{"id":1000,"date":"2013-08-02T11:01:50","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T16:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2013-08-02T11:01:50","modified_gmt":"2013-08-02T16:01:50","slug":"poem-poetic-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/02\/poem-poetic-license\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Poetic License"},"content":{"rendered":"

One day I went to get my poetic license<\/span>
\nI drove them crazy with their test<\/span>
\nat the DMV<\/span>
\nPerhaps next time I’ll try NASA<\/span><\/p>\n

This poem reminds me of the scene in the movie, “Dead Poets Society,” where the teacher at an exclusive boy’s prep school, on the first day of class begins:<\/p>\n

The teacher, Mr. Keating (played by Robin Williams) sits at his desk at the front of the classroom and opens up one\u00a0of his books.<\/p>\n

KEATING
\nGentlemen, open your text to page<\/em>
\n twenty-one of the introduction. Mr.<\/em>
\n Perry, will you read the opening<\/em>
\n paragraph of the preface, entitled<\/em>
\n “Understanding Poetry”?<\/em><\/p>\n

NEIL
\nUnderstanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans<\/em>
\n Pritchard, Ph.D. To fully understand<\/em>
\n poetry, we must first be fluent with<\/em>
\n its meter, rhyme, and figures of speech.<\/em>
\n Then ask two questions: One, how artfully<\/em>
\n has the objective of the poem been<\/em>
\n rendered, and two, how important is that<\/em>
\n objective. Question one rates the poem’s<\/em>
\n perfection, question two rates its<\/em>
\n importance. And once these questions have<\/em>
\n been answered, determining a poem’s<\/em>
\n greatest becomes a relatively simple<\/em>
\n matter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Keating gets up from his desk and prepares to draw on the chalk board.<\/p>\n

NEIL
\nIf the poem’s score for perfection is<\/em>
\n plotted along the horizontal of a graph,<\/em>
\n and its importance is plotted on the<\/em>
\n vertical, then calculating the total<\/em>
\n area of the poem yields the measure of<\/em>
\n its greatness.<\/em><\/p>\n

Keating draws a corresponding graph on the board and the students
\ndutifully copy it down.<\/p>\n

NEIL
\nA sonnet by Byron may score high on the<\/em>
\n vertical, but only average on the<\/em>
\n horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on<\/em>
\n the other hand, would score high both<\/em>
\n horizontally and vertically, yielding a<\/em>
\n massive total area, thereby revealing the<\/em>
\n poem to be truly great. As you proceed<\/em>
\n through the poetry in this book, practice<\/em>
\n this rating method. As your ability to<\/em>
\n evaluate poems in this matter grows, so<\/em>
\n will – so will your enjoyment and<\/em>
\n understanding of poetry.<\/em><\/p>\n

Neil sets the book down and takes off his glasses. The student sitting
\nacross from him is discretely trying to eat. Keating turns away from
\nthe chalkboard with a smile.<\/p>\n

KEATING
\nExcrement. That’s what I think of Mr. J.<\/em>
\n Evans Pritchard. We’re not laying pipe,<\/em>
\n we’re talking about poetry.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. Keating then proceeds to instruct the students to tear the whole introductory chapter out of the book. \u00a0This peaks the interest of some of the students (and a little horror in others).<\/p>\n

Of course, the heart of my poem pivots on the dual meaning and paradox of getting a “poetic license.” \u00a0A license is typically some form of certification or accreditation indicating that the applicant (they don’t just pass out licenses!) has successfully demonstrated adherence to prescribed rules based on the conventional wisdom of the era. \u00a0In contrast, “poetic license” refers to the freedom a poet takes in order create an artistic expression.<\/p>\n

I view poetry as first art, and second science. \u00a0Now, to be fair, a fluency in linguistics can greatly aid one’s expression. \u00a0Nonetheless, if you put random words on a piece of paper and meditated upon them, strangely poetic relationships, phrases and themes would likely emerge (in the mind of someone). \u00a0In fact, this is one method to my madness. \u00a0Usually a poem is first born of a phrase or two that strikes me out of the ether of my life. \u00a0Then with a general theme, I associate related words, phrases and concepts. \u00a0Mining the infinite juxtapositions of puns, alliterations, metaphors and irony, characterizes my basic style of writing. \u00a0In my longer poems, I typically develop parallel narratives that are in tension, sometimes paradoxical. \u00a0Often there are several different ways to read a set of words or phrases, depending on punctuation and where one begins and\/or ends the phrase\/sentence. \u00a0This is why I often avoid punctuation and put short phrases or single words on a separate line. \u00a0This allows the reader to more freely experience the dance of associations and multiple meanings. \u00a0While my own basic point of view usually emerges with some clarity, sometimes by simply\u00a0ending on a particular note, I definitely see truth as living in the neighborhood of paradox, and the struggle for and the balance of these tensions is at the heart of most of my poetry. \u00a0Poetry is less “laying pipe,” than flooding the reader with images and ideas, thoughts and feelings, that expand our consciousness and enrich our experience. \u00a0Of course, you are free to live by your own rules…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day I went to get my poetic license I drove them crazy with their test at the DMV Perhaps next time I’ll try NASA This poem reminds me of the scene in the movie, “Dead Poets Society,” where the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,9],"tags":[360,400,167,229,427,428,115,431,267,79,359,486,86,438,354,658,291,94,7,544,423,636,600,390,53,290,529,421,389],"class_list":["post-1000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-top-pun","category-poems","tag-art","tag-balance","tag-consciousness","tag-conventional-wisdom","tag-crazy","tag-experience","tag-freedom","tag-heart","tag-irony","tag-joy","tag-life","tag-meaning","tag-metaphors","tag-mind","tag-perspective","tag-poems","tag-poet","tag-poetry","tag-puns","tag-questions","tag-relationships","tag-rhyme","tag-rules","tag-science","tag-short-poems","tag-society","tag-time","tag-truth","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Poetic License | About Top Pun, Poems | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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