Episode 5: Reading Poetry

Summary Keywords

poetry, poem, reading, read, spoken word, poet, texts, form, readers, writing, literature, audience, people, listening, meant, language, mother tongue, slam, aloud, important

00:05

Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.

00:21 Esther Vincent

As a student, I remember being terrified of poems and I remember that I always found them so difficult. In the unseen section, I would avoid poetry.

00:31 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Of all of literary genres, poetry is often perceived as the most challenging and rewarding to read. To understand why a poem can be so difficult to read, we first need to understand what poetry is. In this episode of the How We Read podcast, we look at poetry as a form of literature with the capacity to encourage deep reading, widen our appreciation of language and connect with each other. I'm Loh Chin Ee. Welcome to the How We Read podcast.

01:07 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Chapter One: Defining Poetry.

01:10 Dr. Joel Gwynne

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

01:26 Host, Loh Chin Ee

That was The Eagle by Lord Alfred Tennyson, read by Associate Professor Joel Gwynne, a scholar of 20th Century Drama and Cultural Studies at the National Institute of Education. He offers a brief definition of literature to set the stage for our discussion of reading poetry.

01:47 Dr. Joel Gwynne

Literature comprises many different types of fiction across a number of genres such as poetry, prose and drama. Fiction can be any kind of imaginary representation of events or people. Even though this definition holds true for literature as well, literature has associations of aesthetic beauty and intellectual merit. If you think about genre fiction, these have a very specific kind of purpose, and the purpose is primarily to entertain the audiences. We don't expect there to be formal or aesthetic beauty or metaphors or wonderful prose in these texts. And this is one of the reasons why texts like that don't win the Booker Prize. And they don't win these kinds of awards because they're not really considered to be literature with a big ‘L’.

02:34 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Literature with the big ‘L’ are works of art that engage our senses and encourage us to think deeply about universal issues.

02:42 Dr. Joel Gwynne

Some people find it difficult to simply begin reading literature because in an age of social media, there's just so many different distractions and other forms of entertainment. It's much easier to watch Netflix than pick up a book. And as people choose other kinds of entertainment more and more, it also becomes difficult to get into the habit of reading. Literature should be challenging. So I think it very much depends upon what the expectations of the reader is and what they actually want to get from reading. And that's a very personal thing.

03:15 Host, Loh Chin Ee

As a form of literature, reading poetry can be challenging.

03:19 Dr. Joel Gwynne

I would say a poem is different because it focuses on a moment with intensity in a way that longer forms of writing don’t. What sticks with me most is something that an English teacher said to me at school, which was the only difference between poetry and prose is the length of the line. This is quite true because poems don't always have metaphors or similes or rhyme schemes, even though we expect them to have those things, but they always have shorter lines and prose. The brevity of the form means that because it's concentrating on a particular moment, with a particular degree of intensity, it requires a degree of concentration from the audience, a kind of concentration that they wouldn't really give to longer forms. My own personal standard is that I expect good poetry to be difficult, and I think it's important it is difficult.

04:08 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Esther Vincent is a poet, teacher, and Editor-in-Chief of the Tiger Moth journal.

04:14 Esther Vincent

Because a poem is created from language, which is, as we know, tied to specific cultures, times and places, poetry is actually a cultural artifact, and is steeped in a particular history, culture and context of writing. And to be able to read, understand and appreciate a poem, one needs to learn how to read a poem. So sometimes we may find it difficult to read a poem if we find a language, the metaphors, or the cultural references inaccessible. Perhaps we are unable to relate to the persona’s tone of voice or to a poem’s particular theme. When we find a poem alienating in one way or another, we may be put off as well. People may find it difficult to read a poem even if they are fortunate enough to possess the linguistic and cultural knowledge, tools and resources if, let's say, they are unable to connect with, identify or relate to the themes present in the poem. This is often the case in schools. When we teach classical or more traditional forms of poetry, students may find the poems difficult to read because even though it may be written in English, the language is far from plain. And there is a need for them, therefore, to learn a new language, a new way of reading poetry, in order to begin to understand and appreciate it. When readers find resonances in a poem, and in their own lives, that's where they learn to enjoy poetry rather than find it fearful or loathsome to do.

05:40 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Marc Nair, poet, photographer and 2016 recipient of the Young Artist Award, believes we should press on with reading poetry.

05:52 Marc Nair

One of poetry’s jobs is to transform real life imaginatively so we understand our lives more fully, and to make familiar things look strange so you see them new. Poetry does this for me through the year, musically, and through the mind. So it's both intellect, and seeing and listening. This idea of invention is also very much the heart of a poem. Invention is like a state of play and possibility, and I always think that those are the hallmarks of poetry.

06:26 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Reading poetry challenges what we know. It gives us fresh, new perspectives by remoulding what is around us, whether they are familiar or unfamiliar. When we appreciate poetry, we learn new ways of appreciating our world.

06:47 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Chapter Two: Bringing Poetry to Life.

06:51 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Reading aloud, as opposed to reading silently, may be one way to think about how we can read poetry. After all, if we look back to the historical origins of poetry, poems were meant to be read aloud, listened to and shared.

07:06 Esther Vincent

As an art form, poetry actually predates the written text and our understanding and our perception of poetry today, which is very much focused on the written word on the page. So earlier forms of poems were sung, were recited orally by storytellers as a way of remembering a particular group’s history, culture, myth and law.

07:24 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Listening to poetry has a way of bringing people together.

07:27 Esther Vincent

The poem differs from other forms of literary writing by virtue of its history and origin in a spoken word, and from its function as community ritual. And so, as part of the oral tradition, the poem was meant to create community and transmit culture, record laws, explain natural, supernatural events, and itself a very distinctive social and cultural function, even before writing was invented. The fact that poems were meant to be read, were meant to be performed, were meant to be orated to an audience.

08:02 Host, Loh Chin Ee

The oral traditions of poetry are most evident in spoken word poetry, or poetry that is intended for performance. Spoken word encompasses different performance disciplines.

08:15 Marc Nair

Spoken word is often seen as an umbrella term. It refers to poetry that is read aloud. It contains elements of theatre, stand-up comedies, storytelling, hip-hop, and slam poetry is competitive spoken word. Slam poetry is poetry that is created for performance and with a slam audience in mind. And almost all slam poetry is written in first person, is narrative. It usually aims to be comprehensible upon a first listen. The idea that the audience does not have the text in front of them, so they have to be able to catch it as they’re hearing it.

08:49 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Slam poetry is a competitive form of spoken poetry with a strong focus on social issues. It is pure performance, relying on the ability of the poet to tap into the power of emotion using everyday language to convey meaning quickly and powerfully.

09:07 Marc Nair

I was in university in NUS and I saw a flyer for a poetry slam competition, and I had no idea what it was about. I've been writing poems for a few years but not in a particularly serious way and certainly not for a stage. It was a really raucous atmosphere. I was leading after the first round with a funny poem. So humour is one of the things, one of the hallmarks of spoken word. It was called “The Dog Who Loved The Cat”. It was in rhyme. It's a bit of doggerel. It worked. And then I got a little cocky. I was like, “Okay, let's do something harder hitting” and I did a poem about the evils of clubbing in a club. Did not go down well. It went down so badly that I got kicked out, so I lost. That was my first taste of slam, first taste of performing in front of an audience, in front of judges, and I loved it because you get instant feedback. And so I stuck with it and carried on.

10:03 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Connecting to the audience is very important in spoken word.

10:06 Marc Nair

I enjoy the energy from the audience. I enjoy the fact that you command the stage. And of course, it's up to you how well you hold the stage. I love the idea that you can connect to the audience through poetry. I think that's beautiful. That's a beautiful thought and how people are trained to listen to certain kinds of things. But because the spoken word lives in this in-between space, it's not speech, it's not theatre. It is its own thing. It holds its ground and when performed well, it commands attention.

10:41 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Spoken word and slam poetry sessions are not the only place where poetry should be read aloud. Reading a poem out loud in any situation can really bring the poem alive to the listener or reader. In fact, poetry memorization and recitation were common assignments in British and American schools from the 1870s to much of the 20th century. Esther tells us how poetry can be read aloud in the classroom to make poetry come alive for our students.

11:12 Esther Vincent

Students really enjoy it when teachers read the poems aloud to them in class. This is something that teachers could do. I find that when you read the poem, you become the storyteller and the students become the audience and this community is created. This magical space, this mood, this atmosphere, this transformative quality of the teacher becoming orator, the students becoming the listener. And by listening to the poem, students can start to learn to attune themselves to the sounds, to the rhythms to the voice and the breath of poetry because reading a poem is very different from reading some other kind of texts. Adrianne Rich describes it as the female energetic force, poetry as a breathing living force. This is one way for poems to come alive through breath, through sound, through performance.

11:57 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Marc, a seasoned spoken word performer, shares some insight into how to prepare before reading a poem aloud.

12:05 Marc Nair

Everybody has their own way of reading. Generally, you have to be cognizant of the content. Is it a sad poem, a happy one? We're talking about the act of reading, right? If it's a sad poem, adjust your tone accordingly. If it's a poem full of energy and wordplay. Is it meant to be savoured slowly? And that's where you adjust your pace, your volume. If you're going to read on stage, you better practice first. What's very important is that you get used to the sound of your own voice, especially if you're reading someone else's poem. You have to learn to inhabit that poem because there's not from you.

12:40 Host, Loh Chin Ee

The key is to first immerse yourself in the poem when you're reading aloud. Inhabit its sight, sound and story. Then you can truly make the poem come alive for you and your audience.

12:58 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Chapter Three: Reading Poetry.

13:03 Esther Vincent

(reciting Lost Tongue, by Esther Vincent)

13:22 Host, Loh Chin Ee

That was Esther reading her poem, Lost Tongue. The poem examines her relation to her mother tongue language, Sinhalese, and forces us to consider what we lose when we stop using a language. Poets often draw on their own experiences in their writing and we have a rich body of Singapore poetry that can help us to understand diverse voices within Singapore. For listeners now keen to start reading poetry, a question you may ask is, how do I start?

13:56 Marc Nair

A very simple way to get into poetry would be to go to the library and browse. The libraries have great poetry collections. If you are put off by reading a single poet, pick up an anthology around a theme you might be interested in. Pick a bunch of poets, just flip through the pages until you find one that speaks to you. And I do that all the time. I don't read every poet. I don't like every poet. But I found some great poets just by browsing.

14:24 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Esther agrees that browsing any and every poem that one encounters is a good way to begin reading poetry. Reading song lyrics is an alternative gateway into poetry as well.

14:37 Esther Vincent

Just read widely with an open mind. So it's very natural to be drawn to books of poems that you are very interested in. For instance, if you love nature, you might be drawn to nature poetry very naturally. It’s important to also read works that you may not like, just so that you expand your knowledge of the world. The library I think is a great resource to go to the library, to browse, to borrow, to even read poems in your mother tongue and not just in English. If you listen to music, for younger readers especially, start to just pay attention to song lyrics because some song lyrics are actually very poetic. By talking about the song lyrics with a friend, you are developing reading and critical skills as well. If you can afford it, go to a bookstore. Have a look at the book covers, see which ones stand out and speak to you. Anthologies are a good entry point for the eager poetry reader. Once you can find a poet whose works speaks to you, you might then want to consider reading their collections. Ideally, all reading should lead to writing. Even if your poems do not see the light of day, it is important to nourish your creative self.

15:45 Host, Loh Chin Ee

The aims are different when you're reading a poetry book. You don't necessarily need to complete the entire book. Sometimes, one poem is what commands all your time and attention.

16:00 Marc Nair

It's different from a novel where there's a commitment to the story. A poem is its own thing, right? You don't even have to read a book of poems sequentially. You can dip in and out. Sometimes the collection has a theme or has an arc to it. That necessitates it to be read from start to finish, or in sections. But poetry is dense. It's like eating very rich dessert. You have to slowly pick at it or share it. It demands rumination. It demands rereading. Sometimes you just have one poem and just think about it. Because that's how you can appreciate the way the lines fall in place. The choice of line breaks, where the stanzas happen.

16:47 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Joel believes there are different ways of approaching the reading of poetry.

16:54 Dr. Joel Gwynne

A poem should make you think, and it should be read critically, because that's the point of the poetic form. I could be accused of elitism there, when you take the example of Lang Leav, or the Canadian, Indian poet, Rupi Kaur. There are other readers who have different expectations of poetry. We can't always read a poem critically. Some poems are not intended for that purpose. They're just meant to amuse, or they’re just meant to entertain in a very quick way, or perhaps present an idea. That's not meant to have a great deal of depth. It depends upon the poem, and it very much depends upon the reader. And usually you find that readers are attracted consistently to certain types of poems. You don't get many readers who will switch between, say, Robert Muldoon and then Lang Leav. You get readers who are rather consistent in terms of what they want poetry to do for them. And that's not always a critical act.

17:48 Host, Loh Chin Ee

While not all poems have to be read critically, we should learn to adopt a critical mindset through the reading of poetry. Critical reading can be applied to our reading of everyday texts and not just works of art.

18:01 Dr. Joel Gwynne

The vast majority of the reading public don't read poetry. What we do know is that they're reading other things. So let's take the example of graphic novels such as Batman or Marvel or DC Comics. Reading critically would involve paying specific attention to issues such as gender roles, race, all of these kinds of issues rather than just reading it for entertainment factors. Obviously, the form of graphic novels, you wouldn't be focusing so much on the aesthetic elements of language but there are political elements of every single reading text, which you can bring out when you're reading critically.

18:36 Host, Loh Chin Ee

When readers choose to step out of their comfort zone, engage with different texts, and read widely. They open themselves to opportunities to see new worlds.

18:47 Dr. Joel Gwynne

It broadens our perspectives. It makes us experience a life that isn't our own. And hopefully, it makes us inhabit a space that is completely different. And this is really important because it helps us to become more open-minded, less judgmental, better people. When we inhabit other people's spaces, we learn that the world is complicated. We learn to be compassionate. We learn to cast off our sense of moral simplicity. It hopefully makes us better people all-around.

19:18 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Reading transports us to other worlds, allowing us to see how other civilizations function and how other people live. It helps us understand the intricacies and complexities of being human, and makes us more sympathetic. While reading poetry might be a challenging activity. It is a rewarding experience as it sharpens our minds while enriching our souls.

19:57 Host, Loh Chin Ee

Thank you for listening to the How We Read podcast episode on Reading Poetry, and I hope you're inspired to go read some poems. This episode was written and hosted by me, Loh Chin Ee, and my thanks go to my guests for sharing. Next week, join me for the episode True or Not? How to Spot Fake News. This episode was produced by Kenn Delbridge of Splice Studios. Swipe on the cover art to see show notes with links and references. We are available on all major podcast apps. Please subscribe to be notified of new episodes and take a moment to give us a five-star review. For more information, please visit lohchinee.com.