An interesting approach, except ... Aurora Leigh? Really? I speak from hard experience here: I once had the bright idea of teaching a class which included Aurora Leigh as one of the main set books, and my students absolutely hated it.
It's one of those books that, I feel, works much better as an idea - there are lots of great themes in it to discuss, including some of highly topical interest (sexual violence, for example): it's very fruitful for certain kinds of literary scholarship. But it's really hard going for modern readers (again, at least going by my experience), partly because it ends up in a place which is not at all what would be called conventionally feminist (to put it mildly), partly because of the ludicrous plot-twist in the final act, but mostly because, to be frank, the writing just isn't that memorable. EBB was a remarkable poet on a small scale, but I feel she struggled to maintain that kind of consistency in a book-length narrative poem - she isn't Tennyson or Wordsworth, let alone Milton. There are occasional sparks of brilliance in particular lines or sections, but one can read pages of Aurora Leigh without coming across any.
Maybe Bennett found more to his taste in it than I do. And I would probably agree that one shouldn't launch into Paradise Lost too early in one's poetic explorations. But there are many, many narrative poems out there which are much more accessible and attractive than Aurora Leigh.
Something I notice has not been mentioned is to read poetry aloud when possible. The shapes of words in the mouth affects cadence, and really, poetry is a form of song or incantation. Reading aloud helps to find the rhythm, the physicality of the words. I don’t know if it will make anyone like poetry more, but it can certainly help in appreciating the form!
The very first point seems the most difficult and dubious (unless one is entirely wrong-headed). All knowledge seems to start from you already know, so to drop that would set you back!
Definitely Isaiah. Uplifting and powerful all the way. I always think the beginning of Ecclesiastes, read aloud, can sound kinda crotchety until it really gets going and opens up.
It's hard for me to think about how to appreciate poetry before refrigerators. I mean, how could you tell a really bad one if someone hadn't stuck it on the door with a magnet?
Excuse the crudeness, but in my college dorm, someone had taped poetry all over one of the bathroom stalls. This was where I first read “Ozymandias,” “If,” and a handful of others. Same idea
An interesting approach, except ... Aurora Leigh? Really? I speak from hard experience here: I once had the bright idea of teaching a class which included Aurora Leigh as one of the main set books, and my students absolutely hated it.
It's one of those books that, I feel, works much better as an idea - there are lots of great themes in it to discuss, including some of highly topical interest (sexual violence, for example): it's very fruitful for certain kinds of literary scholarship. But it's really hard going for modern readers (again, at least going by my experience), partly because it ends up in a place which is not at all what would be called conventionally feminist (to put it mildly), partly because of the ludicrous plot-twist in the final act, but mostly because, to be frank, the writing just isn't that memorable. EBB was a remarkable poet on a small scale, but I feel she struggled to maintain that kind of consistency in a book-length narrative poem - she isn't Tennyson or Wordsworth, let alone Milton. There are occasional sparks of brilliance in particular lines or sections, but one can read pages of Aurora Leigh without coming across any.
Maybe Bennett found more to his taste in it than I do. And I would probably agree that one shouldn't launch into Paradise Lost too early in one's poetic explorations. But there are many, many narrative poems out there which are much more accessible and attractive than Aurora Leigh.
I fully agree... taste was different then!
Wow. Let me try if only during lunch break. Thanks.
Something I notice has not been mentioned is to read poetry aloud when possible. The shapes of words in the mouth affects cadence, and really, poetry is a form of song or incantation. Reading aloud helps to find the rhythm, the physicality of the words. I don’t know if it will make anyone like poetry more, but it can certainly help in appreciating the form!
totally
One hundred percent correct!
Now we’ll be looking out for Henry Oliver’s ten step plan, won’t we?
The first step is crucial. But certainly the key is to read a number of poems repeatedly until you learn to hear them.
The very first point seems the most difficult and dubious (unless one is entirely wrong-headed). All knowledge seems to start from you already know, so to drop that would set you back!
Definitely Isaiah. Uplifting and powerful all the way. I always think the beginning of Ecclesiastes, read aloud, can sound kinda crotchety until it really gets going and opens up.
It's hard for me to think about how to appreciate poetry before refrigerators. I mean, how could you tell a really bad one if someone hadn't stuck it on the door with a magnet?
Excuse the crudeness, but in my college dorm, someone had taped poetry all over one of the bathroom stalls. This was where I first read “Ozymandias,” “If,” and a handful of others. Same idea
best graffiti ever
Indeed, stall poetry has its own piquancy. Generalization is impossible.