The Instrument: Poetic Justice

   For a very long time, writing poetry had been an extremely easy process. To me, poetry was simply the creative composition of words in lines and stanzas to develop an artistic story. Therefore, the process was simple. I would first think of one story or event that I could somehow shape into a poem. Then, I would crack down on the meat of the poem itself. I dished out amazing rhymes and organized the words into neat little stanzas that made the paper seem clean and complete. And that was it; the poem would be complete in a matter of thirty-five minutes. This brief process reflects my previous beliefs regarding poetry: it was a giant waste of time. Why go through the trouble of writing a poem when there are easier ways of communicating messages and stories? However, as we began to actually study poetry in class, I realized that poetry was instrumental in its own right.

      Poetry was much more than interesting and extensive than I had previously believed. As we dissected numerous poems from various authors, I began to see the layers of thought and material that lay beyond the meanings of the words themselves. There were literary devices and methods that were present in poetry that I never knew to have existed. I began to see the use of enjambment, extended metaphors, non sequiter, juxtaposition, and even the change in tempo and rhythm of words. These techniques can all be likened to the aspects of an instrument, its various sounds and tones. Once all of these techniques became available to me, I saw the need to alter my process of writing poetry.

     As we learned how identify these poetry techniques in class, I attempted to use them in my first draft of my poem. My method in writing my poem became almost formulaic, as I analyzed each poetic skill and saw if they would fit well within the realm of my poem. This was completely different than my previous spontaneous approach. I actually took note of the placement of my words, the sound that my words would make in succession, and the layers of information that I could conceal under a few stanzas of poetry. This deep analysis and execution of poetry was completely new to me. I had always believed that good poetry was born from the random spark in the mind and instinctive writing. However, I came to realize that poetry was should be tediously crafted to truly make it beautiful. 

    At first, the formulaic approach to poetry seemed counter-intuitive. I had my doubts thinking that the approach could harshly limit my creativity. However, this was not the case. I found that inputting these techniques into the poem took all the creativity in the world. This newfound perspective allowed me to play with poetry in a very musical and instrumental sense. Manipulating the English language by using the techniques takes an extensive reserve of creativity to accomplish. In the future, I do not intend on changing this new method in writing poetry because I find the formulaic method to be rather rewarding. When I finally completed my poem, it was satisfying to look over the work and visualize the layers of information that I constructed beneath the words. I'm thoroughly surprised by this because I never thought that writing poetry, my previous bane to my existence, could be so satisfying. I'm glad that I discovered this way of thinking because it gives me a new drive and incentive when it comes to poetry, and will definitely be helpful in many other aspects of literature as well.