Why you should NOT read poetry
Everyone has probably read poetry in their lives sometime, while some have even come to adore it. However, the fact is that poetry is only enjoyed by a minority of the population. There are countless reasons as to why people do not enjoy poetry. It requires the arduous task of analysing every little detail, it is not very useful in day to day life, it is less enjoyable than songs and it is forced into the minds of many young people
Poetry is one of the most difficult genres of literature as it requires the reader to make a tedious effort in analysing every word. Furthermore, it requires the reader to look for different techniques such as repetition, figurative language and enjambment. They constantly do this trying to look for a hidden message in a very small poem. For example, in William Blake’s poem ‘The tiger’ the tiger is referring to the evil in the world that god has created. While, this is a good way to understand symbolism and deeper meanings in texts it seems unnecessary. Meanwhile, if you read a book it would be a much less laborious task and you will enjoy it while also learning different language techniques in a more subtle way. This is shown in more detail in the article linked here.
Another reason why we should not read poetry is because it is not applicable in our day to day lives. After leaving school most people only ever have to write letters, persuasive pieces and maybe some narratives. In work, they will write letters to inform your boss about a leave, or maybe a persuasive piece to the council to further develop a local park. However, with a poem they will usually forget the structure and the analysis that they previously did in school as it is simply irrelevant for them. It seems like a waste to have poetry as a mandatory part of English during school life when it is not going to be useful a majority of the people.
Poetry is also simply a more literary and less harmonious form of songwriting. While songwriting is an incredibly complex process (as is poetry), the main reason so many people enjoy it is the rhythms and the melodies that is in it. However, poetry eliminates the rhythmic aspect of song writing and focuses more on the rhyme schemes and the literary elements. For example, the lyric ‘to a whole nother domain’ from the song Mask off is much inferior to the line ‘But thy eternal summer shall not fade’ from Shakespeare’s sonnet 18. Nonetheless, when adding a track and tone to the song lyric it becomes more alive and it clearly expresses much more ideas. Due to this less people feel a connection with poetry and do not seem to enjoy it much.
Poetry is also forced into the minds of young people. The teachers that enjoy poetry (most of them) seem to think that everyone else should read poetry as well. They make the students do extensive work on analysing and understanding it. However, most students only enjoy reading novels as it has a plot and a story to it. Novels give the audience a sense of connection with its characters due to its character and plot developments while poetry seems to talk about a random topic. However, the deeper meanings behind poetry have intrigued teachers so much that they have to force the students to read these extremely boring pieces of poetry.
This does not mean that people who enjoy poetry should stop reading it. However, that it is simply not a form of literature that everyone should be made to read.
Bibliography
Should poetry be taught in high school?
Debate.org. (2019). Should poetry be taught in high school?. [online] Available at: https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-poetry-be-taught-in-high-school [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
Why I Hate Poetry
Michiedo.blogspot.com. (2008). Why I Hate Poetry. [online] Available at: http://michiedo.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-i-hate-poetry.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
What are the benefits and drawbacks of learning poetry?
Forum user: Muzaffar. (2016) What are the benefits or drawbacks of learning poetry?. [online] Language Learning Stack Exchange. Available at: https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/questions/251/what-are-the-benefits-or-drawbacks-of-learning-poetry/261 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
