Poetics of Cinemism
There are so many aspects of poetry. They can be broken down to how language is used, and what vision the language conveys.
First there is the basic linguistic level of words. Individual words signify objects, actions, and qualities. Phrases are strings of connected words that convey a more complex aspect of reality, objects with qualities performing actions. Juxtaposed words become pregnant with meaning. Phrases of words molded into metrical lines convey a musical vision of life in visual images.
Then there is the more complex dramatic aspect of character performing within a social context. Poetry at a higher level presents a vision of a group of people and how their actions are constructive or destructive, exploring interactions that lead to marriage in comedy, or lead to death in tragedy. Great poetry explores the pattern of character archetypes whose interactions follow a trajectory of cause and effect by presenting a character who expresses their view of the world, and makes a decision to act a certain way, and then presents the consequences of their actions.
The best poetry molds a string of words into a memorable phrase of metrical verse that easily replicates itself in the people's minds. In ancient preliterate times, lines of singable verse that was easily memorizable was the essence of poetry. Then people began writing poetry on paper, so it conveyed the singable simplicity of lines. Dramatic recreations of action and reaction on stage developed in drama. With the development of printing, people abandoned the singable metricality of lines and began writing prose to convey longer more complex tales of life. Now with film, the drama has returned as the main way of telling stories with actors performing the roles on film.
The individual poet can choose so many methods and techniques now to convey a vision of the human character interacting in the world. For myself, I have chosen to write narrative poetry, using flexible metrical lines of blank verse by composing complete conceptual phrases in loosely pentameter lines, as I recount the lives and ideas of philosophers and scientists.
There are so many aspects of poetry. They can be broken down to how language is used, and what vision the language conveys.
First there is the basic linguistic level of words. Individual words signify objects, actions, and qualities. Phrases are strings of connected words that convey a more complex aspect of reality, objects with qualities performing actions. Juxtaposed words become pregnant with meaning. Phrases of words molded into metrical lines convey a musical vision of life in visual images.
Then there is the more complex dramatic aspect of character performing within a social context. Poetry at a higher level presents a vision of a group of people and how their actions are constructive or destructive, exploring interactions that lead to marriage in comedy, or lead to death in tragedy. Great poetry explores the pattern of character archetypes whose interactions follow a trajectory of cause and effect by presenting a character who expresses their view of the world, and makes a decision to act a certain way, and then presents the consequences of their actions.
The best poetry molds a string of words into a memorable phrase of metrical verse that easily replicates itself in the people's minds. In ancient preliterate times, lines of singable verse that was easily memorizable was the essence of poetry. Then people began writing poetry on paper, so it conveyed the singable simplicity of lines. Dramatic recreations of action and reaction on stage developed in drama. With the development of printing, people abandoned the singable metricality of lines and began writing prose to convey longer more complex tales of life. Now with film, the drama has returned as the main way of telling stories with actors performing the roles on film.
The individual poet can choose so many methods and techniques now to convey a vision of the human character interacting in the world. For myself, I have chosen to write narrative poetry, using flexible metrical lines of blank verse by composing complete conceptual phrases in loosely pentameter lines, as I recount the lives and ideas of philosophers and scientists.
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