QUESTION #5 POLISHING A POEM

QUESTION #5: I am not always sure that my poem is finished? Do you have any strategies that help you feel satisfied you have done everything you could to convey your message?

This is one of the burning questions all poets – and writers of prose – have to grapple with.

FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO REINFORCE THE IMPORTANCE OF POETRY. It is not just self-indulgent musings. Poets have the opportunity to reflect eternal truths and challenges that the human race faces in every age. It matters. Aristotle nailed it when he said ‘poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars’ (Chapter 9, The Poetics, Aristotle 384 BCE – 322 BCE) This is a man who understands that the thinking process that culminates in poetry is closer to the heart of matters than prose. Wordworth would agree with him. In his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, he writes: ‘Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man.’ In short, poetry captures the universal human experience, rather than being confined to a particular time, place and persons.

POETRY FROM PERSONAL TO UNIVERSAL

For an example, look at my poem, ‘Captain Coach’ which shows that the personal can be put into service of philosophy to explore a universal issue (in this case the role of a father in teaching values to his children). By the way, you can find an analysis of this poem on my you tube channel: Julie Wright Australian Poet. When you are writing a poem, use your personal experience and observations by all means, but take the time to reflect on what that teaches about the universal human experience because this is what will set something alight in the heart of your reader and cause them to continue thinking about it. Though internet poetry may give the impression that poetry follows the all-about-me trend of the age, as John Donne said so long ago, ‘No man is an island,’ and the best poets understand that.

LIKE A ROAST, THE BEST POEMS NEED TIME TO REST, BEFORE THEY ARE SERVED UP. During that resting period (maybe days, maybe years) you are experiencing more of life, reflecting more on the subject . . .  and maybe even forgetting you ever wrote it! By the time you pull those words out again, you will be able to see them through a fresh, and more critical lens, that can lead to changes, from a single, vital word to a complete rewrite. That may include even changing the form such as the number of lines in the stanza, the writing scheme, the focus, the title, the number of stanzas, the eradication of stanzas, or the addition of a monostich, or final rhyming couplet. Anything can happen!! Yes, you thought it was perfect five years ago, but there was still more that needed to be chewed over. During this period, you need to be honest with yourself about the rhythm, tone and clarity of your message, if you want to impact your reader.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, WORK ON THE ENDING. How a poem ends is crucial to maximise the impact on the reader and keep them engaged in the questions and ideas that are inherent in the subject. You must end up somewhere; it’s up to you to find the best way to take your reader to that destination. N.B. – you may not always know where you are going, until you get there! I remember looking out at a glorious view of the suburb of Marino with its canopy of brilliant blue sky and the sparkling sea lapping at the edges of it and the poem that tumbled out was about domestic violence! Definitely not what I was expecting.

MY BEST ADVICE WOULD BE TO LOOK UP BILLY COLLINS’ FANTASTIC VIDEO ON ‘HOW POEMS END’ @ACADEMYFORTEACHERS. You and your poetry will be all the better for it! Collins describes a poem as a journey of discovery to an ending that brings everything to a single inevitable conclusion. Speaking for myself, I mostly feel like a passenger who is being taken out to an unknown destination yet, through all the twists and turns along the way, when I arrive, it seems as though I have ended up exactly where I was supposed to be. For me, I only set out on a journey, when I feel the prompting from God and, in the less convenient moments, am not able to ignore it (despite my best efforts)! Yet the poem doesn’t fall into my head fully formed; I am working at it with heart and mind and God is guiding me through. I don’t know how other people feel about the mystery of their creative processes, but that is it for me. It begins and ends with God. There is always revelation. There is always an element of surprise. There is always gratitude. Often there is astonishment. Sometimes there is greater wisdom. And there is always a sense of urgency to share these thoughts with others. I like to think of my poems as building bridges between millions of neural pathways as people engage with them and make multiple connections to their own knowledge and experience, taking each poem further into territory far beyond my heart and mind and soul. And I like to think of God travelling these neural highways with us all and bringing us each to the right destination.

I will give Coleridge the last word. He is reported to have told his nephew that poetry is ‘the best words in the best order.’ If you make that your mantra, I’m sure, each time you are inspired to put pen to paper, you will arrive at the best destination for your poem.