Hardcover Hearts | Learning How to Read Poetry @HardcoverHearts | Uploaded October 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
As I am wont to do, I’m starting a new project for myself. I have some gaps in my literary life that I’ve been trying to understand in the last few years. This year I have spent with short stories, which was a form that I instinctively didn’t warm to but through deep exploration this year, I’m finding my own way into an appreciation of what works for me in a short story so I can seek more of that out.
Another gap I have in my reading is around poetry. When I read a poem I like, it feels out of this world, like a translation of something ordinary or mundane into magic. But I don’t spend enough time or energy in exploring to be better versed (pun accidentally, but I’m not mad at it! 😉) and to again understand my way into this form.
With the death of Louise Glück, I determined that there was no time like the present to start. I had recently ordered this collection and felt inspired by the morning light, the crisp air, the comfort of my blanket, and cup of tea to dive in. My plan is to read a poem in the morning as I’m waking to the world when my brain and heart are still soft and opening to the day. I will pick at random as I don’t yet know enough about poetry to try to read in order of publication. And then, in the evening, as I am winding down, I will revisit it, having hopefully played with the words, images, ideas, and such through the day and capture any additional thoughts that may come. I look forward to years from now returning to a collection like this and actually reading it in order and conversing with my earlier self via the notations I am leaving now.
As with most of my reading projects, there is no time to complete it. And I want to explore other poets, as well. On my list now are Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, and Shakespeare’s sonnets, but I would love to have suggestions of other poets that you find particularly interesting.
Do you read poetry? If so what advice do you have for me?
As I am wont to do, I’m starting a new project for myself. I have some gaps in my literary life that I’ve been trying to understand in the last few years. This year I have spent with short stories, which was a form that I instinctively didn’t warm to but through deep exploration this year, I’m finding my own way into an appreciation of what works for me in a short story so I can seek more of that out.
Another gap I have in my reading is around poetry. When I read a poem I like, it feels out of this world, like a translation of something ordinary or mundane into magic. But I don’t spend enough time or energy in exploring to be better versed (pun accidentally, but I’m not mad at it! 😉) and to again understand my way into this form.
With the death of Louise Glück, I determined that there was no time like the present to start. I had recently ordered this collection and felt inspired by the morning light, the crisp air, the comfort of my blanket, and cup of tea to dive in. My plan is to read a poem in the morning as I’m waking to the world when my brain and heart are still soft and opening to the day. I will pick at random as I don’t yet know enough about poetry to try to read in order of publication. And then, in the evening, as I am winding down, I will revisit it, having hopefully played with the words, images, ideas, and such through the day and capture any additional thoughts that may come. I look forward to years from now returning to a collection like this and actually reading it in order and conversing with my earlier self via the notations I am leaving now.
As with most of my reading projects, there is no time to complete it. And I want to explore other poets, as well. On my list now are Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, and Shakespeare’s sonnets, but I would love to have suggestions of other poets that you find particularly interesting.
Do you read poetry? If so what advice do you have for me?
