Thursday, April 18, 2013

P is for Poetry

Poetry isn't my forte, though I try my hand at it now and then. But I enjoy reading certain poets whose work "speaks to me," as 'twere. My favorite poet seems to vary according to whose work I'm reading at the time, but here are some I like to read.

My Kindle has a poetry section, and when I go to it, I frequently visit Robert Frost to read Mending Wall or The Road Not Taken. Shelly's Ozymandias made an impression on me in college, and it still does. As long as it is, I come back to Hiawatha by Longfellow, drawn in by its rhythm and story line. Last night I re-read Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard and will no doubt read it several more times during my life. For a long time I kept coming back to his On The Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes, mainly for its clever ending. (But if Gray really observed this, why didn't he just save the poor cat?)

Some other poems I've enjoyed that come to mind:
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
Howl by Alan Ginsburg
Renascence by Edna St. Vincent Millay
When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d by Walt Whitman
...and pretty much anything by Emily Dickinson

Who are your favorite poets? And when you read a poem to yourself, do you ever read it aloud? I do.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Im not a abig poetry hound but when I find one that speaks to me I frequently go back to it. I have to say I dont have a fav. poet though.

Christine Rains said...

I'm not big on poetry either, but sometimes I'll come across one that will captivate me. Howl is a good example.

Anonymous said...

You've listed some wonderful poems, Bob. I've enjoyed and analyzed many of them. Ozmandias is one of my favorites.

M said...

Happy A-Z Thursday!

Mark Means said...

I'm not a big poetry buff, either, but I'll sometimes read a piece that can inspire.

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