The Poet, Poem and the People The Trio.

Recently, an issue related to Poetry caught my attention. The issue was regarding
the simplification of poems, a simplified approach by the poets for the benefit of
the reading public. One of the arguments was that poets were using high
sounding words, jargons and bombastic language to express themselves as
intelligent and quite an unapproachable clan before the average reader. In other
words, there are poets who write to exhibit only their class and rank and not for a
general purpose. Those poets who are not sitting in such ivory towers are really
anxious about this development and sincerely seek a solution to this problem.
They wish to see poems not written in a bombastic way, made as simple as
possible and containing less of jargons. In other words, they are eager to see our
poets getting down from their ivory towers and merge with the stream of
common people. Thus, they make an appeal to all poets in general to have a
simplified approach in the composition of poetry for a larger readership and
effective reach of the ideas and messages.

I also happened to see a video that was related to the teaching techniques of
poetry in a class-room. The message of the video was that the techniques of
writing poetry need not be taught in classrooms like mathematics or physics but
since poetry is very much the flow of life, only that flow is more important than
anything else. The general message of the clip was that anything that was written
on life could easily become poetry.

Now, let me try to answer the issues raised in Para 1 and Para 2.

What is the role of a poet in relation to his readers? Secondly, is a poet not free to
write from his experience of craftsmanship and language capacity? Is it
imperative that he has to be always conscious of the level of readers while poems
are written and posted? What is the definition for the level of an average reader?
Can anything that is written on the basis of life become a poem all by itself? Is no
mastering techniques necessary for a poet for the deliverance of his product?

To my knowledge, such issues are not rather new issues but old volcanoes. Hot
debates that are related to the many areas of poetry have already taken place in
the past around the globe. The latest issues are only continuation of it and such
issues are bound to continue in future as well. Many Poets Meet around the
world is already witnessing the quake of it. Where is the meeting point? When is
the poet going to meet his real reader? When is the reader going to understand a
poem without the help of any Thesaurus or Dictionary or without having any
academic background? When is anybody going to write a poem without having
learnt the rudiments of poetry from his classrooms? When is poetry going to
become like a free bird that is ever singing the song of life for both the poet and
the reader? When is this attunement going to take place?

These are the questions that are asked either directly or indirectly during debate
sessions. What can be a better answer? Let me present my views. Anybody is
free to accept or summarily reject but just listen.

We are anxious about the poetry as not properly reaching the mass because of
some poets consciously making it very complex and thus unreadable and
unapproachable. We are anxious to see that the poetry is made as simple as
possible by such poets for a wider reach of the themes. True, our anxiety is only
natural but we just cant do anything with those poets who are sitting in their
ivory towers and only write for a particular elate class of readers. We may come
across with such fake coins because such fake coins are also possible within the
stream of human nature. We can only make an appeal to them. We can only
make a request to them to throw away their mask and write in the true voice of
humanity for the benefit of the general mass of readers but it is most probable
that this particular clan of poets wont that easily change their track or wish to
remove their mask. They are happy with their elate group of readers. Actually
speaking, such poets are only egocentric and write to get only a clap from the
world. The ignorant world may give them a clap as well. Personal name and fame
is the only aim of such poets and so, if we ask them to remove their mask and
write in simple verses for the benefit of the general reader, they need not listen to
us. Their very purpose of writing poetry is on a different footing.

Thus, we can easily leave out this elate class of poets. We need not much bother
about them and their activities. The system will naturally take care of the
situation. Put it differently, when I find that a poet is unapproachable to me
through his works, I will naturally reject him because there is no other way. What
am I going to get from such a poet by unnecessarily giving him an unworthy clap?
Let laurels come his way but of what use to me? His language is Greek to me. His
intentions are seemingly different.

Anywhere and everywhere we may find such a group of poets and I should say
that this group is more and more gaining roots in our present society. Over the
years I am watching the phenomena that more people come forward with writing
poetry just because it is an additional tag besides their professional ranks and
dispositions. They feel elated when they are known by this special tag. The
moment theirs works are published in the book form, their ego is very much
satisfied. Poets have their own groups and a cold war exists among many groups.
I am not joking. Groups are eager to promote their poet members. Looking from
one angle, such practices can be innocent but birds of the same feather flock
together principle cant be totally ruled out.

Who is taking poetry in a serious manner? Who is trying to be a freelance poet

poetry for the sake of poetry alone? Who is trying to master the technique of
writing poetry? Everybody says that nothing needs to be taught for the
improvisation of mastering poetry. People have the general feeling that any four
lines will constitute poetry. The moment anybody posts such four lines in any
poetry website, they think that they have become poets. Can anybody say that
this is not happening around us? It is only true that many of the so-called Poetry
Websites contain only junk poetry and not the essence of true poetry. This is
because anybody can post anything without properly getting edited. In olden
days, no entry could pass without the notice of the journal editor. They were the
real task masters. One way it was a good thing. Many newspapers and journals
had real time editors and proof readers. They were very sincere in their job. It is
true that the novice poets and writers might have really got a scare from these
editors but then, such filtration had its plus points. Such filtration saw that the
literary field did not altogether become a junk. Certain check-posts are after all
necessary for the promotion of quality products. We can argue either this way or
that way but our experience would really tell us that certain bench mark is
necessary in every field. Our writings also need some bench mark both in the
area of grammar and presentation of ideas. One had to admit that there can be
both experienced and inexperienced hands in every field.

Let me quote an episode from my own life in this regard. During the early 80s I
had sent a poem to a journal and it was promptly returned with the editors note
which told me to gain experience by going through the works of a particular
poetess. As a beginner, I too had some frustration when I saw my cover being
returned but I had to swallow it. Later on, I could pull myself out of darkness this
much but I should also add that I have never read even a single work of this
poetess. Actually, nobody can become anybodys role model or bench mark in
this regard but at the same time, I cant blame that editor either because he was
only giving me a direction to have more experience as a poet. He chose that
poetess as his bench mark. That is all. He was only trying to see some quality
poetry from me. Everybody for that matter is trying to see quality poetry from
any poet around the world. Even those who are crying for simplified versions of
poetry are only wishing to see quality poetry from our poets.

It is only true that human nature cannot be standardized. This means that every
human being has a unique mental nature. This implies the fact that a variety is
always a possibility in any given field. Variety need not be seen as diversity but we
often make this mistake and vehemently argue for the inclusion of certain streams
of thought and certain streams of application. Applying this to the field of poetry,
it is only probable that as many variety is possible in the field of poetry as much
levels of mind are also possible. So, those who vouchsafe for patterns and certain
frameworks in poetry are not actually in conflict with other streams of thought
and their application. It only endorses the uniqueness of an individual mind.
Somebody may be thinking more on the structural side than on the thematic side.
Somebody may be thinking that classroom practices are necessary for effective
poetry. Someone else may be thinking that nothing is needed for anybody to
become a poet other than his account of life and experiences. Such schools of
thought are always possible within the streams of human mind. So, we need not
attack one group on certain grounds. That is only an unhealthy way of looking at
things. Proper perception is needed for a better evaluation of the situation.

As I have already mentioned, life is always a question of variety and not of

diversity and conflicts. We must properly understand this truth. By properly
studying the various streams that we may find in any given field, we can also learn
the various courses of human thought. Any stream is possible. That is, if
somebody is after classical writing of poetry, let him try to promote it. If
somebody is after Post Modernism, let him be a Post Modernist. If somebody
values that skills are to be developed, let him read classical literature and poets.
Nothing is out of scope. Nothing is inferior. Everything is possible within the
realm of human thought. Everything contributes to the framework. This is what
is to be properly understood.

So, in a sense, to vote against class room practices for learning poetry has no base.
Learning the rudiments has certainly got an advantage. Learning various streams
of poetry in our class-rooms can be seen as getting introduced to different
possibilities of writing and handling poetry. As we have already seen, since the
individual mind has a natural course of following and absorbing various streams or
a particular stream, class-room practices will be certainly helpful in his later life as
a poet. We often forget such truths. Practice makes a man more and more
perfect. This is true in every given field. After a stage, we can see that self-
practice is the best practice but it is only possible if supporting roles are given
during the formative years. Class-room practices serve one great supporting role.
If a student gets a teacher who is well versed in poetry and literature, who can
show him the depth and beauty of them, who can gift to his students the cream
churned out of them, such a gift would serve the student a lasting gift. The
student can easily pick up by himself at a later stage. This is one real experience in
the making of a poet.

The second experience comes from reading the works of great poets. By reading
them, we will start discovering the various ideas related to poetry structure and
the related framework, themes and their method of presentation. Sometimes,
the structure will carry forward a theme and often times the theme will decide
the structure. Put it differently, certain metrical forms will surely emphasize the
theme and the themes also will naturally drill a framework. Both are in a way
complementary to each other. I can only tell about this but it is up to you to
discover this area by going through the great works. Many permutations and
combinations are possible. By reading more and more poetry, we only expand our
horizons in this direction.

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