Although many people groan at the thought of studying poetry, I truly think it still matters. Poetry is just another art form, another way to look at the world, and poets are just artists that are writing words instead of painting images. As a person who likes to write poetry, I see the world through smatterings of ideas and images and words, and sometimes the only way I can articulate exactly what I've seen is through writing a poem about it.
Through experience, I've seen many a person groan at the thought of studying poetry. Even I did that until a friend showed me what it was like to write my own, and then I decided that Edgar Allan Poe was pretty cool, and I looked into more and more poems that interested me. This isn't always the case, however -- many people simply grit their teeth and try to bear it through rhymes and metaphors. I think that poetry's main place, in today's culture, is in the classroom, though I wish that would change. Like I said before, it's another way to look at the world, and people can always benefit from understanding different viewpoints.
For me, poetry wasn't made interesting until I was shown how to write my own. Even then, I wasn't interested in reading it until I read Edgar Allan Poe, and frankly, even now some poems really just don't do it for me. However, I'm an avid music listener, as are the majority of other people. Music is just poetry set to a melody -- There have been times when I learned poetry by analyzing song lyrics and listening to rappers who have to have certain words at certain times to keep the rhythm going. Maybe the key to reviving poetry is getting people to learn about it through music first, then slowly getting into the classics, instead of diving right into the complicated workings of Shakespeare and Robert Frost.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Iambic Speech
(I've been on a stand up comedy binge and since I couldn't pick up Christopher Titus' new special earlier today -- which was really disappointing -- I decided to watch ones on YouTube, the most recent one being an Ellen DeGeneres one, so here are some excerpts from that particular show called Here and Now. The stressed syllables are in all caps, and the non-stressed are not.) (Also keep in mind that scansion has never been my strong suit and while I hear that we mostly speak in iambic pentameter, but I also hear some sporadic syllables that sneak in there that mess up the rhythm, which I suppose is normal. I don't think speech is exactly one thing 100% of the time.)
1. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ellen DeGeneres!" (la-DIES and GEN-tle-MEN, please WEL-come EL-len DE-gen-ER-es!)
2. "What a lovely way to start work, thank you very much!" (what A love-LY way to START work, THANK you VER-y MUCH!)
3. "Some of you need to get babysitters, especially if you have kids." (some OF you NEED to GET ba-BY-sit-ers, ES-peciall-Y if YOU have KIDS.)
4. "Now the one thing I think we all have in common is that we want to laugh." (NOW the ONE thing I THINK we ALL have in COM-mon is THAT we WANT to LAUGH.)
5. "When there's something I'm supposed to do, I'll do anything other than the one thing I'm supposed to do." (When there's SOME-thing I'M SUP-posed TO do, i'll DO an-Y-thing O-ther than the ONE thing I'M SUP-posed to DO.)
6. "Why should I pay a stranger to listen to me talk when I can get strangers to pay to listen to me talk?" (WHY should I pay a STRANG-er to LIST-en to ME talk when I can GET STRANG-ers to PAY to LIST-en to ME talk?)
7. "What kind of job is that to come up with the names for paint colors?" (what KIND of JOB is THAT to come UP with the NAMES for PAINT COL-ors?)
8. "And the phone rang..." (AND the PHONE RANG.)
9. "And I said 'Who am I kidding, I'm never going to get around to writing about procrastination.'" (and I said WHO am I KID-ding, I'M NE-ver GO-ing to GET a-ROUND to WRIT-ing A-bout PRO-cras-TIN-a-TION.)
10. "You had to hate something bad enough to get up and walk that five feet to change the channel." (you HAD to HATE some-THING bad E-nough to GET up AND walk THAT five FEET to CHANGE the CHAN-nel.)
11. "It was a simpler time back then..." (it WAS a SIMP-ler TIME back THEN...)
12. "I believe someday sitcoms will be thirty seconds long." (i BE-lieve SOME-day SIT-coms WILL be THIR-ty SEC-onds LONG.)
13. "I was watching the news the other day... brought to you by Paxil..." (I was WATCH-ing the NEWS the OTH-er DAY ... brought TO you by PAX-il...)
14. "'It could be the most deadly thing in the world, and you could be having it for dinner. We'll tell you what it is tonight at eleven.'" (it COULD be THE most DEAD-ly thing IN the WORLD, and YOU could be HAV-ing IT for DIN-ner. WE'LL tell YOU what IT is TO-night AT e-LEV-en.)
1. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ellen DeGeneres!" (la-DIES and GEN-tle-MEN, please WEL-come EL-len DE-gen-ER-es!)
2. "What a lovely way to start work, thank you very much!" (what A love-LY way to START work, THANK you VER-y MUCH!)
3. "Some of you need to get babysitters, especially if you have kids." (some OF you NEED to GET ba-BY-sit-ers, ES-peciall-Y if YOU have KIDS.)
4. "Now the one thing I think we all have in common is that we want to laugh." (NOW the ONE thing I THINK we ALL have in COM-mon is THAT we WANT to LAUGH.)
5. "When there's something I'm supposed to do, I'll do anything other than the one thing I'm supposed to do." (When there's SOME-thing I'M SUP-posed TO do, i'll DO an-Y-thing O-ther than the ONE thing I'M SUP-posed to DO.)
6. "Why should I pay a stranger to listen to me talk when I can get strangers to pay to listen to me talk?" (WHY should I pay a STRANG-er to LIST-en to ME talk when I can GET STRANG-ers to PAY to LIST-en to ME talk?)
7. "What kind of job is that to come up with the names for paint colors?" (what KIND of JOB is THAT to come UP with the NAMES for PAINT COL-ors?)
8. "And the phone rang..." (AND the PHONE RANG.)
9. "And I said 'Who am I kidding, I'm never going to get around to writing about procrastination.'" (and I said WHO am I KID-ding, I'M NE-ver GO-ing to GET a-ROUND to WRIT-ing A-bout PRO-cras-TIN-a-TION.)
10. "You had to hate something bad enough to get up and walk that five feet to change the channel." (you HAD to HATE some-THING bad E-nough to GET up AND walk THAT five FEET to CHANGE the CHAN-nel.)
11. "It was a simpler time back then..." (it WAS a SIMP-ler TIME back THEN...)
12. "I believe someday sitcoms will be thirty seconds long." (i BE-lieve SOME-day SIT-coms WILL be THIR-ty SEC-onds LONG.)
13. "I was watching the news the other day... brought to you by Paxil..." (I was WATCH-ing the NEWS the OTH-er DAY ... brought TO you by PAX-il...)
14. "'It could be the most deadly thing in the world, and you could be having it for dinner. We'll tell you what it is tonight at eleven.'" (it COULD be THE most DEAD-ly thing IN the WORLD, and YOU could be HAV-ing IT for DIN-ner. WE'LL tell YOU what IT is TO-night AT e-LEV-en.)
Friday, November 1, 2013
Blog 13 -- "The Blame"
It wasn't enough to apologize
When all you wanted was for me to go.
And all of those times I didn't realize
All of the things I should have known.
Part of me wants to scald you
With the words I always held behind.
I guess it wasn't enough, you were though.
And in the end, I was hopelessly blind.
I can't hold them back, but I can't set them free.
I'm stuck in knowledge, knowing I was wrong,
And I know how you push the blame on me.
But I'm used to the blame you've held so long.
I know none of this was ever my fault,
And now I refuse to let you keep me at a halt.
When all you wanted was for me to go.
And all of those times I didn't realize
All of the things I should have known.
Part of me wants to scald you
With the words I always held behind.
I guess it wasn't enough, you were though.
And in the end, I was hopelessly blind.
I can't hold them back, but I can't set them free.
I'm stuck in knowledge, knowing I was wrong,
And I know how you push the blame on me.
But I'm used to the blame you've held so long.
I know none of this was ever my fault,
And now I refuse to let you keep me at a halt.
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