I was in the 7th grade when I had to recite a poem on stage. That was my first solo performance. My deep-rooted stage fear had always prevented me from volunteering for any events, except maybe a play where I could blend in with the crowd. But then, I selected Wordsworth’s Daffodils and stuttered my way through the entire recitation, despite days and hours of preparation. I don’t remember much except for the flush that enveloped my ears, making it feel as if I was reciting from the seabed. Yet, my love affair with poetry continued unabated despite this fiasco.

I cannot travel by train without recalling Stevenson’s From a Railway Carriage, nor can I let a brook pass by without remembering Tennyson’s “Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.”

What makes poems and poetry so special? Offhand, I would say that it brings the world to your feet—or rather, between the pages of a book—with as few words as possible. Whether it’s dancing with the Palanquin Bearers after reading Sarojini Naidu’s poem or having your heart broken after reading the poignant The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, poetry makes us appreciate the nuances of imagery and expression, as well as the succinct way words are strung together like pearls on a string.

As Phyllis Klein said, “Poetry gives rhythm to silence, light to darkness. In poetry, we find the magic of metaphor, compactness of expression, use of the five senses, and simplicity or complexity of meaning in a few lines.”

Despite the literary world evolving to include many forms, poetry has always maintained its special place. This is surprising, considering that the oldest surviving speculative fiction poem is The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, written in Hieratic and ascribed to a date around 2500 BCE.

Come to think of it, all the tales that were told to another person, whether hymns or stories, were often in poetic form. The reasoning was quite simple—rote-learning or oral teaching was the only method of education back then. Hence, the Rig Vedas of Hinduism, the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Song of the Weaver by an unknown Egyptian of the Second Dynasty, the Psalms, and the Iliad are all in verse.

The Mahabharata is the longest epic poem known and has been described as “the longest poem ever written,” while Geoffrey Chaucer is considered the “father of English poetry.”

Some poetry plays an important role in making us reflect on how we think about things. As Frost said in The Road Not Taken, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back!” How sage was that advice, told in poetic form!

It is often said that poetry is very good for developmental learning. Let’s look at some of the advantages of learning or reading poetry:

• Reading poetry inspires emotional expression. It helps us understand our needs, wants, and desires.
• Recitation helps us learn the nuances of tone, rhythm, and syllable breaks—not to mention improving our memory skills.
• Writing and reading poetry help us be more economical with our words, allowing us to explore various poetry forms.
• Poetry helps develop self-awareness through watching, observing, reflecting, and learning.
• The quietness of poems or their reflective tenor encourages us to be with ourselves and ponder.
• Poetry helps us understand the world better.

When Tennyson said in The Charge of the Light Brigade, “Theirs not to make reply / Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die,” we understand the world of soldiers, with our eyes brimming with emotion.

Like most things, poetry too has undergone drastic changes in its form and expression. We have Haiku for readers who like to be served in small doses, Free Verse for the rhythmically challenged, Reverse Poetry for those who want to be tested, and Sonnets for the lovelorn. Whether it’s a Limerick for the fun-loving or an Acrostic for beginners, every poem has its place in capturing our hearts and souls.

For men may come and men may go, but the poems we read go on forever. As long as there is beauty and intensity of emotion in the world, poems will remain to be appreciated.

Author: Chandrika R. Krishnan

Editor’s Note: This article was selected to be published from 46 submissions received for the Unboxed Expressions initiative at Beyond the Box