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Experience

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A good poem appeals to the five senses. It offers a reader the details of an observation, a close-up taste of an experience, so that the reader can feel and understand it too. The experience may be a physical one, but it could be a spiritual one also. Opinions often lock poems into time frames. For a poem to last time, it must be based on universal experiences, unrestricted by changing times.

A good poem puts life under the microscope. It carefully explores intrinsic details of some element of life. The poem is the expression of an observation stimulated by experience. From the 20th-21st century, Bruce Dawe's descriptive poem, "homo suburbiensis" describes in cameo detail, elements of living in the modern traffic of life. It describes a man finding some solace, some escape from modern mayhem. Reflections on the images presented suggest man needs to escape and stimulates questions as to why. The opinion is a by-product of the poem based on experience.

From the 19th century, William Blake's and Emily Dickinson's poems exude not opinion but spiritual experience - both real and surreal. Blake's surreal tiger, burning bright in the forests of night, is an imagined experience; a fantasy observation. His descriptive opening is the basis for spiritual questions. Dickinson's poems go even further. Her tiny poems are like descriptive, metaphorical fragments of many spiritual experiences; layers of questioning experiences. She declared quizzically,
"The past is such a curious Creature
To look her in the Face
A Transport may receipt us
Or a disgrace "
This is not a clear-cut opinion, but a spiritual experience, reflecting on the anomalies of the past.

The reason why these giants of poets are lasting through time is that they offer universal experiences not locked into political or social opinions of their day. If a better poem is measured by how long a poem lasts, then a poem based on universal understandings is more likely to survive than one locked into "small worlds" of contemporary opinions.

Alexander Pope wrote "Rape of the Lock" in the early 18th century. It is possible you have heard of it because it has historical value as an epic. But what about "Lines to Lord Bathurst", also written by Pope, after his fame as a poet was secured? It is not a memorable poem because it is locked into 18th century society. It is purely an opinion about woods owned by Lord Bathurst. The poem may have had some clout in its day, but take away the importance of the circumstances, and the poem based on opinion fades over time. Perhaps it may have curiosity value if you are studying the ways of 18th century society, but its value as a "stand alone" poem has diminished.

If you wish to write a poem for eternal recognition, then it must be based on physical or spiritual experience not opinion. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you touch or feel? Could anyone, anywhere relate to your experience in some way?
Opinion may become a part of that experience; but only a part. The real basis of the poem is the offer to share a part of timeless life.

Learn more about this author, Gemma Wiseman.
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