Rec | GETTING INTO POETRY

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T.S. Eliot for sure if you are interested in the modernist movement, if you like his stuff check out Wallace Stevens. If you want something more digestible to start out with, maybe try Walt Whitman for some romanticism.

@juniperburns

Jan 10, 2025

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some tips and reccs <3 enjoy!

1. accept that you can take whatever you want from a poem - I personally care less about understanding exactly what the poet intended, and focus more on: being reminded of moments/people/thoughts in my life, taking advice, and hearing words and phrases that sound nice together 2. start with easy/lovely/understandable poems! esp contemporary ones. have linked a couple below 3. read analysis/reviews of poems you don't understand! 4. read an entire poetry book! sometimes it's useful to see the poems in the context of each other. this is often how they're meant to be read. also sometimes have a authors note or intro which can help here are some good ones to start with: - clam by Mary Oliver (abt nature + withstanding life): https://wordsfortheyear.com/2016/09/06/clam-by-mary-oliver/ - after a greek proverb by A E Stallings https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/55235/after-a-greek-proverb - what I didn't know before by Ada Limón - https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-30712_WHAT-I-DIDN-T-KNOW-BEFORE - Invictus by William Ernest henley (this is an old one but easy to understand) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus

@siddhartha

Apr 1, 2024

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explore!

and don’t feel pressured to enjoy everything contemporary or all the classics or what’s popular or what we’re taught in school. there’s truly no right or wrong way to enjoy poetry—but not everything appeals to/resonates with everyone so if ur feeling like ur bored or not “getting it” that might be an invitation to try a different style! like i didn’t really like ocean vuong’s time is a mother, but i love richard siken’s crush. i love mary oliver, lucille clifton, and frank o’hara; but i don’t like ts eliot, emily dickinson, and allen ginsberg. there are no rules and there are plenty of kinds of poetry to explore! you maybe just haven’t found what you like yet. i also suggest finding accounts on other social media that post poetry and/or sign up for poetry fdn’s “poem of the day” emails. and when you find a poem you enjoy, check out that poet’s collection(s) at the library and read through them! :)

@marxinista

Jul 4, 2024

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Sara Teasdale + some extra ideas

The first thing I think of with Sara Teasdale's poetry is their steady beat. You really feel your heart with them. Some stand out lines of hers: ☆ "My thoughts like steady incense rise;" ☆ "—But oh her hair the sun sifts thro'—" ☆ "And all his words I keep As rose-leaves hold the dew" ☆ All of her shorter poem 'LESS THAN THE CLOUD TO THE WIND' ☆ All of her shorter poem 'Rain at Night' ☆ 'When I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,' ____________________ As for extra ideas! 1. Get an Everyman's Pocket Poetry book. Choose a theme you enjoy, like say rivers! Get that collection, read through it and discover a load of new poems and potentially new favorite poets. Ofc you may know them already, but it fits nicely in a large coat pocket or small purse and is very cute so it's no loss if you've already familiarized yourself with everything they offer. 2. Read translated poetry! ESPECIALLY if it has the original text!! This will be incredibly rewarding: It'll introduce you to imagery that might appear as often in English, it'll open up for you whole new world of poetry AND it might ever make you new/deeper friendships! (It did for me!) The book 'Chinese Poetic Writing' by François Cheng was one I found and enjoyed a lot! (With original text included! Unfortunately a rarity!)