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Home » Poems & Poetry » Blogs » IS WRITING POETRY AND BEING A POET TWO DIFFERENT THINGS? spin-off B

IS WRITING POETRY AND BEING A POET TWO DIFFERENT THINGS? spin-off B - Brian Strand's Blog

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English experiential poet of open verse& creator of the FOOTLE (singular form)&EMAGI digital reverse ekphrasis.A regular @PS since 2007 ,with 9500+ poems posted&sponsor of 1260 contests ( Amazon books- (500+) reviews)GOOGLE my POETRY BLOGS @https://www.blogger.com/profile/02166493604739619406.Read an Ekphrasis e-book for free @ http://free-ekphrasis-ebook.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

IS WRITING POETRY AND BEING A POET TWO DIFFERENT THINGS? spin-off B

Blog Posted:5/5/2017 12:48:00 AM

This spin-of from my blog is prompted by a remark (paradox ,indeed) by Chris in a comment thereon

He wondered ....if simply writing poetry, and being a poet, can be two different things?

Good question n'est pas?

What do you think?



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Rodrigues Avatar
Kim
Rodrigues
Date: 5/8/2017 8:06:00 AM
I think you become a poet when you take writing poetry seriously. Also when it is a constant expression of your heart.
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Parker Avatar
Frederic
Parker
Date: 5/5/2017 3:25:00 PM
the real question is does it matter more to the one writing the poetry or the one reading the poetry or is it just a label given for something being done ?If you paint a fence are you( a ) painter or( the )painter, does it matter?
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Cornish Avatar
Craig Cornish
Date: 5/5/2017 3:43:00 PM
Good point Frederic--I think you've caught the truth here.
Vinson Avatar
Doug
Vinson
Date: 5/5/2017 12:13:00 PM
If we look far and wide, perhaps we can find somebody who writes poetry but is not a poet, aside from the dictionary, that is. Consider a computer programmed for rhyme, sentence structure, etc. - would this be a poet? In the end, I think almost everybody is a poet - it only takes that one certain thought, after all, even if they're never credited with writing anything.
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Dietrich Avatar
Andrea
Dietrich
Date: 5/5/2017 9:39:00 AM
That is a loaded question, Brian. Many think they are poets who are not poets in the opinion of other poets. I had someone once tell me that I was simply doing mental gymnastics writing in rhyme and meter and preferring working in forms. (That i did not put "heart" into my work, which was ludicrous because sometimes my heart is very much in it). At the same time, someone could have the heart (or deep desire for being poetic) but not be capable of forming sentences together well. I guess I can only say: "one's essence as a poet is in the eye of the beholder."
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:43:00 AM
Sorry Andrea! The comment below JUMPED.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:43:00 AM
Christy Brown. brucespoems.blogspot.ca/2011/07/sunday-visit-christy-brown.html If this poem had not been released FROM him, stayed INSIDE him, would we consider him less of a poet? I know... its an bizarre question that most won't get. But I believe a poem is born inside first, then is expressed.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi
Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:34:00 AM
I remember the movie "My Left Foot" and I think to myself, so if this man saw things "poetically," felt things "poetically," internalized the world in a way with thoughts so deep and eloquent that if we'd only heard them we'd say, OH, HE IS A POET. But because he did not write them down, he is NOT a poet? This is hard to define. It's hard to put into words. Poetry is like a seventh sense, I think. A perception that is usually expressed through writing, but not always???
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:44:00 AM
brucespoems.blogspot.ca/2011/07/sunday-visit-christy-brown.html If this poem had not been released FROM him, stayed INSIDE him, would we consider him less of a poet? I know... its an bizarre question that most won't get. But I believe a poem is born inside first, then is expressed.
Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/5/2017 9:36:00 AM
Question: Was Helen Keller a poet before she could write? Did she FEEL and EXPERIENCE poetry inside her isolated world, FIRST, or was she only a poet once she was released from that dark, silent, distant prison? I think she was always a poet, inside...
Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 9:12:00 AM
This paradox is similar to the same question in painting and artist.I have with my grandkids got them to create a drip painting 'a la Pollock' on a small scale in my garage.Both end results were fair attempts but I would not say either would objectively be described as an artist .Perhaps this is what Chris is driving at, there is a paradox lurking in this staement
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Krampe Avatar
Agnes
Krampe
Date: 5/5/2017 7:00:00 AM
I think that's a question of semantics. If we use the definition that a poet is somebody who writes poetry, then of course anybody who writes poetry is a poet. If we want to elevate "being a poet" to being a person who approaches life in a certain way and views the world through a certain lens, then not every writer of poems is a poet - and that may be an elitist way of defining "poet". It reminds me of the discussion who is a "real" climber. Part of the climbing community views "being a climber" as a lifestyle and world view thing and does not consider everybody who climbs to BE a climber. Also, some writers of prose are definitely poets because of the way they use language.
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Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 6:20:00 AM
Another theme of Chris's paradox if prose can be poetic ,then is the term poet different than say the term essayist or novelist.
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Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 6:17:00 AM
And of some consider the very attempt to define poetry as misguided.Perhaps that should be a blog spin off worthy of a discussion to itself..watch this space as they say
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Strand Avatar
Brian
Strand
Date: 5/5/2017 5:54:00 AM
One semantic aspect of this paradox of course, is that written poetry is a relative new part of being a poet.For a larger part of history it was an oral art that served many purposes.So presumably a good retentive memory was an essential.Perhaps being a 'poet'was then more akin to being an actor!
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White Avatar
Darren
White
Date: 5/5/2017 3:35:00 AM
Heh, nice question :) Again a very personal opinion: I sometimes say I am a poet, but I feel a bit of a fraud because I don't think of myself as a poet: I have not published decently yet (again personally, THERE is for me the distinction between the two), I DO write poetry however. It's a bit of an obscure, blurred line between the two.
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Rodrigues Avatar
Kim Rodrigues
Date: 5/8/2017 8:14:00 AM
I don't think it's in the publishing. My grandpa died when I was two. Only after my grandma died did I find out that he wrote poetry. He had a poet's heart. It's in the expression, the craft. That is my definition and you sir, too, are a poet! :)
Puddifoot Avatar
Charlotte
Puddifoot
Date: 5/5/2017 3:33:00 AM
no! the dictionary definition of a poet is 'a writer of poems', so how can they be different? there are good poets, bad poets, genius poets, mediocre poets...but they're all poets!
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Cornish Avatar
Craig Cornish
Date: 5/5/2017 8:31:00 AM
agreed

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