by Charles Bobbitt

Created on: September 17, 2010

Let’s not kid ourselves. Bad poetry exists, just as surely as does a bad game of basketball, a poor computer design, bad grades, a poorly performing car – the list goes on. In fact, by claiming that there is such a thing as good poetry, then we implicitly open the door to the existence of bad poetry. The thing to remember, though, is that bad poetry and worthless poetry aren’t necessarily the same.

Before delving into issues of the value of bad poetry, though, we must first identify the three categories that bad poetry can fall into.  

First, a poem might be bad because it doesn’t accomplish the goals that the writer had in mind. If the goal of the poem was to make the reader feel somber and reflective, and instead the poem makes him agitated and angry, then that is – in the view of the writer – a bad poem. It fell short of his goal.

Next is poetry declared by the reader to be bad because of the subject, style, or world view presented in the poem. The poem may have met the writer’s goals, but the reader doesn’t agree with those goals.

The third and final category of bad poetry contains those poems that are poorly written. These poems might have unintended spelling errors, misuse of words, or poor rhythm, rhyme, or form. They are bad poems because of the writer’s inexperience or sloppiness in the craft of writing. With these poems, the reader is too distracted or confused to understand what the writer is attempting to say. As such, he has no chance to pass judgment on the ideas contained in the poem.

For the first two categories of bad poetry, it is easy to see that the poems still retain some intrinsic worth. The poet might be disappointed that his poem is interpreted differently than he intended, but the new interpretation might better meet the needs and desires of the reader. Among the readers, one might abhor the style or content of a poem, while another might applaud the writer’s choices. Furthermore, poetry thought bad by some might prove to be of value if it uses controversial means or content to spark a needed debate in society.

Poetry that is bad because of a writer’s failure to master his craft, however, is a different story. Here, the poetry is so poorly written that it doesn’t allow the reader to understand, let alone, be affected by the sentiment of the poem. And yet, even this poetry has its own, special worth. It stands as a stark warning for would-be poets to diligently study and hone their craft if they want to be effective.

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