The importance of the spoken word
As a poet, I am often subjected to the misconception that my work is only meant to be read. I say misconception because easily half of my work is quite specifically not meant to be read, it's meant to be heard. Much of classic poetry is the same. It's a commonly held belief that Shakespeare is only really good if you see/listen to the plays and sonnets rather than read them.
I have noticed that it is becoming more and more impossible to hear the spoken word as art. While I realize poetry slams are exactly that, and they are gaining popularity, they seem to be really the only venue commonly available.
It goes back to humanity's story telling days. I believe the gathering together and the listening as well as the performance of the story telling itself was incredibly important to society. Why did that change? And are we better or worse without it?
Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill is standard poetry class reading and rolls off the eyelids with dry skill. Many years after first reading it, I found myself in a theatre staring into the eyes of the actor who was reciting it to the audience at the end of a play. My eyes filled with helpless tears. I literally had to restrain myself from sobbing. The incredible power of that poem lay in the sound and the rhythm of it...yet I had never noticed, when the typeset silently crossed my vision, that I was reading music.
It seems we trap ourselves each unto our own little islands: one car per person, one house per person, one little world. We cut ourselves off.
Poetry, art, music, are all attempts to communicate. It seems only natural that they should be conveyed with, through or in association with a social/relational setting.
Transmitting poetry verbally allows the poem to be an experience for all the senses...which, I believe, is closer it's original reason for coming into being as an art form.
I have often thought of poetry as the highest of all the art forms for this reason. A poem should be in relationship with it's reader. The clearest way for that to happen is for it to be read by another.
Re: The importance of the spoken word
I agree wholeheartedly with your assesment. But do you think, as I do, that we have moved away from expressing ourselves verbally? And why?
While I certainly do not compare myself with Dylan Thomas (mental note: look up Fern Hill), I have a personal example of the written v. the spoken. The following poem is the title work to my first book (of which I believe 17 copies were sold ). I believe it is much stronger when read aloud. What do you think?
Quote:
Roll
Roll in fog - roll.
Creep upon the awakening city,
as the sun sinks,
and the undesirables come out to play.
Roll in fog - roll.
Come as sure and steady
as the tides,
and the appetites of lesser men,
Roll in fog - roll.
Mask the dirty streets and peeling paint,
as time crowds the memories
of those who would forget.
Roll in fog - roll.
Bring the sea scent of ocean salt,
and the vague but solid feeling
that this has all been done before.
I love this poem. It's elegant yet gentle and flowing, just like the fog. I love poems with a little tired weight to them like this. Another thing you may want to look at are TS Eliot's Four Quartets. They have the same sense of eyes closing slowly.
LaHibou Registered User
Posts: 1
(7/9/01 9:55 am) Reply
Re: The importance of the spoken word
One of the things I look forward to doing the most is sitting round a table with a few friends scouring books of poetry, passing them around and reading carefully selected works into the waiting ears of the others...
Reading poetry is one thing, but reading aloud is the reason the first ever poets started putting words together. Where I live in Southern England, it is hard to walk down the street without seeing flyers for poetry readings in pubs, clubs, theatres etc. Even on the streets of Oxford, London - poets read aloud, fulfilling the performance aspect. Friends read to me their works, and I mine, so from my perspective Fluttersby, I see no lack of the spoken word.
If you don't have to opportunity to hear the poet read aloud, then you must do so yourself, and when it comes to poetry, I think we perform them all the time, even in our heads...
When we do read however, it gives us the opportunity to delve a little deeper – to explore the details of meaning and to ask questions of the poem, should you be that way inclined
As an actor myself, I can think of little greater pleasure than performing a great poem, and feeling the reactions of the audience – then the linguist in me loves to pore over stylistics, though I agree, some works need no further scrutiny than that of the spoken word…..
Re: The importance of the spoken word
There's also the now dying practice of making recordings of poets as they read their own works. Listening to T.S. Eliot read "The Wasteland" or to Ginsberg reel through "Howl" is an almost hypnotic experience. Many of these recordings can still be found on Amazon.com or (other overly capitalist recording purveyers)...but they're well worth the purchase.
Re: The importance of the spoken word
OOH! I agree completely with this.. I luckily have an advocate, a musician I know who keeps begging me to record some of my poetry and send to him, so that he can incorperate onto his next album.. I just have to get decent equipment.. But yeah, the entire way a piece is read can be the difference between liking and hating it.. I remember reading Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade english, and hating the play because of how the kids in class read it, but then doing the play the next year, and loving it.. And all because of how it sounded..
). I believe it is much stronger when read aloud. What do you think?
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