The Art of Poetry

Poetry can't create emotion as immediately and reliably as music. Poetry can't present an image as dazzling and immediate as video or film.Poetry sometimes persuades. But poetry can't persuade as forcefully as a really skillful preacher or politician.

    What poetry can do is come out of each person's somatic, physical imagination.The medium for a poem is your voice.Poetry uses the audience's body and mind in a way that is intimate and personal, as well as communal. In that human scale, poetry does something that is its particular province as an art 

This is The Art of Poetry. I'm Robert Pinsky.

A reasonable question might be, "why poetry?"—when much of the world has access, for images, to gorgeous video. For emotion, in reliable surges, we have access to a range of music recorded and live. For information and opinion, an electronic social space extends its clamoring, infinite marketplace. Given such abundance, why this ancient practice of artful words, on the scale of a human voice?

Those last words, “the scale of a human voice,” answer the question.

For me, and for this course, the answer is precisely in the human scale of this art: intimately, as each person imagines saying the words of poem, or actually gives voice to those words, the poem takes place. The meanings and feelings and sounds inhabit that person. As the old formula goes, the poem gets under your skin.

Poetry is uniquely on a human scale. Its material is language, the language used every day for all sorts of practical purposes, and its medium is each individual person’s mind and voice. The poem doesn't convince me in the way a piece of brilliant rhetoric or a great speech might do; it gives me another kind of conviction: a conviction that this is the way to say something I feel. 

That feeling—a kind of physical as well as intellectual sensation that these are the right words—made me fall in love with poetry when I was quite young. It motivates Singing School, the book that is a central recommended text for this course.  


In a contemporary culture of brilliant art on a mass scale and celebrated performances available to tens of millions, through digital technology, there is a special urgency to the lyrical art that takes place in any one person’s bodily voice. That voice is not necessarily the voice of the poet, or the voice of a skilled actor, but any reader’s. It may not even necessarily be the reader’s actual voice, but imagined: a reader hearing the poem in the mind’s ear.

The best demonstration I know of this principle is in the Favorite Poem Project videos. Having stated it in a general way, I’ll give an example, with a short poem:

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blue-black cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze.  No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

The last two lines of this poem by Robert Hayden (1913-1980) have stayed in my memory. By saying them to myself, inwardly, or actually pronouncing them, I feel a certain, specific excitement and solace, regret and victory. Like repetition in a song, the repeated phrase “What did I know, what did I know,” intensifies a feeling. That feeling is developed and extended by pausing after the first “know” and continuing after the second “know” that does not pause but instead spills over into the object of knowing: the poem’s unforgettable last line.

When I say the poem to myself, I’m aware that much of the language is slightly more formal than my normal way of speaking, or thinking. For instance, the “No one” of “No one ever thanked him” is not what I would say. I would probably say “nobody ever thanked him." Similarly, in the line “and polished my good shoes as well” (a line that often makes me feel like crying), I would probably say “and polished my good shoes too.” 

It’s not just the part-rhyme with “he’d call” that makes “as well” more expressive than “too” would be, as “No one” is more expressive than “nobody” would be, for this poem’s feeling. The rhyme is part of it, but the little, slight, almost invisible touches of formality in the poem, contrasting with the simplicity of things like “the rooms were warm,” have an appropriate coolness that gives the poem an additional authority, moving me in a way that completely colloquial or warmer language might not.

For me, that slight formality, a little sense of ritual in a mostly plain-spoken poem, reaches its fulfillment in the heartbreaking, triumphant last word: “offices.” What a cold word. Like a sharp icicle, it penetrates the conflicts and ambivalences of love, including love in a family, love firmly tied into the chronic angers of a house.


It has been said that rhetoric is for an argument with the world, while poetry is for an argument with oneself. When I say to myself the words of “Those Winter Sundays,” I feel that kind of conflict and ambivalence, fear and love, muteness and expressiveness. That web of feelings is in the exact words of Hayden’s poem, and it is in me.

[This is the write up by the eminent poet Robert Pinsky who is currently teaching a MOOC course called The Art of Poetry on www.edx.org/ . Reproduced here without permission as all intellectual matter on edx is licensed under a Creative Commons License.]

-Mahendranath R
 13/10/1994
 Chennai, India

Time to praise and celebrate the real heroes out there changing the world…

Try asking kids… or for that matter adults, who their favorite personalities or heroes are and ask them to answer immediately. Most of the answers of them would be someone among the following people… a movie star, a television persona, a sports personality, a god or a mythological heroic warrior, a business tycoon, a politician or, as a few might answer, a noted scientist. But almost none of them would name a social worker, an aid worker, a human rights activist, a RTI/PIL warrior, a healer, a storyteller, a Greenpeace activist fighting oil companies destroying the arctic or a foreign national fighting against the Ebola epidemic in remote areas of Africa as their heroes. That’s one of the terrible wrongs of our materialistic consumerism-driven human world.  And it’s high time that we change our apathetic attitude towards the real heroes toiling to fight injustice and change our world for the better!

From the African wilderness to America… from the Arctic sea to the war-torn Gaza, everywhere countless ordinary men and women have fought and are fighting right now against various devils from wars to environment destruction. They took a stand and are arduously working, sometimes putting their lives in peril, to change the world and create a better future for humanity on this fragile planet. But unfortunately, these extraordinary folks have been largely ignored by our society… thanks to the corporate-controlled media and governments which mostly want the status quo to prevail and are generally very uncomfortable with people who question them.

      

WHY NO ADMIRATION FOR THE REAL HEROES?

Media… the TV channels, the newspapers and the radio, influence the masses the most. And the main problem with media is, most of them are owned by profit-driven corporations and as such seek and publish only stories that will bring them more audience and high TRP ratings. Moreover, most of the media networks are biased, corporate-friendly and generally take sides with some political party or religion. Thus, they have no time, space or interest in publishing and celebrating the everyday heroes of the world like an Israeli youngster refusing to sign up for the army which holds Gaza under gun point, or an young Amazonian tribe women fighting powerful oil companies trying to frack the Amazon rainforest land to extract oil.

The TV and the newspapers are effective ways to subdue the thinking of the masses by bombarding them with stupid reality shows and slapstick comedy shows like sitcoms and news stories carrying the gossips of movie stars and sportsmen. Consumerism is promoted with the thousands of adverts that penetrate our senses visually and by sound. That way dissent can be stifled and create a passive populace not concerned about pretty much anything, the breeding of conformist cattle if you will! 

SO WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON’T GIVE PROMINENCE TO THE PEOPLE THAT MATTER?

It is in the human nature to seek admiration from our fellow people and when they fail to show any sort of appreciation for the good service you have done for the common good of the world, you generally tend to get slightly dejected and exhausted. On the other hand, a simple clap or a thank you will work wonders for the person who did the good work. He/she will be inspired to do more good and thus change the world. When you can name the last highest grossing film at the box office, but don’t have an idea as to who invented the cure for Polio, then YOU ARE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD!

So, please… I humbly request you. Set your priorities right. When you see people doing good things for the world, appreciate them. Join your hands and clap for them, take your hat off and stand up in respect! Appreciate them for what they did and wish them to do more. And lastly, try to be like them!

NOW, HOW DO YOU LEARN ABOUT THE TRUE HEROES OF THE WORLD?

The best answer is… THE INTERNET! Dig up the internet for stories about people fighting radical religions, fundamentalism, wars, climate change, corporate theft, minimum wage, and working tirelessly to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases, running charity organizations working to find solutions for problems like safe drinking water, undernourishment, poverty, homelessness and a myriad of other problems plaguing the world. These are but few issues. There are lot more serious examples like the Kurdish Peshmerga forces of Iraq and Northern Syria that are valiantly fighting and resisting the advance of the cancer of Middle East, ISIS. The point is, you only have to search and you will find!

Also, not all media are paid or bought up by corporations and political parties. There are still some honest ones out there like the alternate media organizations that have come up in the recent days after exposure of cases of paid news and corruption in mainstream media. Choose these alternate media and listen/watch what they have to say. You’ll see that the world is full of awesome men and women who want to the change the lives of unfortunate souls around them!

Another last and important piece of advice… when you come across stories of everyday heroism, pass them. Share them with your friends, neighbors and society. A click of the “share” button on a facebook link detailing the work of the Greenpeace’s SavetheArctic campaign or the forward of an petition email from www.change.org won’t take up many of your resources! PEACE!

MAHENDRANATH R

7/10/2014

Chennai, India

Abuse of Women: Chivalry or is it the Chauvinism of an imbecile?

“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been" - William Golding, English Novelist

Despite many successes in empowering women, numerous issues still face women in all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic. For example, women often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women throughout their lifetime; and women are often the ones that suffer the most in the process, low wages compared to a male counterpart because she is female is an ongoing problem, women work far longer than men yet their wages are meager as compared to men.

Many may think that women’s rights are only an issue in countries where religion is law, such as many Muslim countries. Or even worse, some may think this is no longer an issue at all. And this is where indifference is worse than outright neglect, people do not care for something which is not in their periphery and this is where the seed of the problem lies.

Gender equality furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women’s rights and gender equality should not be underestimated.

“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people too."

----- Marie Shear

Now, much of the agenda of American feminists — wage gap, not enough female CEOs, tax payer-covered birth pills, and, the emerging cause celeb, the absence of paid menstrual leave — strikes me as special pleading, masquerading as gender justice. (What's next? All expenses paid bikini waxes?) But sexism — holding women to different behavioral standards than men — is a genuine issue in America, especially in workplaces.

However, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that speaking out against sexism is not self-indulgence — it's a civic duty.

For weird and complicated reasons, it's an even worse problem here in America than it is in my native country, India, the land of sex-selective abortions, dowry deaths, and arranged marriages. 

Where a century ago child marriage, sati system and a slew of customs geared towards subjugating women rights were rampant.

 Violence against women

A woman in Papua New Guinea was stripped, tortured with a fiery iron rod, covered in gas, and burned alive on a mound of car tires in front of hundreds of onlookers—all for being a supposed witch. If it wasn’t for the gas and car tires you’d probably assume this happened in the sixteenth or seventeenth century and not in February 2013. Like something out of the Salem Witch Trials, the perpetrators let mere hearsay convince them the twenty-year-old woman was a witch, and took their revenge in horrific fashion.

Papua New Guinea isn’t the only place that’s still afraid of witches. Multiple societies in Africa still have regular witch hunts—and it’s not just isolated groups of people. For instance, Gambia’s own president, Yahya Jammey, launched a witch-hunting campaign in 2009 that terrorized the villagers, caused dozens to flee the country,  and killed at least six.

Other examples: in India, around one hundred and fifty to two hundred women are killed per year for witchcraft, and in Saudi Arabia witchcraft is legally punishable by death.

Then there is this,

Discreet groups of Hindus still practice the now-illegal tradition of Sati. Sati is a funeral custom whereby a widow will throw herself (either willingly, or due to social pressure) on the pyre of her dead husband, and burn to death. The women do it to show devotion and piety for their husbands, but in addition to being suicide or murder; detractors argue that the practice perpetuates female subordination.

And this,

Ladies, feel free to cross your legs now, as it hurts to even think about this shocking practice. Indeed, it’s a difficult subject to talk about—but there’s no way it could be left out of a list of modern barbarism. Avoiding any graphic details, it involves the surgical (we use that term loosely) removal of all or part of a female’s external genitalia. It’s mostly done in parts of Africa and the Middle East and has cultural and religious background dating as far back as 484 B.C. Practitioners believe it’s a religious obligation that will control a woman’s libido.

The World Health Organization and leaders throughout the world have tried to put a stop to the tradition, saying it has no health benefits and causes all types of lifelong complications. They also note that there are no religious scripts which explicitly prescribe the practice.

Then the pièce de résistance: This is an excerpt from an article written by a reverend after a women came to him about her abusive husband.

”Before any of you get offended, let me just state that God does NOT hate ALL women - just the vast majority. I estimate that on average 99.999% of ALL women born today are heading straight to Hell. The truth is that so many women are turning from God, and ignoring important Bible teachings about how they should act, how they should dress, how they should know their places. The evils of Feminism, Woman's Liberation, Woman’s Rights and similar Nazi Organizations have filled so many of their silly little heads with pipe-dreams and nonsense, that many women foolishly believe their dreams are actually important. When women should be at home looking after the kids, many are out earning a living they have no rights to pursue, while their children suffer and their husbands are left unattended to. And even worse, Feminist lies and deceptions are one of the main reasons for the high divorce rates we are seeing today. I recently received a letter from some dumb brainwashed woman who had left her husband and taken his children away from him, because of these sick feminist lies. Here is the letter she sent me - “Dear Reverend, I read one of your articles on divorce, and I was angered that you took the side of the man. Yes, I am divorced. But I am also a good Christian, and I believe that God will forgive me for leaving someone who was destroying my children's self-esteem and self worth. Not to mention mine. When I first met my husband he was an elder in our old church. Anyway he just kind of turned on me over the years. He started beating me, and the kids. He was also both verbally and emotionally abusive. It was a hard decision but I had to leave. And when I finally got up the courage to tell him I was leaving, he attacked me with a hammer. It was terrible. He broke both my legs, beat my Face to a pulp, and fractured my spine in 3 places. I was left so badly disfigured after the attack that my children didn’t even recognise me. Since then I have had extensive facial reconstructive surgery, and I still find it painful to walk and suffer from panic attacks after what that bastard did to me. Is it really such a horrible thing that I did leaving someone who treats me like a punch-bag? I really don't think I did the wrong thing. My kids are better now, and I feel safer. Does god really intend for us to live and keep forgiving and putting our families through a hell with a person that calls me a cunt, whore, etc - breaks my things, forbids me to see certain people, and even tries to kill me? I had to leave to save myself, and my children. How can you worship and praise the lord when you are dying inside like that?” - Denise ********* Carefully notice that ‘Denise’ fails to mention even one negative thing about herself.  Oh, she must be an angel!  But of course by the very fact that she calls her poor husband a "bastard" is evidence enough that she is not so perfect herself. And notice the only time she even mentions being seriously assaulted is WHEN she asks for a divorce. Well what does she expect? Her Husband, a man who she openly admits was a good Christian when she met him, who had probably given her the best years of his life, worked hard to financially support his family, comes home to be hit with something like that. And she expects him to just sit back and take it? Have all the years of support he has given thrown back in his face like that? No man should have to face such wickedness. This is pure evil! Such is the selfishness and ignorance of the twisted Feminist viewpoint. What ‘Denise’ should be asking, BEFORE she even thinks of throwing her marital vows in the trash, is WHY her marriage is failing so badly. WHY has her husband turned on her over the years, because I can assure you – more than 9 times out of 10 this is the woman’s fault! In truth, there is absolutely NO reason to EVER divorce your Husband. It is sinful pride that causes ALL divorces.  Divorce is a wicked sin.  America is a feminist nation, and women are twice as likely to file for divorce as men. Look at World Divorce Rates and see how the evils of feminism have destroyed America's families. Sadly, all we see in society today is talk about domestic violence; but NEVER do we hear anything about statistics on wives who refuse to obey their husbands.  It is disgusting.  It is just as evil and sinful for a wife to frustrate her husband through insubordination and disobedience as it is for a man to commit domestic violence. Wives who rebel against their husbands by not being obedient deserve all they get. I have had many letters over the years from women like this who claim, “He beat me”, “He broke my arm with a rock”, “He dragged me around by the hair and kicked me in the head”, “What sort of man assaults a poor defenceless woman?”. Well let me just ask you this question in return – Do you not think that maybe it was YOUR fault? It is truly disgusting that so many of these pathetic women find it so easy blame the men, when in reality they shouldn’t be looking for anyone to blame but themselves. They should be asking themselves if they did everything in their power to make their husbands happy. Because let’s face facts here, if they WERE beaten by their husbands, then I have no doubt they probably done something to deserve it. Either by constant nagging and harassment of their husbands - or disrespecting their husband’s authority. You play, you pay! I realize of course that this may be an ancient mentality to feminists today; but it is 100% Biblical doctrine.  A wife is expected by God to OBEY her husband.  Feminists are eagerly willing to crucify abusive husbands; BUT they won't even address the issue of wives who disobey, mistreat, and frustrate their husbands.  It takes two to tango.  90% of all divorces are needlessly caused by a sinfully proud wife who gossips, nags, bitches and causes grief for her husband, and he gets mad.  A wife who refuses to be submissive causes the marriage to become a two-headed monster.  Someone's got to be in charge, and God COMMANDS that someone is the man. The wife is commanded by God to submit to her husband.  In fact, Ephesians 5:22 commands a wife to obey her husband as unto Jesus Christ, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."  How many wives today obey this Biblical command?  It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find such a woman today in America.  No wonder Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:28, "One man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found."  Solomon couldn't find one woman, out of all his wives and the women he had known, whom he could trust with all his heart. There were many feminists in Solomon's time, just as there are today.  Listen to what Solomon had to say about the rebellious feminists of his own time ... "And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her."  What a contrast from the virtuous wife of Proverb 31:28 ... "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her."  Which type of woman are you?  What does your husband (or Ex-husband) have to say about you?  God knows, and He does care, and you will have to give account for your gossip - mongering, laziness, carelessness, lies, deceitfulness, maliciousness.  You will give full account to God for all your words and actions.  Matthew 12:36 warns, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." I look at society today, and all I see is the two-headed monster of feminism. Feminism rejects the Biblical teaching that a wife is to OBEY her husband.  I get many letters from women who have divorced, looking for sympathy.  I won't sugarcoat the truth-divorce is a sin. Jesus endured the cross for us, because He loves us.  Christ sets the example for us to follow.  But to the feminist, divorce is no big deal (just as they think murderously aborting children is no big deal).  As a Christian, I don't understand that mentality.  I thought marriage was supposed to be about LOVE, between two people, FOREVER. If Jesus was willing to suffer and endure the cross for your sins, then you should be willing to do the same for your husband. Christianity teaches you to love, honour and OBEY your Husband in ALL matters, even when you know he is wrong. It is your role as the wife to be the peacekeeper.  Feminism teaches the exact opposite ... "Get out now honey, while you still can!  God never intended for us to live in misery with an abusive spouse.  The Bible says a husband is supposed to love his wife.  If your husband loved you, he would treat you better.  You would be a fool to go back home again--divorce! divorce! divorce!"  I know exactly what those monsters say, and how deceitful they are! They will burn in Hell for it, as will you for listening to their wicked lies. Feminists make-up bullshit words such as 'sexist' and 'bigot' to stop you learning the TRUTH! Remember woman was made FOR man, not the other way around. These feminists would do well to remember that. I really do not understand these feminists at all. If they hate men so much, then why do they dress like them? The Bible teaches us that women who dress in men's clothing will burn in Hellfire. And I for one cannot wait for ALL these heathen Feminists to burn. Their blood is on their own heads. Though in truth, we do not even know if ANY women go to Heaven. In fact we do not even know if women have souls to save. While the Bible teaches God gave MAN an immortal soul, and made woman FOR him, NOWHERE in the Bible does it talk about God giving dogs, cats OR WOMEN a soul!  Also, while the Bible teaches that come Judgement Day MAN will be reunited with his maker, NOWHERE in the Bible does it say that women go to Heaven! Which, given the fact that women have no souls to save, makes perfect sense. The best woman can hope for is to live a pure sinless life, and pray to God every day that he grants them a soul when they die, so that they can get to Heaven. That is ALL they can hope for. This article was written by a reverend after condemning a women for abandoning an abusive a***** of a husband and citing the bible as reason to justify his point, god would never ask a women to take a beating, he would never allow any of his children to be ostracized at all and if he does allow that, the he is no god at all. Here the reverend asks the women to take responsibility for their husband’s cruelty, he asks them what they did to provoke them but sometimes it may be an argument, but most of the times it is just male chauvinism and sadism rearing its ugly head. Then there is the case of Human-Trafficking, rape and torture of women all over the world, no place is safe for women these days. There are at least 100 different cases of rape reported everyday but steps are not taken to ratify this mistakes, they are allowed to fester and grow like a virus in our society. That is enough rambling from me I suppose, this video should convey the state of our society and its views towards women, awaken sleeper or the world as we know will become nothing but hell on earth.

God can't be everywhere so he created mothers

And this amazing creature is a woman after all, so why do we hate women, is it sexism, or our own inability to perceive them as our equals.

It is not emasculating oneself to respect women but true chivalry. So respect them, adore them. Be a realist, be a chivalric one.

 

BE HUMAN

 

 MAHESHWARAN M
1/10/2014
Chennai, India