Rebellion and Reformation
This is not an attempt to prove my point. I admit it. My approach is more intuitive and experiential and less logical. I emphasize that so that the article is read through the way that was written — or not read at all.
I always had this feeling, that is, that poetry plays a major role in the transformation of the inner and outer world. But I was ‘enlightened’ when I was reading Odysseus Elytis and Shelley.
Poetry may manifest itself through three functions: the first is idealistic, reflecting on the past; the second is critical, addressing the present; and the third is prophetic, envisioning the future. Through these three aspects, the poet approaches the revolution.
But what is the revolution?
The revolution is the fundamental act of resistance against the cruelty of this world. The element of revolution is clear regardless of the poem’s theme. The idealist’s nostalgia, the critic’s determination, and the prophetic vision — all express the deeper meaning of resistance in decay.
But decay is a primary feature of our world. It seems poetry has an opposition against this world. I doubt if poetry can exist in Heaven — at least in the form that we understand and experience poetry on Earth.
The revolution is the way to reform or transform our world, inner and outer. I believe that this is the mystic purpose of poetry. The Great Reformation. Henceforth and forevermore, I call it the Mysterium Poeticum.
And for those who will argue that romantic poems adore the present and resist transformation… Really?
Is there anything more fragile than love and yet so vital?
