Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Poetry Month Tag -- My Own Answers

I've suddenly realized that I never filled out my own tag for my own Poetry Month Celebration!  Well, I've got a few days to spare, so I guess I'm not exactly late.  Here goes.



What are some poems you like?


"Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams" by Kenneth Koch (which is funnier if you have read WCW's "This is Just to Say"), "Acquainted with the Night" by Robert Frost, "Fog" by Carl Sandburg, "Hush'd be the Camps Today" by Walt Whitman, "The Hollow Men" by T. S. Eliot, "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, "The Man from Snowy River" by A. B. "Banjo" Patterson, "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning... those are the first ones that pop into my head.




What are some poems you dislike?


I am not a huge fan of the poems of Emily Dickinson or e. e. cummings, though some of their stuff I do like okay.
Are there any poets whose work you especially enjoy?  If so, who are they?

Kenneth Koch, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes, and Robert Browning are my top favorites.

Do you write poetry?

Not as much as I did when in college and my early 20s.  But once in a while, I still jot one down.
Have you ever memorized a poem?


Goodness me, yes!  When I was really little, I memorized all of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore, and also "Eletelephony" by Laura Elizabeth Richards.  I still know all of the latter, but not the former anymore, alas.  I've memorized other favorite poems over the years too, including two I mentioned above, "Acquainted with the Night" by Robert Frost and "Hush'd be the Camps Today" by Walt Whitman.  I know several other Robert Frost poems too, including "Nothing Gold Can Stay," which I love because of the role it plays in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.  And one of these days, I'll finish memorizing "The Man from Snowy River" too -- that one has such a delicious cadence to it that it's very easy to memorize.  I know a lot of Shakespeare too, mostly Hamlet of course, like the whole "To be or not to be" soliloquy.




Do you prefer poetry that rhymes and had a strict meter, or free verse?  Or do you like both?



I like both.  Rhyming poetry is easier to memorize, though.

Do you have any particular poetry movements you're fond of?  (Beat poets, Romanticism, Fireside poets, etc?)(If you haven't got any idea what I'm talking about, that's fine!  You can check out this list for more info, if you want to.)


Well, on a whole I am NOT fond of the Romantics.  Or the Beat poets.  Most of my favorite poets are from the 20th century, but not associated with any particular movements.

5 comments:

  1. I love the Romantic poets! Especially Keats. And I love Whitman. And Shakespeare. x AND YES. Frost. "The Road Not Taken." "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening." Maybe it's cliche to love those, but I do!

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    1. I think the reason so many of us love "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" is that they're beautiful!

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  2. I love Emily Dickinson--although I like her stuff even better with the original punctuation (you know, dashes instead of periods). It looks super weird . . . but I like it weird :-) That's why I was SO happy when I won that book in your giveaway! I haven't had time to read it yet (sob) but I'm almost done with finals and then I can.

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    1. Jessica, I'm so glad the Dickinson book went to someone who loves her! Not someone like me who reads her because she must be read, hee. Good luck with your finals, and enjoy your summer vacation reading Dickinson :-)

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