SUMMARY
The author continues his poetry anthology project with twelve celebrated poems about the theme of music. Fifteen of the best poetry sites on the Internet are also listed.
Twelve Great Poems: MusicFor my next poetry anthology, I have selected a set of "old chestnuts" that either reflect on the beauty and power of music in our lives, or use music as a metaphor for poetry itself. As always, you will find the text of these new poems in my Pages section of the blog. If you would like a classroom ready .pdf, go to lcommons.org and join the "Integrating Learning Commons" group.
If Music Be the Food of Love
Whatever your definition of poetry — verbal music, rhythmical speech etc. — poetry has a clear affinity with music in all its forms. In fact, poets incorporate all of the arts in the way they use words to express their thought and feeling. In the hands of a great poet, words dance, voices sing, forms sculpt ideas, and images paint pictures. Any child knows this in the playful rhymes danced and sung in the schoolyard (until poetry is often shelved in senior grades).
As I have suggested before on this blog, poetry should be integrated into every subject of the curriculum. Poetry's themes cover the full range of human experience. The enjoyment and skill in reading, listening to, and writing poetry should be part of the common learning and the learning commons of every school.
Curriculum Redux
Unfortunately, there are other connections between music and poetry in modern education: anxiety, inexperience, and lack of knowledge. We see an increasing trend to minimize the importance of both poetry and music curriculum in a science/math/literacy driven agenda. Waldorf (Steiner) education is an exception. Here children dance their letters, sing their numbers, and paint their natural world.
If you are anxious about using poetry in the classroom, I recommend two books: Poetic Metre and Poetic Form by Paul Fussell and The Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky. Fussell's book concentrates on how poetry's rhythmic form helps shape our experience of the poem: "The empirical study of poetry will convince us that meter is a prime physical and emotional constituent of poetic meaning." Pinsky's work examines poetry as a vocal and bodily art: "The medium of poetry is the human body: the column of air inside the chest, shaped into signifying sounds in the larynx and the mouth. In this sense, poetry is as physical or bodily an art as dancing."
Poetry on the Internet
Finally, there are many wonderful Internet sites about poetry — traditional and contemporary. They often contain great free content or new works of astonishing power. Below are some of my favourite.
Bartlebly.com Poetry Anthologies and Tens of Thousands of Poems
Contemporary Poetry Review
Everypoet
Fiction Press
Favorite Poem Project
Poem Hunter
Poetry Archive
Poetry Daily
Poets.ca The League of Canadian Poets
PoetryPoem
Poetry Lovers’ Page
Poets.org
Project Gutenberg
Young British Poets
Your Daily Poem
The author continues his poetry anthology project with twelve celebrated poems about the theme of music. Fifteen of the best poetry sites on the Internet are also listed.
Twelve Great Poems: MusicIf Music Be the Food of Love
Whatever your definition of poetry — verbal music, rhythmical speech etc. — poetry has a clear affinity with music in all its forms. In fact, poets incorporate all of the arts in the way they use words to express their thought and feeling. In the hands of a great poet, words dance, voices sing, forms sculpt ideas, and images paint pictures. Any child knows this in the playful rhymes danced and sung in the schoolyard (until poetry is often shelved in senior grades).
As I have suggested before on this blog, poetry should be integrated into every subject of the curriculum. Poetry's themes cover the full range of human experience. The enjoyment and skill in reading, listening to, and writing poetry should be part of the common learning and the learning commons of every school.
Curriculum Redux
Unfortunately, there are other connections between music and poetry in modern education: anxiety, inexperience, and lack of knowledge. We see an increasing trend to minimize the importance of both poetry and music curriculum in a science/math/literacy driven agenda. Waldorf (Steiner) education is an exception. Here children dance their letters, sing their numbers, and paint their natural world.
If you are anxious about using poetry in the classroom, I recommend two books: Poetic Metre and Poetic Form by Paul Fussell and The Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky. Fussell's book concentrates on how poetry's rhythmic form helps shape our experience of the poem: "The empirical study of poetry will convince us that meter is a prime physical and emotional constituent of poetic meaning." Pinsky's work examines poetry as a vocal and bodily art: "The medium of poetry is the human body: the column of air inside the chest, shaped into signifying sounds in the larynx and the mouth. In this sense, poetry is as physical or bodily an art as dancing."
Poetry on the Internet
Finally, there are many wonderful Internet sites about poetry — traditional and contemporary. They often contain great free content or new works of astonishing power. Below are some of my favourite.
Bartlebly.com Poetry Anthologies and Tens of Thousands of Poems
Contemporary Poetry Review
Everypoet
Fiction Press
Favorite Poem Project
Poem Hunter
Poetry Archive
Poetry Daily
Poets.ca The League of Canadian Poets
PoetryPoem
Poetry Lovers’ Page
Poets.org
Project Gutenberg
Young British Poets
Your Daily Poem
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