In his preface to the book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry, author Edward Hirsch states “Reading poetry is endangered, I suppose, because reading itself is endangered in our culture now.” As we observe National Poetry Month 2024, I thought a few comments from Hirsch’s book would be of interest.
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This book (my edition has a 1999 copyright on it) is rich with observations about poetry in general and about learning to read poetry with enthusiasm and understanding. He calls poetry “a collision, a collusion, a compression of two unlike things: A is B.” Yes!
The question begs to be asked: should everyone fall in love with poetry? That’s a question which deserves contemplation because the answer ends up being … maybe. I’ve read some books which read like exquisite poetry. I’ve also read poetry which was jarring and unintelligible (other than obvious line breaks which signaled a sort-of poetry).
In my view, when it comes to poetry, personal tastes almost always enter in. Should I read a poem which blasts me with ugliness and four-letter words? Like many people, I’ll likely pass. Hirsch states, “When I recite a poem I reinhabit it, I bring the words off the page into my own mouth, my own body.” For me personally, tastes shouldn’t welcome corruption.Image may be NSFW.
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In his chapter titled Beyond Desolation (chapter 7, about halfway through the book), Hirsch takes up the sonnet form. He addresses one particular sonnet from a series of “terrible sonnets” written by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889). The sonnet is powerful, the expression of a man feeling deep desolation.
Unlike Hopkins, I have (thankfully) suffered no such desperation in my life. A post I wrote long ago is titled Adieu, Tormented Poet and includes a sonnet which begins “I’ll never be a poet – this I know. I’m lacking in the requisite despair …”
That’s me … which brings me to the sonnet below. I’m rarely forlorn or dejected except as related to my particular preferences in the construction of a sonnet. Then, like the guys on Hee-Haw, I’m plunged into gloom, despair and agony on me. … all in the spirit of lightheartedness, of course!
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