Eric Fesmire Student Choice #2- Role of the Poet

"The poet is the person who uses words not primarily to convey information but to make a relationship, shape beauty, form truth…"-Eugene Peterson


 One of the aspects of poetry that is allusive is its attempt to convey beauty as much as truth. Poetry is the gathering and organization  of particular words and phrases that conveys thoughts, emotions or experiences. This is not the most thought out definition, but it will work for our purposes.  According to the quote above, a poet is someone interested in the relationships that connect reality, as well as the "shape" of beauty and the "form" of truth. These ideas lend themselves not the information or description, but to hitting all around a particular idea and exploring its many facets without being confined to objective ideas. Because poetry is more about beauty AND truth, many have difficulty understanding it. In my very limited study of poetry, I have found it to be a very difficult medium that takes a certain learned approach. Poetry can be loved and appreciated but to truly understand it, it takes time to learn how to read it, how to engage it. We are so used to information that we have to learn how to read and experience beauty. 

Poetry is a very important medium when it comes to communicating beauty. Poetry can communicate beauty in ways that prose cannot. Learning how to appreciate that beauty might take time, but the pay off is great and should be pushed for.