Is poetry really that boring?
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I would love to take a degree in Literature in the future. Should be fun.Originally posted by expiringpoet:Hmm...King Lear is one of my favourite too. Altho i must say i hate Cordelia for being too weak
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
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For those taking Literature for your degree, any of you still have your textbooks with you? Can sell them to me?
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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.Originally posted by DeadPoet:Those teachers need to be taught a lesson! No wonder there are so few of us!
So which are your favourite poems?
(I think there are fewer people who like Shakespeare, but if you must read just one of his plays, I strongly recommend King Lear)
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... -
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. -
Thanks for the info.Originally posted by expiringpoet: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.
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. -
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. -
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.Originally posted by peebrain: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.
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poetry is especially boring when i need to flip the dictionary to understand it
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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.Originally posted by DeadPoet:How many of you have friends who are interested in poetry? Five? Two? Most likely none. Most of my friends find poetry boring. Although a handful of them do read poems occasionally but as far as I know none of them write poems.
Where are all the Literature students? What killed their interests in Shakespeare, John Keats, William Blakes, John Donne, etc? Was it because of their Literature teachers? Was it because they find poetry difficult to understand? Was it because they were belittled by “real” poets and thus felt discouraged?
What happened? LetÂ’s share some of our experiences. Tell us why you like or dislike poetry. Tell us what are the difficulties you are facing now regarding poetry writing. Share your learning process and interesting stories (if any).
Let's help each other since there are so few of us.
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. -
school always discourage us to take up lit in sec 3 cos why??
lit o level impossible to do well. -
That's what I am doing now. Found quite a few poetry books by local poets. Some are really good but some are ....Originally posted by peebrain: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.
Thanks for your suggestion. -
Originally posted by InnoHippo:poetry is especially boring when i need to flip the dictionary to understand it
But you get to learn new words!
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I guess you are referring to classical poetry?Originally posted by casino_king: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.
Try reading some cotemporary poems especially those by local poets. They may changed your perception on poetry. -
Just curious, do you think this is a good thing or bad thing?Originally posted by casino_king: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. -
Hmm....Originally posted by The man who was death:school always discourage us to take up lit in sec 3 cos why??
lit o level impossible to do well. -
Its a bad thing when you have to pass your lit exams and readings (not just for poetry but other subjects as well) are piling up and to make things worse, time is just not on your sideOriginally posted by DeadPoet:Just curious, do you think this is a good thing or bad thing? 
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Unfortunately if and when I do, I read only "dead poets."Originally posted by DeadPoet: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.
I guess you are right maybe contemporary poets esp local ones might be more accessible.
I will give it a try and see if they are any good and see if their references are less obscure.
Any reccomendations? -
i like funny poems and limericks... too lazy to think too much problem with poetry is sometimes need a lot of effort to understand it
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If you know the references it is not difficult to understand but if you do not know then it is hell.Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:i like funny poems and limericks... too lazy to think too much problem with poetry is sometimes need a lot of effort to understand it -
yah that's what i mean.. u need to put in effort to relate references to poemOriginally posted by casino_king:If you know the references it is not difficult to understand but if you do not know then it is hell.
Its sort of like needing to check a dictionary all the time to read a book -
Off the cuff without googling what's your favorite line at this moment? Mine?
A thing of beauty is a joy forever. -
i would say for destruction ice
is just as great and will suffice -
and miles to go before I sleep...Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:i would say for destruction ice
is just as great and will suffice -
Just looking at my quotes and looking at yours I kinda of get the feeling I am melancholic at the present and you are? DESTRUCTION ICE
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Originally posted by casino_king:
Hmm one of the easiest poems to remember ba
Just looking at my quotes and looking at yours I kinda of get the feeling I am melancholic at the present and you are? [b]DESTRUCTION ICE[/b] so simple and so apt.
Nothing to do with my current mood though, but perhaps something I identify with about relationships.