Is poetry for the eye or ear???

1 Jul 2018

Hello,

I was asking about technology in another discussion and said (offhand) that poetry is meant to be read aloud. Others (stuartryder) responded that that might not be particularly accurate. So I am coming to the poetry discussion board for answers. It seems like there are a myriad of ways to nuance this, and no two ways match up. Is the answer simply on or the other, "both", or "who cares"? Or is it to that, historically, poetry has been for the ear, and the modern convention of reading silently to oneself is, as far as I know, a new innovation in the world. Homer, Virgil, the author of Beowulf, the Psalms and wisdom books of the Bible, parts of the Q'uran, Shakespeare, ... this stuff was all read (or sung) aloud, and designed that way. But then I read novels and letters to myself, and so do (presumably) all of you, and we don't fumble around trying to justify that, even though that's just as new. But then poetry is not prose. Another way is to say none of that matters, whatever we do today is what matters, and many forms (concrete poetry, much of the stuff that is found online or even published in book form) is really meant to be read to oneself. But then are we missing out? It seems that most poetry will change and become more alive if we read it aloud. Sometimes what is on the page just sounds like garbled stupidity when you actually speak it. What if the best poetry is meant to be performed aloud?

Please help

I didn't find the right solution from the internet.

References:

Motion graphics video company

Thank you

1 Jul 2018

Originally for the ear surely, because most people couldn't read. Today, I suppose, we would call them songs which are just poems set to music .. or music set to poems.

For the eye, certainly, because we now read.

So both? Yes both I think. However, when reading, doesn't the mind take over and turn verse into song? Perhaps we are missing something here?

Perhaps poetry is for more than the eye or ear. Perhaps poetry is for the soul biggrin

1 Jul 2018

Quote by hayley

Perhaps poetry is for more than the eye or ear. Perhaps poetry is for the soul

I agree.

Two thoughts
It is a shame that we read so little poetry out loud these days
The works of some poets are printed on the page in a visually interesting format.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12

3 Jul 2018

I actually do like reading poetry out loud. Some modern poetry in blank verse doesn't scan well and is more suited to silent reading but most classical English poetry is definitely read aloud material. And Latin poetry, both in the original and in translation if the translation is done properly, is definitely for reading aloud. I took classics in university and am a fan of the Augustan poets (Horace, Virgil, Ovid, etc.).

Can she find the silence again?

Scream Away The Silence - The Sound of Silence comp entry

28 Sep 2018

I have seen and written poems deliberately for one or the other. Depends on the mood of the author more than anything.

I agree with KOF. More needs to be read aloud.

28 Sep 2018

Quote by EyeOfTheBeholder

I agree with KOF. More needs to be read aloud.

Absolutely agree. I often read my own aloud because sometimes, it doesn't sound the same when spoken as it does in my head. Poetry can also change if read differently. It is like a song. If you read a song without the music it can often seem rubbish but together it can be beautiful.
Poetry is the same. I think one needs to find the flow that the poet intended and that means reading out loud.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana

29 Sep 2018

On occasion I have written poetry that is only truly appreciated if it is seen as one reads it.

For our last competition right here I wrote a shaped poem. It was an etheree.

5 Oct 2018

I can only speak from my poetry that I have posted here though the years
I write from the heart being fed from my soul
I realize that there are poems I wrote for myself as not the community here ...
but that is what drives me to write

coffee

Please read my latest poem to honour all who have served

Bitch Called Nam

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/poetry/bitch-called-nam

5 Oct 2018

I write as I see things. Sometimes sweet, sometimes melancholy. Often i write with a dark pen, because I find sensuality in the catacombs of my mind.

5 Oct 2018

IMHO poetry is more difficult to write than a full story. In poetry, we must convey a thought in a mere line or stanza, whereas, in a story, we have the freedom to express ourselves in paragraphs or chapters. Given that, poetry is best enjoyed by all five senses. The smell of a rose plucked from a garden. The taste of rain on your tongue. The feel of flesh as it is caressed. The sound of a moan in ecstasy. The eyes are the gateway to all of our senses. Each word read to be felt and interpreted by the reader.