I've read a lot of poems, both romantic and otherwise; I've read the romantic thoughts of many great men and women. And I've come to one conclusion about the purpose of poetry. It's simply this: to show a person the best of things in life -- not in intellectual ideals and notions -- but to actually show us by convincing the heart that there really are things in life worth fighting for and hoping for, things or a rarer nature than the average day to day resignation. Henry David Thoreau once said: "When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality." That is what poetry is meant to do, to make us unhurried and wise, to slow down our fast pace existence and show us something better than the petty fears and pleasures that often crowd our lives.
This is what I believe: it is the duty and privilege of every person to spend a time pondering those timeless, meddlesome questions that have troubled the whole of mankind. It is his duty, I say, to spend a season simply pondering his life in its whole economy, dipping his toes within the stream of time through which he often swims - and while there, to stand in awe of that grand, elusive scheme intertwining all of humankind. Our only challenge is can we gain the stillness and wisdom to truly be inspired by the timeless feeling in the poems we read? This is the difficult undertaking to any who are willing to dive into the world of classic poetry: to, for a time, wipe away the petty fears and pleasures, and to realize that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute value.
Why classic poetry? That is just my preference. In my opinion, classical poetry has the best renditions of romantic poems as well as nature poems, which are the two genres of poems I think most people enjoy. anything that has the potential to inspire the sleeping spirit, the telling of love can invigorate those childlike ideals and fairytale notions most of us have long forgotten about.
But there is such a large composition of classical poetry, most of which the average reader would never enjoy. So then, where should a person start in classic poetry? I myself only really latch on to small number of the overwhelming supply. But the ones that do come in and stir the heart are like finding buried treasure. You can't go wrong with any of the big names, Robert Frost, Wordsworth, Longfellow. I had the luck of reading a lot of good classic poetry while in the northern forests of northern Minnesota, in a small town of 93 residents, in a log cabin no less. That might have something to do with my affinity for good classic poetry.
If you're reading this, especially if you're on this paragraph, it probably means you're already interested and at least a little bit versed in poetry. Otherwise, how would you have found this article if you weren't searching for it? Do some online searches for some of the above mentioned poets. I promise, you won't be let down. And when you find a poem you fall in love with, don't just save it on your computer, print it out and take it outside with you at sunset and feel the mystic wonder of the world come and fill you up.
Author Resource:
Thanks for checking out this article about classic poetry and the purpose of poetry. I hope you'll go and find yourself some romantic poems and find those unhurried and wise romantic thoughts that make us human.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")