Week one post

The Two Languages, chapter one of Kenneth Koch’s book, “Making your own days,” depicts what poetry is, with all it’s complexities, and what it means to the author, the poet and, in turn, the reader. As Koch explains, learning to write in the language of poetry requires “talent” and “effort,” much like that of learning of foreign language, however, once learned and used can cause “pleasure” and a sense of “possibility, ambition, and excitement” (Page 19, 20). Portraying all the beauty that can be created from aligning various sounds and rhythms found inside common language, Koch illustrates how poetry can cause the reader to “sense” the author’s emotions; leaving the viewer “[convinced]” of the communicated meaning that can involve such “emotional content” (Page 22, 23). Koch then goes on to relate poetry to music. In Music, chapter two of his book, Koch compares the basic elements of music to that of the core of poetry; where words are “notes” that have a “rhythm” and follow specific “metrical” patterns (I.e. line division, repetition, rhyming, etc.) (Page 27, 29, 30)

I found this week’s readings enjoyable. I’ve always enjoyed poetry. However, seeing as though I’ve never been exceptionably creative this liking has always been more from the reader/listener point-of-view. One thing I’ve always liked is when illustrative, clever wording can mask a hidden-meaning that requires a bit of thought to understand. I felt that Koch did a good just of this is many of his analogies. One that I enjoyed most was Koch’s depiction of the sound of each particular word being like a drum. In everyday speech, the sound of a word merely differentiates it from another. Like a drum that has yet to be struck, the sound of the word lacks meaning. However, when used in poetry, the sound of a word and a specific orientation can create a hidden effect, causing the word to come to life like the “sounds hidden inside a drum that emerge when you hit it with a stick.” (Page 21)

I did have a question this week in class. When we were categorizing each individual type of word, as it applies to poetry, on the board I missed the definition and examples of “colloquial” words. I’m not sure if it was talked about and I was to busy trying to copy down all I saw on the left side of the board or what but I was hoping for a brief definition and possibly a few examples. Other than that I followed every well and hope you all have a good Labor-day off.