POETRY AS A WORD GAME- IS POETRY REALLY A GAME? HOW CAN WE CALL IT A

GAME? OR, WRITE A SHORT NOTE ON POETRY AS A WORD GAME?

Poetry : originally from a Greek root meaning “to make”: poet – a maker.

- Controversy over essential characteristics of poetry. For some – meter or rhythm distinguishing trait. For others – quality of the poet’s vision, sensory quality of the language. According to some, poetry – a special kind of symbolic language.

- Poetry or verse – recognized by its unusually rich use of such features as rhythm, pitch, meter and connotation.

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POETRY AS A WORD GAME- And hence, Poetry is composition that evokes emotion and

imagination by the use of vivid, intense language usually arranged in a pattern of words or lines with a regular repeated accent or stress. In content poetry expresses thoughts that are significant and sincere. It is marked by the presence of rhythm.

- Whatever the patterns of the lines, there is a regularity of rise and fall in accent that is more uniform than that of prose.

- Repeated rhymes and rhyme schemes frequently add to the musical effect of the verse.

- A vital element in poetry is the use of the concrete words and specific, evocative (productive in mind) language. Because poetry is an intense form of expression, words are chosen for their connotations and associations. Poetic expression is rich in figures of speech and imagery. It appeals to the readers imagination, recreating and communicating the deep feelings the poet has experienced.

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POETRY AS A WORD GAME- Poetry makes nothing happen. Yet if a reader is reluctant,

poetry can give them pleasure as much as they get it from a game. Poetry depends on a poet’s craftsmanship. It is also a kind of language game like physical games that make sound minds, poetry game also some uses:

- Exercise of imagination: it exercise a valuable though perhaps “unsound” side of the mind: imagination. Coleridge says that poetry is born out of imagination.

- Craftsmanship: it develops ability to control and respond to language

- Pleasure: all forms of literature intend to please us. Poetry amuses us with its musical technical devices. It gives aesthetic satisfaction.

- Walter Peter says that we appreciate beauty for its own sake and not for its moral or other utility. There are simple as well as complicated poems that intend to give pleasure.

POETRY AS A WORD GAMEPedagogical or didactic (teaching) advantage:

for Philip Sidney, poetry is an art of imitation for a specific purpose. It imitates to “teach and delight”. A poet does not imitate but creates; it is the reader who imitates what the poet creates.

Exercise to the senses: William wordswoth defines poetry as “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. In this sense, all kinds of sensory perceptions are motivated by poetry. Emotion, sentiments, feelings and thoughts are also developed and exercised by poetry. And, hence poetry is essentially a game, with artificial rules, and it takes two - a writer and a reader – to play it, if the reader is reluctant, the game will not work.Passenger - Crows In Snow (Official Video).mp4

Approaching a poemTo get into different aspects of a poem, intelligence is fundamentally required. Nevertheless, we can’t deny the truth that guideline hints, knowledge of literary terms, exercise, labor and interest are also much more effective while approaching a poem. There are many approaches to different poems. We may study and judge a poem by taking words and ideas in its context.

- We should point out expressive dimension of the poem. Nature and situation of the speaker should be noted down.

- We should consider narrative-dramatic dimension and the descriptive-meditative dimension in the poem. We should also learn whether the interest in the poem is related with psychological facts and behavior or philosophical facts.

Approaching a poem- We should pay attention to the play of language – metaphor, irony, images, tone etc.- While reading a poem, it is necessary to pay special

attention to its musical dimension – rhythm, rhyme, melodies, harmonies etc.

Mocking LoveHallucinated by a painful memoryEmptiness riding over meNihilistic, I may soundYet raising questions on my being and on my smile

Approaching a poemShadows and shoddy memoryGnawing pain, pangs and pathosScratching me and my inner core of heartSobbing, wailing for my spoilt meaningless decade Making, remaking and again makingBut there you are to piing on me and my endeavorWith your reasonPointing out my stupidityShocking till my throatYou suddenly realized a bitter taste of my salivaWith your consent; committed countless sins

Approaching a poemAlas!Now your bewitching eyesDisenchanted mineYour oppressionStolen moments at the bank of Holy BagmatiStolen kisses while splashing water at Gaurighatburning me like a hovering clouds from a burning pyreburning outside, inflaming inside; chaos, tumult your appearance slowly disappearingnow, just nowI leant youDemystifying you Discontinuity of our meeting everywhere, nowhere, anywhereNo moreDifference, indifferenceDispersion and henceI'm shattered, scattered in the bits of memory

Approaching a poemEvening PashupatighatAarati of Monday EveningIncanting incantation, evocating evocationYour glowing faces within faceSlowly unmasking yourselfMocking me, my love, my stupidity….