Do you "get" poetry? Or not?

Question

Like :No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

i don't see the point of poetry...it's sooo corny!

They didn't have cameras and dvd players back then....or playstation....

Answer 1

Its a little thing called people find poetry ENTERTAINING and CLASSIC. Some words I wouldnt think are in your vocabulary, since you insist on saying you dont get poetry.

Answer 2

I do find it rather self-indulgent. The whole idea is to use language to create a thing of beauty. But it leaves me cold.

Answer 3

If it is not too clever and deep

Answer 4

Some poetry I get some I do not. This one I do. It is basically saying no matter how much man tries to isolate himself he can not because all in all we are connected in one way or another. As far as the bell tolls it is talking about out mortality which in his time was a constant part of life where as now it is not so much.

Answer 5

yeah man, who needs poetry when you've got all this technology

Answer 6

Poetry... mystery to Me

Song Lyrics... aren't they the same? I understand lyrics...

Answer 7

Absolutely! however poetry varies among people! one person might feel anger towards those words and another might feel passion. That's the beauty of poetry!

Answer 8

How can you not "get" this:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on".

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Answer 9

Yeah, I think so, but I studied it for a long time in college.  I think anyone can understand good poetry if they put their mind to it.  If it's corny or just nonsense, then it's bad poetry.  The poem you posted is actually a really great one--it's about how we're all, as humans, in this together and should embrace one another rather than isolating ourselves from each other.  If you're not into poetry, that's cool, but don't knock it.  I mean, I hate video games, but you don't see me bashing the ol' Playstation you mention...

Answer 10

what is this thing you call poetry.... I don't get it.... :D

Answer 11

I don't get poetry either.....

I just don't, I love to sing, I love reading the bible

But a persons personal poetry totally flies over my head

I think because Poetry is a personal language

Answer 12

personally i don't get poetry either even though i won awards for a handful of poems in high school. i didn't even understand what i was doing. some people love the stuff and i say good for them.