Since time immemorial, poetry has been an art that only a few can master. Though there seem to be no rules to poetry, the poems written by the youth of the 21st-century extirpate the authenticity that lies in poetry.
Poets like Robert Frost delved into writing poems rich in metaphors with a dash of melancholy. These poems raise questions in the minds of readers.
Poetry In The 21st-Century
‘When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.’
– An excerpt from Robert Frost’s poem, Birches.
In contrast, today’s poetry sounds like
‘Stay
i whispered
as you
shut the door
behind you’
– Rupi Kaur
There lies no metaphor, no inspiration in these lines.
The millennials call it micro-poetry. I like to call it a decimation of the essence of poetry.
There aren’t any questions raised through such pieces. It’s a short answer describing how you feel in a direct manner instead of the stereotype of poetry which follows the subtle path.
‘he held me
like a wave
pulling sand
into the ocean
and I could not
resist.’
– R.Clift
Though these poems follow enjambment, (the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza) it poses to be a statement rather than a poem.
Also Read: Revealing The Secrets Of “Shadow Play”, An Ancient Form Of Storytelling – LivED It
These poems lack figures of speech such as:
- Onomatopoeia, the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named – words like buzz, bang, click, etc.,
- An oxymoron, a figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction – words like peace force, sweet sorrow, free-market etc., and
- Hyperbole exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally) which form the structure of a poem – like, I’ve told you to stop a thousand times.
It suffices to say, these poems do not have a poetic background.
Why Do The Millennials Tend To Have An Affinity Towards These Poems
Poems like,
‘Healing is:
Allowing flowers to grow
in all the places sadness
has touched inside you’
– April Green
appeal to the youth of today because they want to read about their problems in a concise manner.
They’re finding solace in these pieces of work. The direct approach of these poems gives the youth exactly what they want – a simplified answer or statement to their issues.
Ruined Perception Of Poetry
Robert Frost maintained that a poem “begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a loneliness. It is never a thought, to begin with. It is at its best when it is a tantalizing vagueness.”
Poems aren’t supposed to be direct, they are symbolic forms of art.
As a millennial and a poet myself, I feel saddened to watch the world conceive the wrong notion of poetry.
Where are rhyme schemes? Where are the elegies? Where is the pathetic fallacy?
‘you were never in love with me
you were just lonely’
– Poemxheaven
Such micro-poems don’t bring you to open a dictionary to know its meaning. You need not be a fan of literature to understand them.
But if poetry were that simple, it would be no different than storytelling.
Poems deserve to be complex.
Poetry is not subjective, your way of conceiving it is. You may enjoy reading bad poetry and may hate good poetry.
There are benchmarks to be met with while writing a good piece of poetry, such micro-poems do not reach these benchmarks but are still appreciated.
In my opinion, poems of today don’t make sense and stand meaningless in the face of the subtlety a poem must hold.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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