Poetry today
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Late 19th-century poetry hinted at the future.
make it as mysteriously subtle as music.AboutFrench symbolists such as Verlaine sought to 1890, Alfred Jarry wrote (and illustrated, top) Ubu. By 1916, Dadaists like Tristan Tzara at- tacked all meaning in art: 1920 edition of hi chaotic verse had Hans Arp's frontispiece. | |
During the early years of the 20th-century major changes started to take place in the world and in the lives of people. In politics, economics, philosophy, research, and technology, new theories of all sorts emerged and many of the poets of the time became swept up in this atmosphere of transition. They had begun to protest against the earlier poetry practices and norms.
Their rebellion focussed mainly on literary strategies. One of the less surprising developments created by experimental authors was the dismissal of rhyme and meter in the free verse. Several poets even appeared to ignore any coherent pattern; their lines and words were structured with very no respect for the grammar and logic recognized "rules" For example, one of the leading experimentalists of the period, the American writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), wrote lines such as:
How many acts are there in it.
Ring around a rosey.
How many acts are there in it.
Wedded and wweeded.
Please be coming to see me.
When this
Me which is you you who are true true to be you.
How many how many saints are there in it.
One two three all out but me.
you see you are all to me.
To several poets (or groups of poets, such as England's "Imagists"), the traditional sense was of less significance than a single influence. A technological breakthrough was paired with scientific references to ancient philosophy or contemporary science, lines in other languages, obscure literary quotes, highly inventive analogies, and so forth, all adding to the interest of popular poetry. In France, the community of poets called the "Surrealists" which included André Breton, Paul Éluard, and Henri Michaux rejected all elements of logical or traditional interpretation and found their poetry's origins and content in the wild, incomprehensible realm of imagination and dreams.
Normally, at the time, when the meaning of a poem was clear at all, it usually appeared to be a declaration of the poet's alienation or a revolutionary assault on the world's moral and cultural void (like the highly influential poem "The Waste Land" by T. S. Eliot).
Most early 20th-century poetry was criticized for its obscurity because of these and other trends. Many writers thought the market of the poem dwindled as the authors had retreated from all interaction with the modern world of people. To many people, it seemed poets like America's Ezra Pound were just writing for other authors, not for the general public.
But poetry started to change again in the years between the wars. Poets are increasingly involved with individual affairs, with political and social concerns. The focus was on the essence or "message." in the poetry of poets like England's Stephen Spender, France's Jacques Prévert, or Germany's Bertolt Brecht. While these poets also used much of the new methods, they derived their themes, images, and inspiration from the world around them.
The preoccupation with morality and truth has continued since World War II. Young poets today — like the Christopher Logue of England or the Gregory Corso of America — seem to be profoundly conscious of the challenges facing people in the modern world. They consider much of the inspiration of daily life for their poetry. So they seek to prevent needless obscurities, be it in design or text. So the rebellion's mood has cooled down. Any of the methods that terrified and offended readers in the 1920s are now known as "conventions." Many of the wilder developments were discarded. Such younger writers as Philip Larkin of England and Robert Lowell of America, among others, have returned to the use of conventional styles such as rhyme, meter, sonnet, and quatrain.
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| Today, public poetry readings have a wide appeal. In America, large numbers of young people are attracted to readings of Beat poetry like those advertised above. |
In general, poets today seek to communicate ideas of the 20th century in the vocabulary of the 20th century. And the number of poetry books and magazines being created in any country shows that today's market for poetry still exists — a market that recognizes it as an integral part of everyday life.
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