Poetry is something we’ve all heard or read at one time in our lives or another. Whether it’s memorizing stanzas in class, reading it in a greeting card, or writing it in secret notebooks, poetry isn’t a new thing. That leads us to an essential topic—understanding the importance of poetry. These words have impacted so many—let’s look at poetry’s influence in many aspects of our lives.
When You Feel Like You’re Wasting Time
If you’re the type of person who spends hours sitting at their computer or writing poetry in notebooks, you might be wondering if you’re wasting time. Do you believe that you could be spending your time more useful instead of writing or thinking about poetry? You’re not alone. Many poets believe they’re wasting their time on irrelevant works.
However, when you dig down deep into the root of it, poetry is significant. It holds value in your reader’s lives, and when you understand that, it will fuel your creativity. Writing poetry can change the way you see life and the world around you. It can also influence the way you view yourself. Poetry has a way of evoking awe, deep sorrow, dread, joy, marvel, and wonder.
Reading and writing poetry have ways of evoking a person’s authentic being. It calls you forth to break free from your conscious mind. You don’t have to be poetic to have eye-opening experiences from the magic behind these words. Reading poetry has that same effect on many who are looking for ways to experience the world in a new way.
Have you ever read a poem that speaks directly to your soul? It could be in a greeting card, book, or online. That poem touched you in a way that none other could. For that reason, you have a better understanding of the importance of poetry and that the poet isn’t wasting their time.
Using Poetry to Expand Your Thoughts
While all poetry uses words we know, their arrangement isn’t typical to our everyday speech. That sequencing of words encourages us to think differently. We’re using expressions that aren’t typical, and, as a result, our linear thinking patterns change. The world you thought you knew is different once you read an impactful poem.
The main reason is that, when you’re writing or reading poetry, it’s an illuminating experience. Those poetic words breathe new life, new ways of viewing, and new ways of tasting what’s around us. Poetry forces us to pay attention not only to what we’re reading but also our imaginations and the world around us.
Have you ever noticed how individual poems shake your mind awake? You, the reader, receive the poem’s essence and attentiveness. You’ll find this wakefulness is especially true when you read poetry aloud. The enunciation if your voice, shape of your lips, and rhythm of your breath changes.
Poetry, in one form or another, dates back for thousands of years. Scattered throughout our lives, we hear quotes from poetry that help us understand things better and expand our minds. Poetry is a tool that we use to express ourselves when we’re sad, lonely, or in love. When we write, read, or give poetry away as a gift, it’s in hopes that those works are having the same impact on others.
The Importance of Reading Poetry
Even if you have the firmest grip on the English language, poetry has a way of transforming it into something new. Suddenly, the words you’re reading are taking on new sounds and meanings. The sentence’s patterns sound musical and unique. Poetry helps develop a new language that’s exclusively for the reader and writer.
Because the words mean something different to everyone, we can’t read poems the same way. That means many poetry readers find it an elusive art form. Understanding the deeper meaning of poetry occurs with how you’re reading the words. If you use logical reasoning when reading poetry, that leads to a rigid and unchanging comprehension of the piece.
However, if you use emotional cues when reading poetry, that allows you to understand the paradoxes and nuances of the work. Poets create these pieces with an open heart. That means readers must do so, as well. Poetry gives insights into the writer’s mind and soul—right down to the most intimate inner-workings.
Poets are attempting to forge a relationship with their readers. When you read a piece using linear thinking, that means you’re closing the door on that opportunity. Reading poetry with an open heart is fulfilling and allows that connection with the poet. When you trust the writer, that will enable them to guide you poetically.
If you’re an unwilling reader, understanding the importance of poetry is more challenging. You’re unable to experience the journey the poet is presenting to you. Compared to open-minded readers, you won’t be able to experience all parts of the poetic adventure. That adventure might be nothing but dread or suffering or feelings of happiness and joy.
The Importance of Writing Poetry
Some poets believe that writing poetry is just as elusive as reading various works. When writers embark upon their poetic journey, they’ll receive a lot of advice, including:
- Find your unique voice
- Practice as much as time allows
- Write in a journal
Sometimes, no matter how much a poet practices, they end up with inert and flat pieces. It’s challenging for them to figure out what’s missing. They might try to solve this problem by reading the work of famous and influential poets.
Reading those works might lead new poets to try to emulate the patterns they see. However, that proves problematic because they’re not using their unique voice. It also prevents the poet from opening their heart.
Because some new poets look at the practice as creating a mask, they’re not allowing their poems to come to life. No matter how beautifully they write the verses, there’s no soul behind the words. Because the work doesn’t fit in with their authentic self, it can’t connect with anyone else’s.
When poets allow themselves to become vulnerable, that unlocks a floodgate of inspiration. If you’re suppressing feelings, writing poetry is an excellent way of expressing those feelings and thoughts.
Poets can write something worth reading when they’re honest with themselves and their feelings. The act of writing poetry involves grabbing thoughts and bringing them into the conscious mind. In doing so, poets can breathe beauty and wonder into what they see.
The Benefits of Writing Poetry
If you’re trying to strengthen your writing skills, poetry is an excellent way of doing so. Writing poetry allows you to cultivate an extensive vocabulary and gain a more definite command of the English language. It also helps you learn new ways to work with imagery and master literary devices.
In addition to those benefits, you’ll find that there are many more when writing poetry. For example, some benefits have meaning on a personal level. Some look at writing poetry as a therapeutic practice due to their emotional and intellectual benefits. Those benefits are useful for:
- Personal growth
- Self-improvement
- Emotional or psychological coping
- Healing
- Developing relationships
Some also view writing poetry as a valuable way of furthering their careers. Those careers could be inside or outside of the writing field. Let’s dig in a little deeper regarding how poetry writing offers unique benefits.
The Importance of Poetry Writing Emotionally and Intellectually
Writing poetry has many benefits to offer those who might want to foster emotional health and well-being, or as a way of stimulating their intellect. Some of these benefits include:
- Catharsis: It’s a cathartic experience to create something from nothing.
- Cognitive function: The steps you take when writing poetry help you articulate thoughts and fine-tune the poem’s rhythm.
- Connections: If you’re not writing poetry privately, sharing it honors, inspires, and moves your readers.
- Creative thoughts: Writing poetry promotes and fosters original thinking by emphasizing on imagery, metaphor, and symbolism.
- Critical thoughts: The act of writing poetry forces poets to push themselves intellectually through the expression of ideas and opinions.
- Developing perspectives: Poets can foster empathy while expanding their worldview because writing poetry allows them to use a variety of perspectives when viewing the world.
- Language development: A poet’s language, speaking, and writing skills improve and strengthen as they continue writing more pieces.
- Self-awareness: When a poet composes a new work, that practice allows them to become more in-tune with what’s happening in their hearts and minds.
The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing Poetry
Writing poetry also has therapeutic benefits. Poets foster healing through self-expression while nurturing emotional expression. When you write poetry, you’re giving yourself a safe way to examine, vent, and understand your feelings.
For example, April is National Poetry Month. If you would prefer to celebrate the art of poetry on one day, instead of an entire month, National Poetry Day is October 1st. When you look at the way these designations are impacting the lives of others, you’ll have a better understanding of the importance of poetry therapeutically.
When you sit down to write poetry, you’re succinctly and vividly using language to express feelings, ideas, and images. You’re giving your reader a snapshot of what you’re experiencing from the inside out.
You can tap into your authentic self when writing poetry. In doing so, you’re opening up the door to self-realization. During your writing sessions, you’re tapping into what you’re experiencing, feeling, and seeing.
Using poetry is an excellent way of allowing others to hear what’s happening inside you. There are many therapeutic benefits to writing poetry, including its ability to heal. You can tap into your inner psyche when using image, metaphor, rhythm, and sound.
Digging deep on a deeper level involves asking yourself a series of questions when writing poetry:
- What are your fears?
- What makes you sad?
- What do you find delightful?
- What do you find intriguing?
- Define the things that make you appreciate the person you are.
As you question yourself, that allows poetic inspiration to open yourself up emotionally. You’ll find that many poets are in touch with themselves on a deeper level emotionally compared to others.
The Importance of Poetry in Education
Teachers use poetry from early childhood education through a teen’s high school years. It starts as nursery rhymes, moves on to lessons in personification, and culminates in picking apart works by Shakespeare. Some parents and children don’t understand the importance of poetry, so they feel these lessons are a waste of time. However, that’s not the case.
Poetry Involves Understanding a Free Language
What do children see when they open a book of poetry? Instead of unyielding uniformity, they see something different. The letters and words they see on each page are making a variety of shapes and patterns across the page. Some of these patterns are short, while others are long.
Some of what they see has rhythm, but some are free-flowing. Children also discover that some poems are illustrations of what the words are describing. There is a world of possibilities lying within poetry. The best part is, there’s no single correct way of writing or reading a poem.
That fact allows children to develop more confidence in their writing skills. The binary thought behind being right or wrong doesn’t exist in poetry. That freedom is an excellent opportunity to teach and encourage children to read and write poetry.
Spread Poetry Across Your Curriculum
The moment someone writes a poem, it’s telling a story. You can find poets throughout history using their work to share both good and bad experiences. In doing so, they’re painting a picture of what was happening during that time. Poets use language, rhythm, and tone to paint their readers a picture.
The evolution of language also involves poetry. For example, when you read Shakespeare, that gives you insights into that time’s topics and vocabulary. Poetry has a way of touching on many topics throughout your curriculum. No matter if you’re teaching children about geography, life, or science, you can include poetry.
Teaching Reading Using Poetry
If you’re looking for new ways to teach children how to read, poetry is an excellent tool. It doesn’t matter if students are reluctant or new readers, using poetry is an effective way of reaching them. The main reason is that, because it’s shorter than prose, the words and phrases look less intimidating on the page.
When children are starting to read, poetry acts as a catalyst between feeling like it’s impossible to do this to students believing that they can. The repetition and rhyme you find in poetry are both also useful for young learners. The main reason is that they help students develop an awareness of patterns, phonics, rhythms, and language.
Using as an Outlet for Creativity
Some fantastic poetic features include nonsense vocabulary, rhythm, and wordplay. When you’re teaching children about poetry, that allows you to play with sentence structure and language. By embracing that creativity, you’re teaching children how to experiment with language. You’re also teaching students new and creative ways to communicate.
When you’re teaching children how to read aloud, poetry’s use of repetition, rhyme, and rhythm are excellent tools. Using poetry lessons is excellent for providing educational gateways. These gateways could be in dance, drama, music, and spoken English. It’s for that reason you’ll find many schools offering dance and drama that’s inspired by poetry.
Understanding the Significance and Importance of Poetry
According to Christopher Fry, poetry allows us to use language to explore what we find amazing. That sentiment perfectly describes the importance of poetry and its significance in our lives. Poetry is an excellent tool for communicating and expressing our innermost thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Poems also help liberate us from oppression, suppression, and suffering. It also reveals happiness, love, and pleasure.
While some poets can earn a living with their works, it takes on a different meaning for others. A passionate poet doesn’t look at it as a form of entertainment or a career. Instead, they use it as a mechanism for expressing their desires and thoughtfulness.
Putting a Voice to Your Thoughts
Our minds are always brimming with thought. Understanding the importance of poetry means you’re using it to give a voice to your beliefs, feelings, and opinions. For example, works of poetry tend to emerge as a result of misunderstandings. If someone is experiencing agony, anger, or frustration, those feelings present themselves in their work.
As we put pen to paper regarding our various feelings, we’re giving a voice to what we’re feeling about a particular moment. In doing so, poetry enables the writer and reader to visualize things more clearly. That ability to visualize things from the writer’s perspective is another mark of the importance of poetry.
Showing Your Authenticity Through Poetry
Emotions are sometimes difficult to articulate in words. However, poets who are embracing their authentic selves can write down and express these emotions. At one time or another, a famous poet has written about feelings we can all relate to in one way or another.
Poets use writing to illustrate what’s happening inside and allowing it to appear on the page. Poetry also allows writers and readers to look beyond what’s on the surface. They’ll use abstract approaches, such as using metaphors, as a way of provoking the reader to think more deeply about their feelings.
Embracing Beauty Through Poetry
Sometimes it’s challenging to express the beauty and reveal your innermost feelings. Poetry helps you achieve that goal. No matter if you’re reading or writing poetry, it’s artfulness offers insights we might not have noticed before. For example, when a poem deliberately leaves out bells and whistles, the reader can see beyond that and into the writer’s more profound meaning.
That beauty forces readers to concentrate when work presents itself to them. They must use their imagination to fill in the missing words that would have fit perfectly into the piece of writing. In doing so, they’re completing thoughts the poet never says.
Using Poetry Through Historical Depictions
Throughout history, you’ll find brilliant pieces of poetry depicting the events of that time. When we read these pieces of poetry, it gives us a glimpse into what was happening during previous generations. These poems depict everything from lifestyles to historical events.
Classical poetry is often the backbone of many English classroom’s curricula. It’s through these thoughts and feelings older poetry depicts that we can understand what the people of that time were experiencing. These profound pieces of work are excellent examples of the importance of poetry.
The Importance of Poetry in Today’s Society
When we understand the importance of poetry in today’s world, that gives us a greater appreciation for what’s around us. Each time you read poetry, that helps shed more light on the world around us. In doing so, it allows us to see the truth and how to live.
Poetry, at its very core, is an excellent way for writers to bare their vulnerabilities. In doing so, poetry allows the reader to understand how to relate to others better. Poetry also allows you to take a break from what the media portrays to us. For example, we don’t always live in a chaotic, ugly, violent world.
Reading and writing poetry help individuals empathize with each other. It acts as a counselor in written form that bridges the gap of understanding each other. For example, if we’re feeling hatred in our heart, poetry helps us feel love. If you see a lot of violence, poetry enables you to feel empathy and pity.
Poetry as a Bridge
Understanding the importance of poetry means you can see it as a bridge. It opens up a path toward being a change in the world, as well as a better person. In doing so, poetry becomes less about tearing each other down and more about building each other up.
The bridge that poetry creates also teaches us that we’re not that different from each other. Even though some differences do exist, we’re not alone when we’re feeling grief, happiness, joy, or pain. Reading and writing poetry are excellent ways of forging and rebuilding a more caring and connected world.
Poetry as a Quick Release
Chances are, if you’re not in an English class, you’re not reading much poetry. Some believe it’s boring and not worth the effort to understand. Typically, those individuals think they won’t like poetry, so they don’t give it a try. However, this form of writing works as an excellent release when something is burdening you.
You’ll find that most poems are short or feature short lines. That means, when you’re on a coffee break, you can read several poems in no time at all. For those who say there’s no time to read, switching to poetry is an excellent solution.
Using Poetry to Enhance Your Vocabulary
Are you looking for quick and meaningful ways to improve your vocabulary? Reading or writing poetry will help you accomplish that goal. Typically, someone’s usual reading material includes blogs, magazines, and newspapers. As a result, they encounter a few new words.
Foreign language students who are studying English will benefit from this vocabulary enhancement the most. They’ll come across unique words that aren’t part of everyday conversations or writing. The importance of poetry is quantified when you invest some time in reading it and learning about the new words.
Encounter and Embrace New Ideas
Encountering and embracing new ideas are just part of the importance of poetry. The more poetry you read or write, the more opportunities you’ll have to become open to new ideas. For example, you might read poetry that someone much older than you wrote. Another example is if you read poetry from other cultures.
If you’re struggling with a problem, reading or writing poetry can help give you insights into a solution. Poems use subtexts and symbolism to reach your rational mind. Because our brains respond well to images and metaphors, poetry helps you access your subconscious.
Use Poetry to Think Deeper
You’re not alone if you find poetry a challenge. Each time you read poetry—you’re putting yourself one step closer to stretching your mind. That practice forces you to think more deeply. For example, some pieces of poetry are challenging, offending, or surprising.
When you come across pieces of work that evoke those emotions, you might start questioning your preconceptions. In doing so, you’ll start moving away from your comfort zone. For example, if you come across poetry that you don’t like, you can analyze why you feel that way.
Final Thoughts
The importance of poetry touches upon how we think, feel, and educate ourselves. If you’re experiencing struggles, it helps bridge gaps and finds solutions for your problems. Reading and writing poetry also give you a written way of expressing yourself. If that’s typically something you have difficulty with, you’ll find that poetry is the best way to depict how you’re feeling or come to terms with those emotions. You’ll find that particularly beneficial when you want others to see things from your perspective.
