Should Poetry have an agenda?

Jump to Last Post 1-10 of 10 discussions (10 posts)
  1. northweststarr profile image60
    northweststarrposted 12 years ago

    Should Poetry have an agenda?

    I believe poetry should never have an agenda, but a lot of people write political/pointed poetry in their hubs and people seem to have no problems with it?  Am I wrong to disagree with this practice?

  2. DeathStroke profile image40
    DeathStrokeposted 12 years ago

    poetry never has a agenda. With my poetry I write when inspired

  3. flightofdestiny profile image61
    flightofdestinyposted 12 years ago

    True poetry is written as self-expression. Therefore, I don't believe that poetry should have an agenda. If it is not written from the heart of the author to the soul of the reader, I don't believe that it is accomplishing the inherent goals of poetry. That is, the goals of invoking feeling or passion in the reader.

  4. Max Havlick profile image67
    Max Havlickposted 12 years ago

    Dear Northwest Starr,
    inquiring from afar,
    how generous you are
    to tip toward us your jar
    of seasoned questions far
    beyond the normal bar
    and make us wonder why,
    in genres that we try,
    we write the things we do
    for many or for few,
    what should go in the stew
    and still be something new.

    It isn't wrong for you to disagree
    with other writing practices you see
    in other people who themselves are free
    to form their individuality
    and thus work out for their own poetry
    what they might think it should or shouldn't be.

    My own experience does not support
    much confidence in my ability
    to redirect a firm philosophy
    of poetry or work of any sort.
    So I would rather ask for quality,
    which one can learn, and not myself purport
    to second-guess the goals that others see.

    Some observations are recorded in
    my recent hubs, "Poems are Different,"
    and "You Have My Permission to Write."

    I thank you, by the way, that you are you.

    Max Havlick

  5. truthfornow profile image71
    truthfornowposted 12 years ago

    there is a point, reason, inspiration and feeling beyond poetry which means there is a purpose ~ is that the same as an agenda?

  6. LVidoni5 profile image79
    LVidoni5posted 12 years ago

    Putting restrictions on poetry is like telling someone how to express themselves... Agenda or not, no one should feel constrained from writing what they believe. If I want to pose a postion and create a point of view, fearing people may think I have an agenda can damper my creative process. This shouldn't be. So Yes, Poetry embraces all sorts of styles and even agendas... Poetry is freedom.

  7. chiquitabiddle profile image60
    chiquitabiddleposted 12 years ago

    It depends, really it's up to the writer. If the writer think there should be an agenda concerning his work than there can be an agenda, if not, he doesn't have to have an agenda.

  8. MichaelStonehill profile image61
    MichaelStonehillposted 12 years ago

    The word agenda usually relates to political or business-like connotations which seem to be far away from real poetry. Satyrical poetry criticizes the political or social situation, and it is generally considered to be a lower form of poetry. However, poetry which only concerns itself with self-expression or beauty is a flat form of poetry. Good poetry shoule have a moral content  based on a general attitude to improve the condition of all humanity.

  9. Ms.Sally profile image59
    Ms.Sallyposted 12 years ago

    Poetry should have a purpose. It should convey something to the reader. Poetry without purpose will not affect the reader and thus is generally uninteresting. The quality of a poem is almost always better when the author has a purpose in mind. The purpose may be to convey a beautiful experience or a devastating experience, it may be to inspire hope, or it may be to recollect an event. When reading a poem the reader should be able to understand what the poem is about, even if he or she does not understand every aspect of the poem.

    Keeping all of this in mind, a purpose is not necessarily the same as a political agenda. There is nothing inherently wrong with poetry that conveys a political agenda but, many political poems fail to evoke an emotional and sensory understanding in the reader. When authors are overly concerned with a political agenda their writing often, although not always, suffers. The tone of political poetry easily turns preachy so that the author is no longer sharing an experience with the reader but is instead lecturing the reader.

    Not everyone likes all types of poetry and not everyone likes all content matter. We are all entitled to our own opinions and when dealing with creative mediums they are often just that – opinions. We can justify our opinions by generally agreed upon guidelines for quality and our own understanding of purpose but ultimately different people appreciate different things. There is no right or wrong way to use poetry, just as there is no right or wrong way to feel about poetry.

  10. robincoe profile image69
    robincoeposted 12 years ago

    Being that reality is based on our senses.
    And that we can never know for sure whether our own truth is true beyond our own perspective.

    I wonder how you can construct a sentence without having an 'agenda'.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)