Is poetry really that boring?

last SG · 2006-04-24T01:04:38+00:00

If you know the references it is not difficult to understand but if you do not know then it is hell.

DeadPoet SG

Those teachers need to be taught a lesson! No wonder there are so few of us! Evil or Very Mad

So which are your favourite poems? Very Happy

(I think there are fewer people who like Shakespeare, but if you must read just one of his plays, I strongly recommend King Lear)

DeadPoet SG

Surfing the Internet? Twisted Evil

Well, it is about time to look for one. Mr. Green

expiringpoet SG

Hmm...King Lear is one of my favourite too. Altho i must say i hate Cordelia for being too weak Confused
Ok, for me, the interest is always there for poetry, but studying literature in NUS kinda killed it for me. I hated, repeat, HATED cramming and speeding thru a hundred readings just to pass exams. It was pretty traumatic lah. Plus it didnt help that poetry is more academic, something you just get thru on your own, whether you understand it or not. Readings, readings , readings...guess you get the picture. I think my friends did a better job than lecturers in making poetry fun. There is one particular friend who writes beautiful poetry that can make you gasp and cry, full of sharp stark imagery. However, she was a bit suicidal..i guess it goes with the territory.
My earliest favourite poetry was when i was 13 and we had to read Chinua Achebe. You know the poem that starts with:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart
The centre cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

or something like that lah. well, this is i guess the first moment i fell in love with poetry Wink

dsnake1 SG

i don't like Shakespeare, i got tripped up by Julius Caesar. Mr. Green

DeadPoet SG

I tried presenting Shakespeare in a different manner here in DPS (S) but it didnt work out. Maybe it is time to try again. Twisted Evil

DeadPoet SG

I would love to take a degree in Literature in the future. Should be fun. Mr. Green

DeadPoet SG

For those taking Literature for your degree, any of you still have your textbooks with you? Can sell them to me? Very Happy

udontknowme SG

heh...i did read king lear. and sorry, but i didnt really like it. prefered macbeth. but the worst which i have read so far is hamlet. gosh. he just talks and talks and talks and ... and its kinda sick how he loves his mom.
as for poems... i read random stuff. some by well-known people like sylvia plath,robert frost,blake. and the unknown people who write their own poems on blogs and whatnot.
because of the person i am, i prefer the darker ones usually...
i prefer song lyrics to poems though...

expiringpoet SG

DP, the ground flr shops at Bras Basah complex sells Lit books for cheap - you can check out those out, there are those that sell them for $1-$2 if i remember correctly.

Hmm...I like Julius Ceasar too...and the below powerful speech by Brutus.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause; and be
silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have
respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your
wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to
him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If
then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is
my answer,Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than
that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen? As Caesar loved me, I
weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.

DeadPoet SG

Thanks for the info.

I used to go there quite often but I am not sure if they sell University textbook. Will check it out when I am free. Mr. Green

peebrain SG

Well... Check out the local library... There's no particular uni textbook for Literature.

You could go for books on intertextuality, cultural/ethnic analysis, etc.

LazerLordz SG

I got copies of plays by Beckett and Pinter for this sem. Damn sian la.. losing my love for the word when you have to study. Laughing

InnoHippo SG

poetry is especially boring when i need to flip the dictionary to understand it Laughing

casino_king SG

When you read a poem, the poet in order to compact his ideas and beautify his writing into a pleasing sonic piece of art.... requires that the reader understands his references.

So when you read a poem you might have to pour through 20 other books just so that you understand what the poet is saying.

It takes time and effort and modern people are too busy, too tired, too lazy and too much in a hurry to want to do that.

The man who was death SG

school always discourage us to take up lit in sec 3 cos why??

lit o level impossible to do well.

DeadPoet SG

That's what I am doing now. Found quite a few poetry books by local poets. Some are really good but some are .... Rolling Eyes

Thanks for your suggestion. Mr. Green

DeadPoet SG

Laughing

But you get to learn new words! Cool

DeadPoet SG

I guess you are referring to classical poetry?

Try reading some cotemporary poems especially those by local poets. They may changed your perception on poetry. Very Happy

DeadPoet SG

Just curious, do you think this is a good thing or bad thing? Wink

DeadPoet SG

Hmm....

« Previous Page Next Page »