What is poetry?

Poetry is one of the single most pure forms of literature. Many people believe that the beauty of poetry is in its meter lengths, almost proposing a math theory concerning poetry. The thing they do not realize is the fact that it is known as English, not math. The beauty of a poem cannot be determined by its mathematical significance, as mentioned in the great movie “Dead Poet’s Society”. Poetry, though, besides being thought us as a mathematical expression of the soul, is the most simple form of literature. With literature in general, there is something about a book or poem that, unlike a movie or even a play, simply illustrates the ups and downs of the human experience. A movie can show a snippet of it, but we must rely on prose to truly show the beauty of the human experience. That is what poetry is. Poetry is a brief glimpse into the human experience and what it means to be human with all physical, psychological, and emotional strings attached.

"I Am" Poem

I am a person who loves Brooke, movies, books, family, and anything awesome.

I am trying to be perfect in every way with a little room for relaxing, an arguer, an idiot, successful, and unfortunately not common sense smart.

I am a person who can't stand uncleanliness unless it is my room.

I am a person who hates stupidity even though it's fun, conformity, ignorance, living out loud, and arrogance.

I am a person who worries about getting this poem done, making sure no freak accident prevents me from graduating, and people getting hurt.

I am a person who sees the truth in humanity.

I am a person who believes the world would be a better place if a little bit of Frank Sinatra was played on the radio, all ignorance would fade away, if "Braveheart" was a replacement for "Gone With The Wind", and if the movie "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" was never made.

I am a person who hopes of appreciating everything that is given to me.

I am a person who hears the mumbling of society.

I am like a donkey, stubborn but wise.

I am William Wallace (The guy from "Braveheart").

Remind Me Of Someone

"The Pasture"


I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.


Robert Frost was born March 26th, 1874. He was born in San Francisco, California. His first published work was "A Boy's Will". He recited a poem for the inaugriation of JFK and is considered one of the most famous American poets in history. He died January 23rd, 1963.

http://www.answers.com/topic/robert-frost

This poem is very similar to others I have in this collection. It seems my favorite poems are poems that have to deal with love. This poems tells of a person who is about to leave away. He or she then asks if the person they're talking to wants to come with them. That's what the poem is about. This is what it means:

Like Annie Laurie, I performed a version of this piece where it had been set to music. I performed it at the Mars Hill College Choral Festival, a massive concert where the best 250 singers in North Carolina go to perform a concert. (I'm not being vein at all.) I remember I didn't understand this piece until our conductor explained it to us. This is what he told us:

"Whenever I was in college, I met this one girl who I just HAD to spend every second with. I spent weeks planning on how I was going to ask her out. I decided that I woud take her out to a nice dinner then to a movie. Well, when I actually approached her, I was so nervous that the only thing that came out of me was 'Do you want to eat pizza at my dorm and watch Star Trek?' She said, 'Yeah. I'd like that.' So we went to my dorm later that night, ate pizza, and sure enough watched Star Trek."

And then he explained how it connected to the poem. He said that this piece was about that one person you just HAVE to spend every waking moment with. Even if it's nothing, like tending to cattle or watching Star Trek, it doesn't matter what you do. Just as long as you are with that one person. That's what this poem means. It makes me think of him, explaining to us how beautiful this piece was that we all went in thinking it was just dopey.

Song Lyrics

"The One I Love" by R.E.M.

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire (she’s comin’ down on her own, now)

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love

R.E.M. is a rock band featuring Michael Stipe, born January 4th, 1960, Peter Buck, born December 6th, 1956, Bill Berry, born July 31, 1958, and Mike Mills, born December 17th, 1958, all born in the California area. Their first E.P. was "Chronic Town". They are an extremely famous 80's and 90's rock band, with other hit songs like "Nightswimming" and "Losing My Religion."


http://www.bandbiographies.com/rem/biography.htm

A lot of people think that this song is a love song. In actuality, it's not at all. By it's lyrics, it suggests at the beginning that it is a love song. "This one goes out to the one I love." Then it switches to "A simple prop". This isn't the nicest thing to call someone. "To occupy my time". This means that this person means nothing to him and he simply uses her.

That's essentially the heart of this piece. This woman who he's sleeping with doesn't mean anything to him. All she is to him is a booty call. It's not romantic at all. It's honestly sad at how he just uses people because that's exactly what he's doing.

This is poetry because it tackles something I've really never heard in any other song. There are plenty of songs about cheating and love, but not about booty calls. Especially as the narrator of the piece, it's interesting to see what goes on in the mind. It's short, which has sparked a lot fo criticism. I praise it. It truly shows what this woman means to him. It's simple. He doesn't give a crap about her. That's all that needs to be said about it.

18th-19th Century

The author to this piece is unknown due to it being passed down through generation to generation. This poem is in the public domain because it is a folk poem.

"Oh Shenandoah"


Oh Shenandoah,
I long to see you,
Away you rolling river
Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away, I'm bound away
'cross the wide Missouri.

Oh Shenandoah,
I love your daughter
Away, you rolling river.
For her I'd cross, Your roaming waters.
Away, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.

'Tis seven years since last I've seen you,
And hear your rolling river,
'Tis seven years since last I've seen you,
Away, we're bound away Across the wide Missouri.

Oh Shenandoah,
I long to see you,
And hear your rolling river,
Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri.


This poem can be taken in several ways. From what I've heard about it, it's about the Shenandoah valley. If you haven't seen it, it's absolutely gorgeous. This poem describes the river, the valley and such in great detail. It tells of someone wandering around. This person left someone meaningful behind. It says that this person will risk anything to get back to that person, even cross the treacherous Missouri river.

I first heard of this poem while riding in the car, listening to one of my father's old choir CD's. It was a version of the text set to music, like "Annie Laurie" and "The Pasture". I listened to it in the car. Even though I didn't understand the words coming out of the choir member's mouths, it sounded sad but beautiful. I looked up the lyrics when I got home and read about the history of the piece.

What I got out of it was that it was about a man who has to leave his love, but promises her he'll be back. It doesn't matter what happens. He will return because he has nothing else to come home to. That's what I got out of it. The urge and craving to journey on just to see the shining face of that one person.

A Potential Difficult Time

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.




Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to two traveling actors. He died in October 7th, 1849, though the cause of his death is still up for debate. When he was just eighteen, he published Tamberline, his first published work. His life is famous for being full of tragedy and depression. He died, not knowing how famous he would become. He lost the love of his life, his cousin Virginia, along with every significant female in his life.

This information was found on the Poe Museum’s official website.

http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

This is probably my favorite Edgar Allan Poe poem ever. This poem, from what I know about it, is about Poe’s lost love. His lost love is his cousin, Virginia. She died of tuberculosis at a young age. This left Poe in an even more severe state of alcoholism, which may in fact had killed him. It’s his love letter he would put on her epitaph.

I’ve always liked Poe, even at a young age. His tortured soul has always made him one of the most interesting literary figures I’ve ever come across on. Like Annie Laurie, I cannot help but to think of my significant other. Many people think this poem is about his issues with necrophilia, the sexual desire for dead bodies. I do not see it as that.

I see it as a mourning for his wife, his love. It makes me think of what would happen to me if I did lose my significant other in a brutal way as Poe did. He’s saying, “Do you see that happy couple over there? That used to be us.” It truly shows how her death destroyed him. Who can blame him? I would use it as a remembering tool of what used to be.

An Original Poem, "Ophelia"

So this is an original poem I composed. I am a BIG fan of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and I wanted to write a poem from the perspective of the young prince when he learns that his love, Ophelia, has commited suicide. He's at an interesting position, the love of his life leaving him like this. Well, here goes nothing!

You're beautiful

You just fill my heart until it's full

I wish I acted so different

And maybe you would not have lost your mind.

My poetry

It is inspired by your lasting love for me

But now I have suspision

Of this ghostly apparition

I've lost my mind.

Ophelia

Please tell me why you never listened to me

When I told thee

To get thee to a nunnery

Ophelia

I wish things had turned out oh so differently.

I could have saved

You from falling into your watery grave

Now please know I was certain

That the king was in the curtain

But I was wrong.

I'm so sorry

I was preserving my dead father's legacy

You're the one I love

Like the Bard's words, you're beautiful

And I don't know if I can ever move on.

Ophelia

I can only wish that you were still alive.

I died inside

When I learned of your suicide.

Ophelia

I don't know whether to be or not to be.

My life is getting dark

Did I not give you all of my love?

Something's foul in Denmark

Forty-thousand brothers could not match my sum.

Our romance ended so suddenly

When you killed yourself, you killed me.

I just wish that I could see

You love me.

Ophelia

I am really starting to miss your smile

In my denial

I haven't seen it in a while

Ophelia

I wish you were here laying beside of me

Ophelia

I wish you were here 'cause I've gone crazy.

A Current Event

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Apocalypse-believers-await-end-skeptics-carry-on-122397129.html

Feeling the cold bathroom floor,
As I lay there helplessly,
Silent crying occurs,
When I think so recklessly,
She's not worth my tears,
That cause me so much fear,
She's not even worth my time,
So why do I shed a tear?
I'm better of without her,
But I refuse to turn out like she did,
A self-centered, lonely, black-hearted woman,
That can't look after her own kid,
Running away from her problems,
Is all she's ever been good at,
She thinks it's her against the world,
What kind of example is that?
She forever paints a picture,
Of her perfect family,
But there's a black smudge on the page,
I believe that's 14yr old me,
They say it gets better,
As time goes by,
But I'm sick of waiting,
For the right time,
She hides behind a mask,
So no one else can see,
The ugly she really is,
The way she acts around me
I don't fit in her perfect life,
So she can cancel that appointment,
I'm done fixing our problems,
To stop my disappointment.

This poem, unfortunately, is not well known because it was published on the Internet. Therefore, no author information could be found on this poet.
This poem, I believe, even though it was written in 2008, could relate to the recent faux of the Apocalypse of 2011. I’m not suggesting this poet wrote this poem ABOUT Harold Camping and his followers, but I started thinking the other day of how the followers of this man must have felt when nothing happened. I can imagine that they felt dooped. Fooled. I think that’s what the heart of this poem is. That feeling that someone gets when they put all they’ve got into this one belief or moment in life, and when it backfires on them, that feeling of remorse, pity, and self-loathing comes to play.

Foreign Poem

Maxwelton's braes are bonnie,
Where early fa's the dew,
'Twas there that Annie Laurie
Gi'ed me her promise true.
Gi'ed me her promise true -
Which ne'er forgot will be,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.


Her brow is like the snaw-drift,
Her neck is like the swan,
Her face it is the fairest,
That 'er the sun shone on.
That 'er the sun shone on -
And dark blue is her e'e,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.


Like dew on gowans lying,
Is the fa' o' her fairy feet,
And like winds, in simmer sighing,
Her voice is low and sweet.
Her voice is low and sweet -
And she's a' the world to me;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.




This poem is entitled “Annie Laurie”. It was written by William Douglas. He was born in 1672 and died 1748 in Scotland. There is not a lot of information of Douglas, including major publications and cause of death. His life story though with his own Annie Laurie is highly romantic. He and a girl named Annie Laurie fell in love, not courtship but legitimate romance. Of course, the father, “Maxwelton”, of Laurie did not approve, leading to their separation. So, Douglas, wanting to truly show his dear Annie Laurie how he truly felt about her, wrote this poem.

Me and two of my friends had to sing this poem put to music for a trio we formed. We performed at festivals and received superior ratings, the highest possible. I remember looking through the choices of pieces we could do and found Annie Laurie. I read the lyrics and was swept away by its sincerity, simplicity, and how it was the poem I always wanted to write to my long time girlfriend. I sent her the poem, asked her to read it.

She replied by saying, “Do it.” I convinced the guys to do it and we did. I remember performing it and thinking that Douglas got it right on how I feel about my significant other. At each performance, I could find her in the audience and perform it for her, seeing her smiling. I think that’s what Douglas was trying to do. He was trying to make his Annie Laurie smile and remind her that things may stink right now, but that matters is that we’re in this together and there’s no other person I’d want to be in love with.

If you’d like to listen to the piece set to music, here is an excellent performance of it. Keep in mind it was originally a poem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ukTI3wgl0&feature=fvst

Oh. And here’s where I found all my information.

http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Annie_Laurie