I'll start. I have never purchased a book of poetry. I have purchased books, such as the Bible, that contain some poetry, and I have bought novels where each chapter begins with a poem but, in that case, I usually skip over the poem. In high school, I have had to check some out of the library because they were required in literature courses, but I've never bought one.
I have a few poems that I like, but I don’t care for poetry in general, and would much rather read a book. I have never purchased a book of poetry and probably never would. I used to like to read some of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, but not any of his poems that I can remember.
I've taken poetry in high school and as part of an American Lit class in college, but poems have never been part of my recreational reading. I recall my high school attitude of "They can't be very smart if they need someone else to tell me what they're saying." Then there was the evolution of "It don't have to rhyme to be a poem." I guess there are prose and cons. I figured all of the obfuscation was to divert from a lack of quality, kinda like putting toys in Happy Meals.
Last night, I was freezing after we went to bed, and couldn’t go to sleep until my iceberg feet and fingers warmed up; so I was thinking about the poetry thing. It turns out that I DO like poetry, when someone puts it to music. Every song that we sing is written in poetry style, where the words and cadence match the music. I have bought lots of music books over the years, so maybe I have to change my vote, because every song in the music books was actually poetry .
I might have to change my vote also because about 25 years ago, knowing how fixated a friend was about his reading habits whilst doing his *morning chores*, I bought him a copy of “Poems For The John” for his birthday. I have to admit that since the book only made a very small contribution to society’s literary accomplishments hence hard to find, and was written in 1960, the book had been used and well read it seemed but nevertheless my friend said he enjoyed the contents.
Never. Poems never answered the questions I had about life. Books did. When I was younger, I bought quite a lot of other books although I actually couldn't afford them. While I have been reading books and journals all my life, I didn't need to own them and have never been one of those people who want to be judged by the running meters of books on their book shelves. With those who do, some questions often reveal that, contrary to what they had claimed, most of them have never read all the books they'd bought, not even as retirees. When I was preparing my move four years ago I checked all the books I had and thought about how likely it was for me to read them again. Kept only a few and threw the others away. Still I buy books regularly but, above all, I've been a library man all my life. I always have a couple of books and journals at home which are borrowed from libraries.
I don't buy books of verse...my Daughter, who writes them and has them published, has sent me 4 so far, but I'm waiting for her to begin writing her Novel! Hal
That's pretty cool, Hal. I see that she sells on Amazon. Here's her website. I also see that she inherited your musicality (plays mandolin and fiddle.)
The book was E.E. Cummings Poetry. Over the years I have read some poetry over the years. Bought a book or two of in college. Then one day my son said to me, I'm teaching a creative writing course this semister. I asked what his class would consist of and he said, Poetry, Creative writing, and Drama. He said if I could set my own agenda for this course, and I might, I'd lean heavily on writing, and drama and not much on poetry. He said nobody reads poetry anymore. I said, but you teach spanish and spanish culture to graduate students, why are you teaching this course? He said, I'm sure because they could find nobody else. I asked who his favorite poet was, he said, E.E. Cummings, whose yours? Why I bought the book. I read the book, and over time read most of it again.
Yes, @John Brunner, my daughter Tania is a successful published Author, and is also quite skilled at drawing the tail of a Horse over the intestines of a Cat. Hal