Steeph's Web Site

Menu

Poetry

It was recently put into my mind that a purpose of poetry might be to conver emotions independent from the meaning of its words, phrases and sentences. It might not matter that one doesn't understand the words and lines of poetry or can't relate to what they say. One can take away something from it anyway, by obtaining some mood or getting an idea or a case for thought.

That bis a new idea to me. Kepping that in mind, I may be able to enjoy more poetry. As long as I don't feel compelled to try to understand what must be the one true meaning of a piece of poetry, I may get something else out of it, whether it's what the author intended or thought of or not.

That thought shouldn't feel so new to me. There is music that I enjoy listening to without understanding the lyrics, either because I don't know the language and never bothered to translate them or because their meaning isn't clear to me. And there is Sigur Rós whose lyrics are mostly in "Volenska", a language that has no meaning by itself. The voice is more like an instrument. I enjoy many of their songs. But I usually expect a poem to have a clear meaning. Maybe not anymore.