2.2 Purpose of poetry
Undoubtedly, poetry is written for pleasure but poets are people who use words, sounds, rhythms and special language structures to convey feelings which they believe are worthy of communication, even if humorous. They wish their readers to engage with these feelings and so extend their limited experience through imagination. They intend to evoke from their readers reflective, imaginative and emotional responses. So those who take the time and effort to be engaged, find themselves opened to new areas of knowledge and/or vision and/or insight and feeling. For example,
- to know how it feels to be in love, or to hate, to grieve or rejoice
- to see and feel someone/something that is beautiful or ugly or frightening or exciting or even horrifying
- to perceive values and attitudes
- to resonate with another's feelings and perhaps recognise them in their own lives