National Poetry Month

There is so much to love about April, but one of my favorite things about this month is that it's national/global poetry month!  I adore poetry, and want everyone in the world to love it as much as I do!

So today, I'm sharing some current favorite poems, snatches of poems, poems I have written, and some tips on writing and reading poetry!

Current Favorite Poems

I love to read poetry, I love haphazard and chaotic poems especially, but I also love emotional poems, imagery filled poems, and poems where the rhyme scheme is just a little wacky. Here are some poems I love, (they're also great ones to start with if you want to get into poetry).

"Because I could not stop for death," - Emily Dickinson - Emily is known for her slightly morbid poetry, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful. This poem is full of Victorian imagery and hope of eternity.

"in Just" - e. e. cummings - e.e. cummings was known for his experimental formatting and punctuation and this poem is no exception. It's about childhood in spring and is so much fun to read aloud.

"A Psalm of Life" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - This is one of Longfellow's best known poems, but it is so beautiful and full of meaning. It was written when the writer was dealing with a season of depression, and it shows the deep value he had for life despite his struggles.

"A not admitting of the wound" - Emily Dickinson - One thing I love about poetry is having to think really deeply about what the meaning of a poem is, this poem is one of those. 

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" - T. S. Eliot - Perhaps the most famous nonsense poem, this is a stream of consciousness meets a story. And it's a blast.

Favorite Snatches of Poems

Also known as quotes that happen to come from poetry, here are a few lines that I love so much. Most are from poetry, some are simply just poetic.

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" - Whittier

"The life in us is like the water in the river. It may rise this year higher than man has ever known it, and flood the parched uplands; even this may be the eventful year, which will drown all our muskrats, It was not alwyas dry land where we dwell." - from Walden by Henry David Thoreau

"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,/ And each separate dying ember wrought it's ghost upon the floor." - from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

"If thou art worn and hard beset/ with sorrows, that thou wouldst forget,/ If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep/ Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep/ Go to the woods and hills!/No tears Dim the sweet look that nature wears." - from "Sunrise on the Hills" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

*and now for my favorite line of poetry ever*

"Excuse/Emily and/ her Atoms/ The North/Star is/ of small/ fabric but it/ implies/ much/ presides/ yet."
​ - a fragment by Emily Dickinson

Two Original Poems

I love to write poetry, though I'm not the best at it, here are a few originals that I love.
​(please do not re-up in any way)

Fog
​A fog has fallen
On the world.
Thick as mud
And darker still.
What lies beyond
I cannot see.
Maybe a mountain,
A beggar, a bridge
A tree.
It blocks everything
As if to say
"There's nothing here
To see."
Maybe the fog
Is hiding something.
Deep buried secrets.
The stories we can't tell,
Because they don't want 
To come out.
Maybe behind the fog 
Lies who we really are
And that is why
​It blocks us out.

Moments
Life is defined 
By moments.
Moments together,
Moments apart.
Dashes of sunlight,
Shards of rain.
Smiling moments,
Crying moments.
A moment -
A length of time
That cannot be 
Measure by numbers.
Hard to know where
One starts
And another ends.
Comprised of smiles
And winks,
Raised eyebrows
And tears.
Like words that 
Slip away -
Soon to be forgotten,
​So moments abandon us.

{ photo credit - kyle on unsplash}

---

​How To Read Poetry

Reading poetry really can be daunting, I get it, there are big words and hidden meanings. Here are a few things I've learned about how to make reading poetry easier and more enjoyable.

1. Read the poem very slowly. The first time you read a poem, read it slowly and just dissect the words (especially if you're reading Shakespeare or Burns or any older poet who uses archaic language.) 
2. Read it out loud, or look up a recording of someone else reading the poem. Personally, I prefer to read it myself to be able to really feel the rhythm of a poem, but either way, poetry is meant to be read out loud and it can be better understood by hearing it.
3. Read one poem at a time. I know that when you have a book of poetry in front of you, it's easy to read it quickly because it's a book. But poems are independent. I think it's far more beneficial to read one poem and really think about it than to read through an entire book of poems.
4. Find an analysis of the poem. Go on YouTube or a website like the Poetry Foundation and research the poem a little bit. So many people have studied all of the great poets and poems, so take advantage of that and gain better understanding of the words you have read.

{photo credit - yann behar on unsplash}

How to Write Poetry

Maybe you already read poetry and want to join the company of all the great poets. I have been writing my whole life, and have actively written poetry for two years. I'm not an expert, but I think I've picked up a few tricks along the way.

1. Write about everything. The thing that is so beautiful about poetry, is that it can be about literally anything. Poetry is simply adding meaning and value to small and meaningless things. So don't be afraid to write about the smallest things.
2. Don't worry too much about rhyme scheme. If you are beginning, don't worry too much about having a consistent rhyme scheme, so many great poems are free verse; just have fun.
3. Look up different poem forms. If you do want to rhyme, I would highly recommend looking up different poem forms and trying to copy the pattern. Learn how to write a limerick, a ballad, haiku, sonnets and more. One of my favorite forms of poetry I discovered by just looking up types of poems. (If you're curious it's a syllable pattern, the first line has 2 syllables, the second line 4, and so fourth, then once you reach the middle of the poem, you subtract two syllables from each line until you're back at 2).
4. Share your poetry, find out if it's any good! Send them to your friends, read them to your family at dinner, post them online, set them to music, write them on roofs, scream them into the night, just share your art with the world!

I hope I gave you some ideas of how to observe National Poetry month, and I hope you begin to live a much more poetical life!

What are some of your favorite poems? Favorite poets? Do you write poetry? If so, share some in the comments! Any other fun ideas of how to observe National Poetry Month?

Belle Thomas

​Belle is the writer and dreamer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about reminding girls of their identity in Christ, classic books, history, Louisa May Alcott, and earl grey tea.