When reading poetry, what do you look for?

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   seichepreyposted 13 years ago

   When reading poetry, what do you look for?

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   Indigitalposted 13 years ago

   A good first line. Something that will draw you into the poem, but not make you wonder what the heck (s)he is going on about. I like poems that don't take hours to understand, but have split-explanations.

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   ShaneMorrisposted 13 years ago

   I'd say that there are two main things I try to focus on and look for when reading poetry but they seem to go hand-in-hand. I mainly focus on detail of a poem, how in depth it can get - but with how much ease the poem can do it.
   
   The second thing I focus on is how I can relate. How can I relate to this poem? It doesn't have to be something that's happened to me necessarily, but I remember a lot. I've remembered situations upon situations of stories of friends of families of etc. etc. etc. that I've thought about. It's a very big and interesting world, with so many things in it - so many situations. I don't have to suffer through a specific situation to feel their suffering, or in all lights - their happiness, gratitude, anxiousness, longing, and so forth.
   
   I think these two go hand-in-hand, like I said, because I think if I'm looking for how I can relate to a poem then I will have to analyze the details of the poem itself.

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   Mamadramaposted 13 years ago

   I agree completely with Indigital.. I love poetry, but if I cannot figure out what the author is talking about in the first couple of sentences I stop reading it.

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   Phil Plasmaposted 13 years ago

   I look for elaborate succinctness mixed with detailed vagueness.

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   chanrothposted 13 years ago

   Poems that I can picture it in my mind and speak through real emotion.

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   makusrposted 13 years ago

   Rhymes, Rhymes, Rhymes
   Feel, Feel, Feel
   Flow, Flow, Flow
   What else!

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   R.S. Hutchinsonposted 13 years ago

   If it's a rhyming poetry I immediately look for originality in the rhyme. If it's not original I don't read it.
   
   I look for word power and arrangement. Voice and flow.

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   tfrickeyposted 13 years ago

   I love poetry that I can see.  Imagery in poems is so important to me.  I love to see and hear the words that the author uses to describe the scenario in the poem.
   
   I also love poetry that has a form--I am a big fan of "white space" in poems, so I look for structure and form that is pleasing to my eyes.  It's a bonus if the shape actually holds meaning.

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