by Richard Saare

Created on: September 25, 2008

Does Society need Poets, YES

The Poet is the scribe of life in all its varied forms. Good, bad, ugly, or indifferent the Poet adds his or her particular skew of the events that make up history. A narrative of the emotions, mayhaps the pulse of the emotional tide of events. Be it an individual, a singular expression, or the pulse of the crowd, possibly even a Nation the Poet writes what he or she sees and feels. Poets are like painters, they record the events and emotions of the day to day life of the people that surround him or her.

A Poet adds a personal touch and sometimes an artistic flair to what he or she sees then the words are saved for future generations to read and realize that their generation is not the first to feel the terror and loss of War; or that their generation is not the first to be swept up in the mob mentality associated with victory and defeat. Love, loss, pity, and sorrow are often mixed with hate, empathy, guilt, and regret in the words of the Poet. The Poet can transcend the barriers of time and give wisdom to ages yet to come.

So I vote YES, Society is given a great window of opportunity in the Poetry of the ages. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it will never tell you what the influences were that inspired the artist to paint his masterpiece. A Poem can be a simple rhyme or a long winded spiel immortalizing what took place in the course of history. Poetry records the emotions of a love lost to an accident, a spirit withering in the darkness of despair, and the joy of success or winning the heart of that certain person. It also gives an accurate view, more like an encapsulation of the times and the speech patterns of the day in question, for example, Shakespeare or Yeats, a picture could never show how they actually spoke the words of the day, in this case English.

Languages change over the eons and perceptions of events will also change, but the emotions of the individuals are a one time thing, never to be felt or stated as they were at that one moment in history. Even the person that writes the Poetry will change and therefore their perception will change. I believe that we, as Humans Beings are a product of our experiences and that is something that is ever changing. Each new experience, be it good or bad will have a profound effect on our senses. Therefore with each new experience our perception of events will be different, changing how we feel about reoccurring events.

Like the first time you road on a very scary roller-coaster, or the first time you fell in love. No matter how you felt at that particular time you can and never will never feel that way again! So if you ask me we need the Poet to remind us of how it felt the first time, the best time, or even the last time.

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