3rd April 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
As an English student myself, I understand the fear of launching oneself into T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland or Donne’s The Flea, and attempting to comprehend them and their poetic medium. However, once this ‘verse-phobia’ as it is now known, has been abolished by the student, there is another transcendent level that can be reached through the reading of poetry.
It would seem that poetry suffers due to its image as being tricky in form, rhythm and language of which it has numerous different types. Unlike prose writing, it is not particularly straightforward or even honest in its sense or meaning. The poetic ‘truth’ can be hidden or diverted from the reader, but can be cajoled to reveal its secrets through careful analysis.
However, students must not be worried by the risk of misunderstanding the poetic sense and fear that their answers are wrong. Yet the ambiguous nature of poetry means that there can never really be a ‘wrong’ answer as such, as long as students have some textual evidence to support their own interpretations. This is why you do not have to agree with a critic’s view on a poem, you can use the imagery, language and rhythm of the poetry to come to your own, personal and unique conclusions.
Some students also complain about feeling disconnected from the poetry which they have encountered. The poetry studied at schools in the past decade has often adhered to a tradition of dead, white, middle-class men. Although I hasten to add that much of this poetry is some of the best ever written, it could cause problems for those students trying to identify with the poetry that is so far from anything that they understand. However, in my mind, immersing oneself in the historical, political and economical context surrounding any poet will aid in one’s ability to participate.