Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.
Interpretation
Poetry is a means of self-discovery and understanding the complexities of life.
In this quote, Yusef Komunyakaa expresses the powerful role that poetry plays in both personal identity and comprehension of the world. He emphasizes that poetry not only aids in self-reflection but also encourages an appreciation for the mysteries of existence, suggesting that accepting these uncertainties is essential to being truly human.
In practice
In a literature class, discussing how poetry helps express emotions.
Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most important things are to respect the language; to know the classical rules, even if only to break them; and to be prepared to edit, to revise, to shape.
It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.
I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.
I'm uncomfortable with the focus on the poet and not on the poem.
Tonight I feel the stars are out_x000D_ to use me for target practice.
To be an actor you have to be a child.
Do you know what a playwright is? A playwright is someone who lets his guts hang out on the stage.
Every age has its own poetry; in every age the circumstances of history choose a nation, a race, a class to take up the torch by creating situations that can be expressed or transcended only through poetry.
Poetry is that art which selects and arranges the symbols of thought in such a manner as to excite the imagination the most powerfully and delightfully.
Some split between the inner world and outer world is common to all behaviour, and the need to bridge the gap is the source of creative behaviour.
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
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