“And this is the sweet spirit, that doth fill
The world; and, in these wayward days of youth,
My busy fancy oft embodies it,
As a bright image of the light and beauty
That dwell in nature; of the heavenly forms”-Henry Wordsworth Longfellow
Poetry is the spirit, dwelling in the most uncertain and vivid of places, that can be. It’s not something you could do with your eyes shut. It takes the eyes of your soul to capture feelings, emotions, beauty and the true essence of life and weave them into an unforgettable string of words. If you ask me, who are poets to deserve an entire article dedicated to them. I’d like to express my view with poetry.
“Poets are the knights, not in shining armour,
but with a shining soul lurking within bodies, unknown.
Their pens, mightier than the sword.
Their words , echoing the realities, in a fashion untoward. “
Poets are the unacclaimed sorcerors, seated in old coffee shops, glued to the books in the library, breathing in experience and life under the rays of the sun or weaving words into magic, holding secrets of life! Without much ado, let’s move on to know what makes poets as they are.
Perseverance
Being a poet asks for a lot of patience and perseverance. The unpredictability of your words being understood, as they are meant. The fickling chances of recognition. The fear of your talent, being smothered under inopportune struggles. All these uncertainties hovers a person whose life depends on his words, proses, and tales, he wishes to render to the mortals. But poets are champions, when it comes to ‘waiting for the perfect time’. They do not get stumbled upon by tough times. Rather they shape them into eternal poetries like the one by Thomas Gray!
Finding the Inner Voice
The inner voice is the perfect guide, which we tend to ignore at times, of crucial importance. Poets seek the meaning of life within, than without. They realise that the answer to the deepest and the intricate of questions lay within themselves. They prefer to sip that warmly brewed coffee and delve into their mind palace, finding ways and creating paths to the unanswered questions and inspire us to do the same. They become their guides and wade through the storm like the paladin.
The Power to Give Life
Often, we muggles fail to realize and acknowledge the life residing in what we consider as the silence. What we fail to hear are the voices of the deepest of forests, the shimmering brooks, the cascading hills, the shooting stars and the chiming winds. Poets find tales, untold, in what we call nature. They seek stories and charge the emotions subsiding within the unheard. The pain, the joy, the thoughts, the agony and the mysteries lay unveiled among the barks of trees or streaming rivers, until a poet pens it down and gives us a sense of reality like never before. A poet gives life to what we consider as mute. A poet can find the hidden human emotions in the abstract.
Amalgam of Contrasts
Poets are the perfect blend of contrasting personalities which make them who they are. They can be extremely sensitive at the same time desensitize them from things curtailing their creativity. They can be extroverted, sitting in the crowds or introverted, sitting on the sidelines. They can be playful with thoughts and when needed concentration, can streamline their energy like laser beams. They are humble and proud. They are passionate about their work and hence can be objective about it too. All these qualities and inhibitions, when channelized into a proper direction, creates masterpieces etched in the memories of millions. They are like the fire and ice!
Great Poets are Great Poets!
A Great poet is not born great but he becomes one. However, the creative instincts and the power to behold the secrets, in eternal words, is somewhat innate. With their words, they can stir revolutions. Their verses can instill the fervor of freedom and life in the cold hearts. They have the power to ignite changes and strike chords of unknowing realities. They can topple worlds and build castles. Their imagination and observation can perfectly balance out to carve stories relatable to scenarios of lives, of the doomed or the blessed, the rich or the poor. Great poets know no boundaries or follow no stereotypes. They are liberals who believe in rationality and truth beyond sight. They are their own makers and creators.
There can be no arguments, that poetry and poets open the eyes which are blind to the realities of life. They teach us to Love, to appreciate what we have and equip us with the power of real satisfaction in life. Poetry is a way to escape the mundane and explore the unwonted facets of life. Kudos to all the poets, whose words reflect the deeper lying conflict within our beings!
