Why is American poetry important today?
By it's nature poetry speaks more from and to the heart in a quiet and concise way. It is also imbued with more cathartic power when used right. Movies may distract from that because of certain actors or special effects. Books or short stories may take too long to get to the point. Art can get too ambiguous. Music is a close second because it often uses poetry. But the melodic structure or instruments (which are limited in that they are fixed into a sort of "cliche"), may not accurately match the message of a poem. Words are very versatile; they can vary in their power -- even if they are the same words used elsewhere -- depending on the subject and imagery at hand. With such power, poetry can capture an American scene in almost any way the writer wishes. When we sing "O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain," we not only recognize the fields of grain under free skies and their color, but we can also see the tops rippling in the breeze through only using the word "waves." "With purple mountains' majesty" brings to mind our favorite visit to a landscape that moved us. A poet sometimes doesn't need to describe things; they can leave the images to our own experience, and this is what "purple mountains' majesty does." Poetry is important today because amidst all the glorious effects in movies, along with their negative messages sometimes, and with technology made so easy -- inviting us to not use our minds, it (poetry) will help keep us in tune with the heart (generally speaking) so that we may not overlook the feelings and needs of others.
Great response. Let's see what others have t say.
Should we answer why poetry is important first? Most people are not exposed to poetry today especially that which is published or read today. A lot of today's poetry in America follow the themes of social problems and politics. So, I guess that means American Poetry is important is because it fulfills the free speech element of the Constitution.
