Golden sands
As I look at this photo I see a boy.
a boy that I have never seen before
yet now, I know so much.
He looks nervous,
I can see it through his posture,
through his eyes. He is standing
on a picturesque beach,
the water clear to the depths
lapping sedately on the shore.
He stands on the golden sand,
the calm purring of the ocean behind him.
He stands there; motionlessly, peacefully,
Yet in his hands; a gun.
Tom (Age 15)
What is the point of poetry?
The point of poetry, in my opinion, is most importantly to convey a powerful message to the reader, to express emotion. It is a great way to express emotion because it enables you to convey a message or a thought in an intense and short space. In my opinion, a powerful poem shows and doesn't tell. What I mean by this is that the poem describes something, enabling the reader to think, rather than telling them outright. This allows the audience to empathise with the poet.
Another thing a poem is useful for is to tell a story. In a poem we read, ‘Digging’ by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, Heaney tells the story of how his father and grandfather worked hard in the potato fields for a living. He does this by giving us personal experiences to show how close this was to his heart. He ends the poem with the line “I’ll dig with it.” This is referring to his pen, and how he will not physically dig like his father and grandfather, but he will create an impact through his poetry. This allows the reader to create multiple interpretations of his poem.
Poetry can also be used as a form of inspiration, as I found when writing my poem. I took inspiration for my last line “Yet in his hands; a gun.” I took inspiration from Heaney and another poet called Ted Hughes through the way it is structured, it breaks the rhythm of the poem, much like Hughes did in the poem
“The Hawk In The Rain” this shows a clear change in the poem and is designed to impact the audience with the sudden contrast in the poem.
Bad Weather
Culture screams through the streets,
Not being acknowledged by life
Dead bodies, blinded by shadows
That haunt them till death
Concrete domes, the cities
Trapping culture inside.
Light cracks through the dark concrete
Beaming down on the earth.
Pollution patches the cracks,
Light retreats back behind the great wall.
Bombs fall through the darkness
And attack the earth
Dead bodies come to life and take cover.
Culture is defeated by technology,
Technology defeated by weather
Light defeated by darkness.
Sabaa (Age 15)
What is the point of poetry?
Poetry allows you to express your thoughts,feelings and emotion for example talking about personal thoughts and builds on your feelings about a memory. Poems can be used to tell an powerful story or a message, which can allow the reader to generate multiple interpretations.
Poems can be complicated and hard to understand for example it can have multiple meanings and others can be simple and get straight to the point. They also let people have a voice to show their thoughts and feelings throughout poetry which could affect the reader and they could relate to the same thoughts and feelings in the poem.
Poems also tell us what the writer can see and builds it up with emotions and thoughts like in the poem I did where talked about what I could see, and built it up with thoughts and feelings.
Distance
As I watch the horizon fade away,
The clouds made a wall of grey,
The vast open fields,
Blank as a canvas.
I pick up my brush
Paint the howling winds,
The night time silence.
I look up and see the stars,
I reach for the horizon,
As I watch the horizon awake again,
Clouds remain, wall grey.
I walk, the steady breeze
Getting closer,
Gentle winds,
Clouds break,
The sun illuminating the sky,
I reach the horizon.
Rhys (Age 14)
What is the point of poetry?
Poetry isn't all rhyme, poems usually connect with the world and or express personal opinion or even world issues. Poems are typically short and get to the point which allows the readers to think and feel what the poet is trying to portray. For example in my poem I used the word “horizons” to show goals. However the use of horizons can be interpreted in more than one way. Poems allow people to escape reality and the poet can amerse the readers into a story or some sort of memory.
The Wall
He waits, hoping for the soul that left him to return.
It doesn’t bother him,
But he knows he needs to find himself before,
He edges toward death.
There is a wall between good and evil,
Being trapped on the wrong side of the wall
He chisels and chisels away
And tries to climb it.
People have different motivations,
But he doesn’t possess,
The one thing that motivates others,
Love.
Liam (Age 15)
What is the point of poetry?
I would like to start this response by saying that poetry is a great way to have a break from reality and gives inspiration this is known as escapism, to write my poem I used escapism but I did not base my poem on my personal feelings but on feelings that others may have and be able to relate to. What inspired me to write this poem is from tv shows that remind me of there being two sides.
The Wind and the Pier
The wind, a constant reminder
Of the times we once shared,
With long walks on the beach
And as ship horns declared
The incoming tide
We left, no moment being spared.
The wind, a memory
Often recalled,
In which a prolonged
Moment at the pier enthralled
My younger self whom I scarcely remember.
But,
The wind, a tormenting presence
Serves as a darker admonition,
Which overtakes,
Any previous retrospection,
And reveals,
My abjection.
Kelsea (Age 14)
What is the point of poetry?
Poetry is an art form which is used to express a thought or emotion through the use of words and imagery. Many poets use their work in different ways and to show many different ideas. Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that “Poetry is the best words in the best order”, as a small group we were asked to deconstruct the poem and discuss our opinion of the quotation. I believe that the quotation shows that each poem has its own unique structure and tone, and that despite the fact that the first draft may not flow or work it is about finding the rhythm of the poem that works for you.
There are many different reasons why a writer might write a poem; poems have an intense and emotional effect on readers and present an imagery or emotion in which the writer feels. These images are shown through the use of literary devices or structure to further empathise a feeling or change the viewpoint of a seemingly boring or original concept or object. Throughout time poems have been used as a platform for a voice to create change and challenge issues that they or others have faced, an example of a poem challenging oppression is Women’s Rights by Annie Louisa Walker which speaks out about women’s roles in society.
Poetry can also be used as a method of escapism and as freedom to experience different worlds, thoughts or issues and to start to imagine the experiences of the writer and the things they have faced. Poems are able to communicate personal and passionate events through the use of words and are able to connect with an audience.
Poetry can be used as a source of entertainment and enjoyment or to share a memory or moment within a story, and show how this affects the writer but also allow the reader to experience these stories. The poetry can represent the landscape or problems around you and express emotion and internal lives. Poems can be made personal or express the lives of others around them, this can be shown through the use of a first or third person perspective.
Overall, I believe that poetry means something different to each person, and that it is unique to the person, for example in my poem I described the memories I have with a loved one through the metaphor of the wind and its different forces. Despite how I imagined my poem, a reader may find a different meaning to the poem. There are many points to poetry and each poem is unique and for a different purpose.
When the Heavens Have Gone
I admire my grandfather's work,
The beauty of the curves
On the waves, the way the rotted tree bark mixes
With dull painted brown.
The sound of something being dropped, echoed,
All around the house; yells in huge waves,
Louder and louder,
As sparks flew at me like a cricket ball
Being struck at high speed.
I was unaware of what was to come,
The devil had just being born
Below the feet of earth.
Flames quickly flicked up,
Swallowing up the whole house, gone!
Submerged like a submarine in
Atlantic waters.
Paint melted off like a piece of molten
From the depths of hell.
Paint on the canvas boiled off,
As each dip of paint hit the floor
Leaving a sizzle and black mark
Of its territory.
Long hard hours of painting,
Making new memories, having fun and showing
What you can achieve
Became hours of terror as
The devil clenched the hard work in his hand
And crushed it.
Ethan (Age 15)
What is the Point of Poetry?
I believe the point of poetry is to express a powerful thought or emotion to something that you love or don't love. And it inspires
I also think that poetry is a way of curing people of stress, by allowing them to really think and show how the are feeling. And also it helps people that cannot speak or hear. It is a language for anybody to speak all you need is a heart and a desire.
One day
One day I turned
Around to look at you
But one day
You were gone
No longer here.
I was that oblivious,
I let time slip through
I wish one more time I could come
Down again
And tell you how much
I did love you.
The memories I have with you
I sit here and smile
I just wish I could talk to you
One more time
And one more time
is all I ask,
But I’m sure it
Can’t be possible.
One day I turned
around to look at you
But you were already gone.
By Chloe (Age 15)
What is the point in poetry?
At the start of this expedition I did actually ask myself, what is the point in poetry. Before we did this slice I just thought poems were like fun little nursery rhymes and didn’t know how much meaning some poems could have behind them.
What actually is the point in poetry? Poetry can be interpreted in a number of different ways, and this could even be different from the poets first thoughts and may offer a different interpretation compared to the reader. Poems enable you to communicate with the reader in a short and intense situation to capture your true thoughts and feelings. It can also used to portray a message or capture a certain moment in time.
Poems can be different depending on who you are, it can be a way to express your common thoughts and feelings, or it can be trying to tell someone what struggles you’re going through or what fears you are trying to overcome.
Escapism is a key factor in poetry, it allows the reader to focus attention on enjoyable things rather than the hard realities.
Gun
Heavy in my hand: pure power.
It’s cold metal nips my skin.
The barrel an eye of blackness;
Untold depths.
Shaking, just hold your breath, it stills.
Hands placed perfectly: built for ease.
Streamlined; a sleek midnight frame.
Aim: matching the three metal points together.
Release the breath slowly,
Safety catch off; the danger released.
Legs shoulder width apart.
Nervous but determined.
Target in sight: locked in the gaze of the unforgiving eye.
Press the disturbingly tempting trigger.
Slight recoil; the murderer biting back.
Your target is hit.
You sigh, putting the safety clasp on your gun once again.
Alexandra (Age 15)
What is the point in poetry?
My answer to the guided question ‘What is the point of poetry?’ is going to be based on what I found whilst writing my poem. When I first started the expedition slice, I didn’t really know what the point was. I just thought it was for fancy scholars who needed to spend some time. Writing my own poems and helping others completely changed my view. Now I see it as a way to express yourself but to also convey a feeling, message, memory or image through the use of words and structure. I think the unique thing about poetry and one of the main points about it is that anyone from any background can do it. Whether it is in your head, on paper or spoken, poetry is everyones to use. Even if you didn’t write the poem that you are reading, it becomes yours because your interpretation turns the poem into something new.
During the expedition, as well as writing our own poetry, we studied other poems by poets such as Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. The analysis of their poems helped me to understand that poem are a masterpiece made of carefully selected words and the specific use of literary devices. The great thing about these two poets is that they have a very different approach to poetry but still give the same effect. Seamus Heaney brings you into a past memory of his whereas Hughes, even if it was a memory, tells you a story.
Snow
Snow, free falling
Drifting from the sky
To inevitably die on the ground.
If it were to settle in,
It would be thrown,
Stomped on, or run over by a careless passerby.
And I sit here, watching
The helpless snow flutter
To its inescapable demise.
To some, snow is bad, to others
Snow is great. I see snow as fleeting,
In a captive state.
Alex (Age 15)
What is the point of poetry?
The point of poetry in my eyes is that you can show you ideas and stories differently, and poems are really good at painting a picture in your head, like if you were to hear a poem about the sea, you would think of a time you went to the sea or you would see what the poem is saying, this is also known as escapism, escapism is where you can leave the place you are physically and roam your mind with the help of books and poems
My poem is about a memory I had when I was sat near a canal alone with the snow. This poem came from my views of nature and its beauty, this poem also came from my view of snow, I see snow as a nice way to enjoy the cold, but it has to settle to then play in the snow.