Guest Blogger: Emily B.

So I’m sitting at home trying to think of a way to out do Kayla on the last blog. I think to my self “You could talk about how your grandma yelled at you…” then I was like nahhhh that is cheating. So I was trying to think about what to write about, and this is what I came up with… (Drum role please)… MORE POETRY!!! But let’s look at poetry through history and how it has changed. Everyone grab your Sound and Sense.

In chapter one “What is Poetry?” It says that, “poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient.” If we look at the different eras we can see that it is more than Europeans throwing out some fancy words in the 1700s. There are poems from the Aryans in 1500 BC. They are sacrificial hymns which are the earliest forms of Sanskrit language. Then there is the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer in 750 BC. They have also found poems of the Shi Jing, China's earliest work of literature. Those are just a few of the earlier pieces of poetry. In ancient societies, poetry was used as a way to record cultural events or tells stories. As the years go on, more and more poetry is written because it is an alternative form of amusement.

How has poetry changed in the last thousands of years then? “But it is not primarily to communicate information that novels, short stories, plays, and poems are written. These exist to bring us a sense and perception of life, to widen and sharpen our contacts with existence. Their concern is with experience.” As it says in chapter one “What is Poetry?” poetry is written on experiences. The world has gone from war to peace to war to peace, every time a little different in its own way. So when asked how poetry has changed you have to look at what has happened in history and where the writer is from.

So every one when you complain about having to look at poetry, just imagine the people who didnt have the internet to explain it to them.