January 5th 2015. First Blog Post

Poetry. What does it really mean? This is the question I found asking myself sitting in class on the cold morning of the fifth of January. Poetry is something that I am not well versed in. I read poetry and even attempted to understand it in high school. However, it was a failed attempt. To me poetry is just words on a page. Sometimes I could pick up on subtle words that evoked meaning to me, but most of the time it was just a boring read. My interpretation of poetry could be completely different from the person next to me.
     The thing about poetry is that it allows you to be open with your emotions. I've always wanted to write poetry. I believe that it could be a way for me to express what my views on the world are, and even convey my emotions to the people reading it. I remember one time in High School, our class was assigned to read a poem by William Shakespeare. The poem was one of his more famous works and it was titled "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The first time I read the poem, it was confusing. The grammar used throughout the work was challenging at times to read. This was my first real encounter with poetry and it did not boost my confidence in understanding it. When my teacher asked people what they thought of it, almost everyone had a different explanation. The overall events in the poem were the same for everyone, however, the mood and emotions the poem evoked differed from person to person. I enjoyed listening to what other people thought of the poem. As each person said how they felt, I could understand why they felt like that. My overall understanding of the poem increased by listening and relating to my peers. A similar event happened toady in class. As we read and broke down the poem "Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath, my understanding of the work was enhanced. The idea about pregnancy brought up in class was enlightening for me. As I re-read the poem, I could see signs of that idea throughout the poem. For example, when Plath writes "I'm a riddle of nine syllables", this could be interpreted as a pregnancy which lasts nine months. I found that reading poems more than once is a good way to grasp a better understanding of the work.
     Poetry is still challenging for me to understand. The words and underlying meanings take practice in order to understand. I am starting to enjoy the poems I read more since I have techniques that help me understand the work. My peers help me shed light on poems that are difficult for me to understand. I look forward to reading more poetry in class, and I think i'm going to begin reading poetry on my own as well.