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Are Poets More Intense?
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Are Poets More Intense? |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Do poets feel every emotion more intensely than non-poets? Is that why we feel the need to write? |
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jbouder Member Elite
since 1999-09-18
Posts 2534Whole Sort Of Genl Mish Mash |
No, I don't think so. Poets may be more expressive linguistically than others but I don't think they necessarily feel more intense feelings than other people. I think the difference in in the manner of expression, not in the degree of intensity. It just sounds like a myth to me. Jim [This message has been edited by jbouder (edited 03-10-2000).] |
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StarrGazer Senior Member
since 2000-03-05
Posts 679Texas |
is there really a such thing as non poets? When people tell me they can't write poetry I encourage them to try ... more intense.. perhaps not , more in touch with their feelings would be a better descriptive word in my opinion ~*Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear*~ |
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Mike Member Elite
since 1999-06-19
Posts 2462 |
I haven't been in tents since boy scouts... er... sorry... time for my eye exam... |
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Songbird Member Elite
since 1999-12-15
Posts 2184Missouri |
I can't speak for everyone else but for me, I think it is in my bloodline, plus the love of poetry was nourished by a mother who read nursery ryhmes to me at a very early age, also the exposure to much music during my childhood at church, and piano lessons. I also was exposed to poetry through the reading of Psalms, and Proverbs in the Bible which were my favorite parts of the Bible. I had an Uncle who was always trying to write a hit country song, and a father who wrote one song, had it set to music and quit. I have a sister also that was given this talent, and has written some beautiful songs. Several years ago while going through some old love letters my grandmother (who died before I was born) had written to my grandfather, I found a poem she had written about Flowers, and it was just about the most beautiful poem I had ever read. After I read it I felt I had so much in common with my grandmother whom I had never seen. Maybe we are all born with the ability to write poetry, but it is like most things if you don't use that ability you don't give it a chance to grow. |
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JOY 14 Senior Member
since 1999-09-22
Posts 1419Wisconsin USA |
I think jbouder is right. Everyone may not write poetry, but that doesn't mean they don't feel any less. They just express it in other ways. Gosh, sorry, I just said exactly what has already been said but oh well! Anyway, I do think though that poets are very emotional and express a great deal through their poetry (at least I do) They or should I just say WE? Because we are all poets here! We have the ability to not only feel our own emotions but let others get a chance to feel them as well, and that, that is so amazing! Don't you think? Joy |
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Alwye
Moderator
Member Elite
since 1999-06-16
Posts 3850In the space between moments |
I don't think poets feel more than non-poets, but I do believe certain people feel more emotion than others. I think what separates poets from others is that writing is our release. Other's play sports, are involved in music, or art. Poetry is how we make our mark on the world, how we make sure that our thoughts and feelings are being understood. *Krista Knutson* "Every moment marked with apparitions of your soul...." ~*Sarah McLachlan- Do What You Have To Do*~ |
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Danny Holloway Member Elite
since 2000-01-15
Posts 2034Tulsa, OK |
I think writing is a poets way of expressing feelings that go unexpressed by others. I believe to a poet, writing presents a challenge, in addition to being fun and an outlet for individual creativity. It may also be a hobby that satisfies the need to fill idle time with something strongly felt. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then to the poet, the pen is the doorway to the heart and mind. Just my opinion. (since you asked) |
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Jonas Senior Member
since 2000-03-03
Posts 796Oregon |
I don't think poets feel emotions any differently from non poets. But I think as poets we have a need to express, a need to create. I can't say where that need comes from for sure....but one possibility is that I have always viewed myself, and other poets, as "emotional exhibitionists". I don't mean that as a slander, I see it as a good thing. As someone above already alluded to, we express outwardly what others tend to hold inside....we reveal ourselves through our writings. Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. -Edgar Allen Poe |
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Stephen Jones Member
since 2000-02-26
Posts 53 |
I certainly agree with Jim. Poets are not some kind of higher life form (though it is tempting to feel that way). The only difference I think is our mode of expression. We are artistic with words. We paint with words and phrases. A painter perhaps feels just as deeply but uses paint on a canvas. Or even someone who is not artistic at all may express through deeds of kindness, conversation, etc... I think people who feel in this way perhaps are even more "real" than some poets (I'm preaching to me!) because poets sometimes gravitate toward prefering poetry to life in a sense. I want life to come first, poetry to come second. And that is difficult at times because I LOVE writing verse! I cannot express how wonderful it is to capture beauty with words! But words can be shallow not backed up with tangible deeds in life. Life is the cake, poetry is the icing. |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
YES! |
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WhtDove Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-22
Posts 9245Illinois |
LOL@Chris! Could it be maybe that we have no other way to really express ourselves? We best air our feelings by writing them down, and getting our point across better than speaking it? Just another thought. [This message has been edited by WhtDove (edited 03-29-2000).] |
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Isis Member Ascendant
since 1999-09-06
Posts 6296Sunny Queensland |
I'd vote a hearty yes!! Well I think I do, and I'm lucky if no one wants to listen, I can express my feelings through poetry. Kind of like what Danny was saying!!  A heart and soul are not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others... ~Isis~ (Goddess - Sovereign of the Spirit) |
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brandondinsmore Member
since 1999-10-27
Posts 142OKC, OK |
I cry when I hurt. I hurt myself mentally when I am upset or hurt or mad. I hate feeling pain in emotion. I want love more than anything else. So I write to help myself understand these things. Maybe poetry is a means, an output, a sharing of yourself with others... But I don't know... I do know that I, myself feel deeply and strongly and intensely. ...and I write... |
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Joel the wolf Senior Member
since 2000-04-06
Posts 1333Angels Camp |
Me to. Joel. I howl a mornful song, that echos within my chambered heart, for all to read? nay for all to feel. |
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pen of passion Member
since 1999-08-11
Posts 234 |
Friends and family tell me I intellectualize my feelings i.e. poetry; after the fact or feeling that is. My truth is my passion for words. |
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ESP Member Elite
since 2000-01-25
Posts 2556Floating gently on a cloud.... |
I echo StarrGazer and jbouder! "Poetry is the true expression of my soul, it is my ultimate means of communication. It is my rainbow of delight." |
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Sally S. Senior Member
since 1999-06-07
Posts 847Ohio |
Gosh I love dem ol' timers!!! LOL!!! Chris, you are WAY toooo funny! As to the question at hand...I'd have to say NO We, as poets, are not more "feeling". I've known ones who are as emotional as I and have never written a poem...and had no desire to do so. (believe me, I do try to um...coax them into it...lol) We have an outlet here...a way to express our deepest thoughts, feelings, wishes, desires etc.... Some do not have that advantage. I feel blessed to have this talent, but i know others who have talents I do not...and use those as their "emotional outlet", so to speak. And that's my take on it.... |
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Tara Simms Senior Member
since 1999-08-12
Posts 1244Honea Path, SC USA |
Yes! I think it's the intensity of our emotions that drive us to our creativity (whether it be verse, art, etc). I write because it's the only way to handle the intensity of my emotions. I can express myself vocally as well as the next person but it just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't give me the release that writing does. I recently posted a poem for the Child Abuse Awareness Challenge in Open 7. It wasn't written from personal experience, but according to some who HAVE lived the nightmare, it's right on the mark. Can everybody (non creative types) put themselves into someone else's place like that? To imagine what it is like to dwell inside someone else's mind? |
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Forrest Cain Member
since 2000-04-21
Posts 306Chas.,W.V. USA |
I think maybe yes based on limited experience as I know only one other person who writes. She seems to emote the same only on a much deeper level. I read a poem once about a yankee who lost his leg during the war and when the children would ask him what happened he would say a bear had bitten it off. It went on to say only a poet could explain the true pain but only then it would be so much deeper it probally couldn`t be explained. Sort of empathic. |
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UndyingLove Junior Member
since 2000-04-24
Posts 23Bethany, OK, USA |
Honestly, I don't feel that I am more intense than others. I feel that poetry helps me to express my emotions better than anything else. I feel that writing down my feelings and situations are the only way that I can express them, and they are best expressed by poetry. Some poets may be more intense, because I know a few, but I don't think that I am. I just try to write what I feel, and most of it comes from an inspiration. I don't think that makes me, or people who write like I do, more intense than others. Do you? "Goodnight, sweet prince, and flights of angels guide thee to thy rest." -William Shakespeare, in "Hamlet" |
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7 Member
since 2000-04-26
Posts 113Amherst, MA, USA |
I agree with the idea that there are no "non-poets." Everyone who has ever spoken or thought a word is a poet. Poetry, to me, is the expression of feeling or thought through words. So, in a way, every text is poetry. But there is some poetry that is more deliberate, intended to be viewed as poetry. The poetry I personally love the most is written by people with very intense feelings, but they also have to have a way with words. You don't need either of these things to write poetry, but that's the type I (and often society) consider "best." 7 |
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Jester59701 Member
since 2000-02-29
Posts 154 |
As you know Sharon, I've only been writing a short time. Who am I to say who or what a poet is? I can say this though, since I've been writing I've felt emotions that I didn't even know existed. As for non-poets, sometimes I hear a word, or a concept, or a new way of saying something that just thrills me. The next person may or may not even get it. I can't relate to people who don't see it. Poets:intense,emotional...Naw Good poets: Yep! |
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Justbleu Member Elite
since 1999-08-31
Posts 3329Oregon, Originally From Alaska :) |
I do truly believe that poets are very emotionally intense people but, I know at least one person who hasn't written poetry who is very deep in thought and emotion, oh man if he only wrote poetry!! Wow!! Then there is my Mom, she is very intense and doesn't write either!!Bridgette "Somewhere, somehow, it should be possible to touch someone and never let go again. To hold someone, not for a moment but forever." Unknown |
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Cuddlez Member
since 1999-11-27
Posts 422Walla Walla, WA 99362 |
Well, I define a poet as someone who can speak so eloquently they make me cry... But yet she doesnt write... So maybe poets are everywhere, it just takes more for them to express themselves... Seems to me, some people don't like to have their words caught on paper... So yes, a poet does feel more emotionally for whatever reason on SOME subject... Time flies? Say it not so, time stays we go. |
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Irish Rose Member Patricius
since 2000-04-06
Posts 10263 |
yes I believe poets are more emotional and yearn to express. I also believe something a wonderful woman recently shared with me. That according to Eliot in "Tradition and the Individual Talent" he says "poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion. It is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality." She said "it's like trying to see something in the dark-one can't look straight at the thing; only when looking at something next to it, can one see clearly. In other words try writing about something you don't know about, something you don't feel invested in--let the act of writing be an act of discovery, rather than of expression. I found the more I try to get to the heart of the matter in my writing, the more I try to seek release, I feel trapped in the poem and she brought this to my understanding. I know, personally, I could not be a poet were it not for my emotional nature. Kathleen |
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JP Senior Member
since 1999-05-25
Posts 1343Loomis, CA |
Absolutely, not. More intense? No, not so. We (as poets) have a gift, a talent to put into words, into a particular form, what we see, think, and feel. We are driven to do this for various reasons - does that set us apart from the rest of humanity? Does not the musician feel driven to play her instrument? Doesn't the athelete feel driven to play her sport? Doesn't the singer feel driven to sing? Does n't the teacher feel driven to teach? In all areas there are those who driven to do the things they are gifted enough to do. There are also those who merely do those things because they have the talent to do so. They do these things as a matter of course, not through drive or passion. We are blessed to have the gift of poetry to excise our passions, this makes us no more intense than others, just more vocal about our intensity.  Yesterday is ash, tomorrow is smoke; only today does the fire burn. JP "Everything is your own damn fault, if you are any good." E. Hemmingway |
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Wren Member
since 2000-07-05
Posts 312 |
I don't belive poets feel things any more intensly than others. The difference is that poets have an outlet to express emotion through. Most people have an outlet but poets and artists and the like have outlets that are productive- ie. They write a poem when they're angry, instead of punching a pillow. Its really a blessing, isen't it? |
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JP Senior Member
since 1999-05-25
Posts 1343Loomis, CA |
I was thinking about this question some more and a thought occurred to me...It may sound harsh, or just downright mean, but I think there are some folks out there who are intense, or unporportionately emotional, who determine through whatever understanding they have of cliche, that they should write poetry. What then happens is that the idea of poets being more intense than the rest of the world gets perpetuated, and multitudes of pages are wasted on poorly written poetry. Should everyone who is intense be a poet? Yesterday is ash, tomorrow is smoke; only today does the fire burn. JP "Everything is your own damn fault, if you are any good." E. Hemmingway |
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