Holy shit, I can understand almost nothing in the image. Granted I'm an ESL, but even then I always thought my Enligsh was pretty good wtf
TO UNDERSTAND, ONE NEEDS TO INTERPRET; TO INTERPRET, ONE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO THINK: YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND VERSE, BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO READ IT, AND LACK POETICAL INTELLIGENCE.IT IS A WIDESPREAD MALAISE; VIRTUALLY NOONE CAN UNDERSTAND VERSE, NOW, WHICH IS WHY NINE OUT OF EVERY TEN CONTEMPORARY «POETS», IN ANY LANGUAGE, COMPOSES DYSTACTICAL PROSE, CALLING IT «FREE VERSE».«FREE VERSE»: FREE OF POETICITY
>>23824727i'm glad you're still around and haven't suicided/been committed
>>23824711>my Enligsh was pretty goodIt's a cheap shot, but that's the kind of guy I am.
>>23824711Lmao, anon wanted to read Arthurian legend in the other thread and wasn't prepared for Tennyson.
>>23824749That's why I hate poems. Just write that shit in prose and make it understandable.
>>23824743>I always thoughtPast tense is correct to align with "thought". Beforehand he thought it was good, now he thinks it is bad.
>>23824768Then you're a fucking idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about. First of all, read the classic English poets that everyone starts with. Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Keats, Kipling, etc., and study the form and style of their poetry. Once you've got a good grasp of what they're actually doing, then you can expand to other poets. You need to have an ear for metre, to be able to see why words are condensed into single lines.
>>23824807>This guy is hard>LMAO IDIOT GO READ SHAKESPEARE!!!11!!1Are you even aware that Shakespeare isn't even English but Middle English, moron?
>>23824883>isn't even English but Middle EnglishMost retarded post I've read today
English just isn't a very poetic language. Learn Latin or Italian.
>>23824892English has the most words out of all languages.
>>23824727how do I interpret better?
>>23824711I'm ESL too. I've read worse. Like Gerald Manley Hopkins.
Poetry is actually really simple. It’s just playing with words so as to have some effect. It’s playing with the word choice, the sound, the pacing, all of these things. It’s closely related to music because poetry has a musical quality to it. Think of the similarity between a lyric poem and the lyrics of a song. They are basically the same thing. Sometimes that comes out really good on the page. And sometimes it comes out really bad. And sometimes it’s neither good nor bad but a matter of taste. If you’re a total zoomer brain, I would actually recommend you first play Halo Infinite. In that game, one of the characters recites various poems throughout the game. The poems sound at times musical and at times mystical, like scripture. The poems allude to a feeling of suffering, loss, regret, and love that the character feels. So you really get a sense for what these poems are, what they mean, with the help of the narrative. Once the narrative makes it clear to you what’s going on with this character, the point and tone and emotion behind all those poems make sense and you’re able to “get it”.
>>23824711>Why is poetry so fucking hard to understandI think it's because a lot of poetry is focused on doing things 'you couldn't get away with' in prose. It's about testing everything that your language can do, and it gives you an excuse to care about small differences in wording which, to a prose writer, are much less important than being clear and sounding natural. I think of it like haute couture fashion shows, where people wear totally impractical outfits you would never see on the street. For example, in the Tennyson excerpt you posted, the hardest bit for me is the intro, with its parenthetical bit in the dashes. But there's a reason for the weird parenthetical construction. 'These to His Memory ... I dedicate, I consecrate with tears' is formal, it's oratorical, it's the poet addressing his audience. But the switch mid-line to 'since he held them dear / Perchance etc.' is a retreat from the public podium to a whispery speculation on private psychology, on private desires, and the interruption and intertwining of the two modes is the whole point, I would argue.Reintroducing a new object after all that - 'These Idylls' - which then retroactively makes you realise you started a new clause either on the second 'I dedicate' or the 'I consecrate', is just a clever move: I don't think there's a deeper point to it than that. It keeps the energy up, it makes the poem feel alive, on its legs. That alone is worth the ambiguity, to me.Anyway, if you stick at poetry and keep reading you'll become gradually more familiar with different constructions, and reading it will become much easier over time, I assure you.
>>23824883Shakespeare is modern english, retard. Read Chaucer if you want to see how middle english actually looks like.
>>23824711OP tried to grasp the museshe groped each one of them in turnand then in turn each one refuseseach cutting with their sickest burnhe sought to suckle at poetry's titbut OP's brain was really unfit.
>>23825174alas, these lines are really shit
>>23824711Don't worry, anon. I'm a native english speaker and I find poetry hard to read, harder than any novel I've read - that's for sure. Keep reading it and you'll eventually understand what's being said, and there's no shame in re-reading.
>>23824727you need a certain IQ to be able to interpret poetry. most people are just too stupid. it is what it is.
>>23825367Proof?
>>23825375stupid people literally can't interpret metaphors. don't underestimate how stupid a lot of people are.
>>23824711I would try to write something eloquent in rhyme but I'm just missing this time. I'm incapable due to crippling thoughts of suicide. Apologies as I couldn't help, but at least I tried.
