- Do it more than once

Writing Poetry

- Becoming a poet
1) Discover as much as you can about the poetic craft, 2) Become as sensitive as you can, both of life and to language, 3) Think divergently, 4) Make time for yourself to write, 5) Be disciplined

- Keeping a poetic journal

Terms:
Journal: a repository containing ideas, images, subjects for poems, drafts of poems, other people's poetry
Found Objects: things you pick up that inspire you or that could become the basis for poems, such as someone else's grocery list

- Trying your hand at a writing exercise
1) Write down a very mundane, straightforward prose statement about the outside world
2) Now pay closer attention to the thing you just wrote about: brainstorm
3) Concentrate on your subject and come up with a few new ways of presenting or describing the thing your original statement was about: reject anything that seems familiar or secondhand
4) Write at least two passages of poetry on the subject, experimenting with different forms
5) Now rewrite one of the passage in as few words as you can.

Poetry for dummies
Wiley Publishing Inc., 2001
The poetry center, John Timpane, Ph. D, Maureen Watts
Chapter 1: Poetry 101, p. 7-30

First draft, Light

Genesis 1:1-5
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day."


Before she read the Word, her life was formless and empty, and the darkness was all around and over her mind. Alrhough she had some love, faith, and hope, they did not stay in right place and just hovered around her soul. Her life was in a wrong way, such as money, fame, power, sex. She always felt that emptiness even though everyone seemed to love her. Once when formless emptiness overwhelmed her emotion and thought, she decided to commit suicide. She brought some Aspirins and locked herself into her room; however, the fear of pain, death and hell made her hesitated and heard the Word. Before calling the end of life, she opened the Book called "Holy Bible," and she heard the Word, "Everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV) She started to cry and the Word confirmed the message, "I have told you these things, so that in me hou may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33, NIV) In her dark, depressed mind and soul, the Word turned on the light, and she saw someone right next to her, who protect and guide her to save from the death. When she realized that she was not alone, the greatest peace covered her. Still she needed to be formed and fulfilled, the direction of her life changed to the right way, from the death to the eternal life.