I really valued what Donald Hall said about all good poems having ambivalence, or opposition built into them. He explains that all human minds and thoughts have tensions, and good poetry reflects these states. I like how he kept this statement vague, so as not to necessarily influence writers to have specific tensions, but to make them consider how tension plays into the meaning of their personal poems. I too, like Hall, find some of the most impactful and lyrical poems to have particular sounds, it’s something I’ve tried to play with in some of my poems for this class like Envy and Sea of C’s. I think what he said about him and his wife coexisting in the world of poetry, writing in separate solitudes while also convening over some material was important too, because it shows that even when you love, admire, or respect someone, you should never conform your ideas/poems into something that suits their version of your work, but also, you should still take their perspective into consideration to make your work its best. I think Hall spoke beautifully about the idea we have talked in class about writing the scar not the wound. I liked the quote, “the poems are full of grief and horrors, but it was not grief and horror to write them.” I think Hall’s work, especially the weeds and peonies, is a perfect example of how both reading and writing poetry can heal us. He explained that he didn’t quite know during the writing process of the wish that it was a closure of a grieving chapter in his life, but “I listened to my own poem and heard it.” I got chills during this moment.
Before I start on what Donald Hall taught me about poetry, I would just like to admire him for a moment. I think he really can show people that even as a child, you can find your safe place within a book. In just the first five minutes of the video he teaches us a lesson that our differences, the arguments he had about what is worthy of a poem is valuable. A lot of his poems had personal touch to it, not just because it was written by his hand, but he wrote poems about his wife who was also a poem. Sharing poems with other people can really be helpful because you get that outside perspective to maybe better your writing. I think another thing Donald Hall brought up in the video that is important is about dismissing certain aspects in another persons writing because its just something you will always not agree with. Sometimes we will read poems that are beautiful, but just not what we like, we have to remember to have that in mind. Donald Hall writing about his lost in his poems really means a lot to me because I tend to so far only write about my lost of a close friend in this class. I think another thing that is important is how he listens to his own poems/hears them. I also want to mention that I really like the segment in the video where he talks about his children books. Another lesson from Donald Hall is the importance of sound in a poem, and “in every poem, to be good, has to have its own opposition in it.” Another lesson, part of his advice, is that there is always revision. Also reading older poetry, is so important- poetry from the 1700s so that you can really dive in and a real sense to what your own poetry could be.
Before this video, I personally have never heard of Donald Hall. I really enjoyed the way in which he would articulate his ideas in such as way that they were able to be understood and related to. My favorite part was the ending where he talked about having opposition built into every poem, and I think that’s a really interesting way of looking at poetry. His big thing he wanted upcoming poets to do was really read the work from the past poets. He says that by doing this it will make the writer stronger, and I really agree with that. I find that I learn best from example. I find that writing poetry is really hard for me, but when we read poems in class and out, I find that it starts to flow more naturally for me. He also said that one should not be afraid to revise again and again and again. He says that there is no such things as a perfect poem, nor is it possible to have one of them on the first try. This was also made very apparent to me with the drafty draft exercise. I found that pushing myself to continue revising is ultimately what made my poem sound more put together and cohesive. After watching this video I have come to like Donald Hall, and would be very interested in reading more of his work, as I really enjoy how it feels like he is telling his life story through each poem.
I loved how Donald Hall’s poems felt very personal, often being about the illness and subsequent passing of his wife, who was also a poem. The way he talks about sharing his poems with his wife and with others reminds me of the importance of getting feedback for our work so we can grow. My favorite part was when he talked about his poetry regarding his wife being a letter to the dead and how when he was younger, he never understood writing to dead loved ones, but now, he understood the catharsis of it. I also learned about how it is okay to continually revise your poem, which I experienced when we did the drafty-draft poem, as it allowed for me to form a more coherent, deeper, and more technically unique poem. I did not know who Donald Hall was prior to this video, but I’ve come to enjoy the way he tells stories about his life through his poetry, especially about the people he loves.
Within the first few minutes of the interview, Donald Hall can truly claim that his environment, Connecticut to be exact, can be the true inspiration for his poetry. He does say he does not want to mention everything that inspires his poetry, which in a sense is fair. Sometimes the artist can bring out happiness and darkness when they create their art. Sometimes the dark is too dark. Donald Hall also expresses that there must be collaboration and editing or peer review in a sense. However, that being said he wanted and welcomed competition but in a way that the victor would not feel victorious over others. A sense of friendly banter per se. This was with his late wife…As the interview goes on, you can see the love and devotion he has for his wife that he pours out in his poetry, though sad, he remains composed. Donald Hall describes poetry in two ways which I found very interesting. He first describes poetry as sound, the way it sounds is super important. The other point he makes is that it has to have an opposition of the human mind. Meaning that the feelings can be different said than written. Never 50/50 but a trace of a human element. He leaves the interview with two pieces of advice. He wants poets to reive and go over it until their hands bleed. Though emotion pours into the first one, the feelings can change. His next advice is to read the old poets and understand their texts. Have a frame or ear for reference.
After watching the interview with Donald Hall, I gained new insight into the mind of a poet and considered things that I had not thought about before. It seems that he focuses a lot on competition, but more specifically finding the most favorable outcome for whatever work was being completed. It was less about arguing and competing than it was keeping work ideas independent from one another.
In addition to this, I learned about Donald Hall himself. I got the sense that there was a change in his work before, during, and after his wife’s passing from battling leukemia. Before, his work was still his work, but not as focused on a particular personal circumstance like his wife’s condition. During the illness that she was experiencing, he would write poems specifically about his wife in the hospital, referring to the hospital as a ship in one of the poems that he shared. He would write about going to see her, his feelings about her dire situation, and other things surrounding her condition. After her passing, he would write letters to her informing her of things that she would like to hear. He obviously knew that he was not talking directly to her, but the process of writing those letters made it feel like he was doing something about the situation.
Hall used poetry as an escape and a coping mechanism for his familial troubles. Though this was not the only way he used poetry, this topic was what was focused on in the interview. I get the sense that this guy has no reason to shed a tear again, he was very open about anything that the interviewer asked and didn’t shy away from answering questions honestly.
After watching the video on poetry with Donal Hall, I definitely started to think way more about the sound/shape/cadence of poetry and a type of musical connection that I haven’t been thinking about as much, but listening to him read his poetry really stuck with me. I thought many of the things he spoke of regarding his early life and the beginnings of writing poetry were so cool. I loved how he described feeling at ease in the right university atmosphere and how much the cultivation of a fantastic writing community can be for someone’s craft – the seriousness surrounding their work and a type of competitive push for each other to excel. I loved listening to that and connecting with our class, and how much I think we strive to be professional, take each other’s work seriously, and be helpful in our environment. Another aspect I took away from this video was how beautiful his poems about his grieving process with his wife are – one thing he said that stuck out for me was, “It was not grief and horror to write them; it was making grief and horror into poems.” I thought back to our class discussions on the shadow/bag we carry with us, the idea of writing from the scar, and how to remove ourselves from all that unhelpful venting to truly make something out of the less-than-ideal aspects of life. Both his insights surrounding defining poetry and his advice were just so reflective and appreciative of the way of life poetry can cultivate in us – like in his focus again on sound as both an entryway into defining poetry but also in how we as new poets can listen to and read aloud the work of great poets before us and get an ear for the meter. He also brought up such an interesting concept that all good poems should have this opposition and tension built into it, and the phrase where he said ambivalences are characteristics of every human mind and that it should be mirrored within the poem was a truly compelling moment for me in this interview.
I really liked this whole interview but when Hall talked about his poem “The Wish” he said something that really stood out to me. The interviewer talked about how this poem seemed to be a closure about the grief of losing his wife and he agreed with her. But he said about how he didn’t set out to make the poem about closure and that’s not what was in his mind when he had written it. Even so the poem ended up being about closure for him and I really love that. I think good writing that comes from the heart can do more things than the writer ever had intended for it to. I also really like what he has to say about how he follows a poem by the noise it makes. I have to say sometimes I change my writing style because I like the way something sounds in a different style rather than my usual one. I think following the poem in a way is what leads to great poetry. I also really love what he said about a good poem having it’s own opposition in it. Some of my favorite pieces I’ve written have many conflicting feelings or experiences described in them. I think poems like that show the complexity of being a human being which for me makes them more enjoyable to read. I think exploring the gray areas of the human existence is what makes exciting poetry.
In the beginning when Donald was remembering the time about writing the poems of his wife’s death, I really resonated with a statement he gave. He said that he gave himself 2 hours of happy time writing every morning after her death, and gave himself the next 22 hours to grieve her. I really enjoyed the way he described the 2 hours as a happy time instead of his time to grieve. Having that time to remember her, and feel those emotions for two hours is just as helpful as grieving the other 22 hours of the day. I also really loved the poem where he compared the hospital to a ship that had no destination. It was a really interesting way of describing what it’s like to be in a hospital. I also really liked that he gave two different answers for the definition of a poem. That answer alone solidifies that poems can mean a variety of things to many different people and should not be defined to one meaning. His way of writing poetry by following the “sound” is really cool as well. From my understanding, he didn’t mean literal sounds, but the sound or feeling of the poem and how it is written. I also really loved the final remarks in his advice to young poets. I always struggle with revising anything I write. When Hall mentioned that young people may see it as insincere to the poem, I really relate to that. I need to remember that I’m not ruining a poem if I revise it, I am enhancing it and in turn making it even more sincere than when I first plopped it on the page.
As I listened to Donald Hall recite his former poetry, throughout the video assigned, I found that his poems of grief, especially “The Ship Pounding” resonated deeply with me, as I have experienced grief in the past, and really connected to him. His way with words had an astounding impact on me and was incredibly touching, and surely has a solid impressionable effect on others. In this poem he speaks fondly and crestfallen of his wife Jane, who is suffering from cancer and enduring chemo treatment. In this poem he describes the “devices that dripped chemicals into her wrists,” in a manner of personification to give depth to the seemingly human-like qualities of a wretched machine. He has very unique word choices which enhance the poem’s emotional impact and keep me engaged throughout. He is a poet with pure passion, character, and feeling, which really shows through his tone. Overall, I was really pleased with this video and enjoyed it thoroughly. I do, however, wish he articulated a bit more as it was a bit hard for me to understand him thoroughly. With this small but crucial fix, I can get the most out of the video as possible.
This interview really exemplified the importance of sound and music for poetry. While Donald Hall read his poems out loud you become so engaged and engrossed in these poems. I think this is because he knows the importance of and how to write in a storytelling way. Hall mentioned that a piece of advice he gives to poets is to read the old poets and do what they called “cultivating the ear” to the music in those poems. This relates to how poetry was an oral tradition and so it mattered that it sounded pleasing. Nowadays, we mostly read poetry silently which lacks most of that musical aspect. Hearing Donald Hall read some of his poems out loud taught me the importance of reading out loud or listening to other poets, especially the older ones, and also reading my own poems out loud when attempting to revise them.
Donald Hall also discussed his revision process. He explained that he spends a great amount of time revising poems and he believes that it is “deadly” to participate in workshops in which you must present new pieces each week, due to that being such a quick process of creating work. I have found this resonating because after I have handed in some of my poems I go back again to revise them more, or even change them almost completely. Hall’s description of his process writing the childrens’ book taking a year, and then suddenly coming together, exemplifies quite well that some great things take time. He originally thought that the poem would be one thing, spent a year revising or trying to finish it, and then had a moment where he realized what it was meant to be, takes the pressure off trying to write a good poem right away. Overall, I think it is extremely valuable to read and listen to older poets, taking their advice. My main takeaways from this interview with Donald Hall were cultivating the ear to the music within poetry and taking my time revising or finishing poems.
I really enjoyed when Hall talked about how poetry can be a vehicle to communicate and connect with others. For him, it was his wife Jane who has passed on. He felt as if there was a remaining connection between them while addressing his work to her. The other part I found interesting about this collection was Hall considering their form as letters. When I think of poetry, I don’t think of the sort-of narrative conversation that can be found in letters. Poetry, from my based understanding, is imaginative and creative with complicated technique or imagery. My point in addressing such is that it simplified what I seem to feel has so difficult. Hall strips away technique or poetic ability to simply state that poetry, for him, was like a conversation. That at the core, he was trying to get out things he wanted to say to someone who can no longer physically be present. I imagine this allowed Hall to get words out more freely because the subject matter was so significant. Although only a perspective, because he is still (in the literal sense) trying to write poetry, it shaped my perspective. I feel I can approach writing with this in mind and it will hopefully make the brainstorming easier.
I think one of the biggest things that stuck with me about Donald Hall’s talk (about specifically poetry) was the ending where he gives advice to future readers. Not necessarily about the part about reading the classics (that’s exactly what my old English teacher told me to do, and I wholeheartedly agree). I’m more referring to the idea that poetry needs to have a specific sound. I think on a subconscious level I knew about that, but one of the best things about enjoying poetry is reading it aloud to someone, or even just to yourself. I love savoring the syllables, and reaching that one spot when the words just click, and you can tell that “this” is the best spot in the poem. As for the rest of the talk I don’t think it was necessarily the poetry lessons that stuck with me the most, it was the story he had about the poetry. It was remarkably interesting to delve into his mind a little bit and hear how he approaches and handles poetry. It’s always interesting to hear how people talk about their passions, and it’s clear he loves poetry. The way he speaks and describes how he feels is almost poetic in and of itself, and it translates perfectly to his poetry and how he reads it (which I suppose ties into my favorite piece of advice from him).
13 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 7”
I really valued what Donald Hall said about all good poems having ambivalence, or opposition built into them. He explains that all human minds and thoughts have tensions, and good poetry reflects these states. I like how he kept this statement vague, so as not to necessarily influence writers to have specific tensions, but to make them consider how tension plays into the meaning of their personal poems. I too, like Hall, find some of the most impactful and lyrical poems to have particular sounds, it’s something I’ve tried to play with in some of my poems for this class like Envy and Sea of C’s. I think what he said about him and his wife coexisting in the world of poetry, writing in separate solitudes while also convening over some material was important too, because it shows that even when you love, admire, or respect someone, you should never conform your ideas/poems into something that suits their version of your work, but also, you should still take their perspective into consideration to make your work its best. I think Hall spoke beautifully about the idea we have talked in class about writing the scar not the wound. I liked the quote, “the poems are full of grief and horrors, but it was not grief and horror to write them.” I think Hall’s work, especially the weeds and peonies, is a perfect example of how both reading and writing poetry can heal us. He explained that he didn’t quite know during the writing process of the wish that it was a closure of a grieving chapter in his life, but “I listened to my own poem and heard it.” I got chills during this moment.
Before I start on what Donald Hall taught me about poetry, I would just like to admire him for a moment. I think he really can show people that even as a child, you can find your safe place within a book. In just the first five minutes of the video he teaches us a lesson that our differences, the arguments he had about what is worthy of a poem is valuable. A lot of his poems had personal touch to it, not just because it was written by his hand, but he wrote poems about his wife who was also a poem. Sharing poems with other people can really be helpful because you get that outside perspective to maybe better your writing. I think another thing Donald Hall brought up in the video that is important is about dismissing certain aspects in another persons writing because its just something you will always not agree with. Sometimes we will read poems that are beautiful, but just not what we like, we have to remember to have that in mind. Donald Hall writing about his lost in his poems really means a lot to me because I tend to so far only write about my lost of a close friend in this class. I think another thing that is important is how he listens to his own poems/hears them. I also want to mention that I really like the segment in the video where he talks about his children books. Another lesson from Donald Hall is the importance of sound in a poem, and “in every poem, to be good, has to have its own opposition in it.” Another lesson, part of his advice, is that there is always revision. Also reading older poetry, is so important- poetry from the 1700s so that you can really dive in and a real sense to what your own poetry could be.
Before this video, I personally have never heard of Donald Hall. I really enjoyed the way in which he would articulate his ideas in such as way that they were able to be understood and related to. My favorite part was the ending where he talked about having opposition built into every poem, and I think that’s a really interesting way of looking at poetry. His big thing he wanted upcoming poets to do was really read the work from the past poets. He says that by doing this it will make the writer stronger, and I really agree with that. I find that I learn best from example. I find that writing poetry is really hard for me, but when we read poems in class and out, I find that it starts to flow more naturally for me. He also said that one should not be afraid to revise again and again and again. He says that there is no such things as a perfect poem, nor is it possible to have one of them on the first try. This was also made very apparent to me with the drafty draft exercise. I found that pushing myself to continue revising is ultimately what made my poem sound more put together and cohesive. After watching this video I have come to like Donald Hall, and would be very interested in reading more of his work, as I really enjoy how it feels like he is telling his life story through each poem.
I loved how Donald Hall’s poems felt very personal, often being about the illness and subsequent passing of his wife, who was also a poem. The way he talks about sharing his poems with his wife and with others reminds me of the importance of getting feedback for our work so we can grow. My favorite part was when he talked about his poetry regarding his wife being a letter to the dead and how when he was younger, he never understood writing to dead loved ones, but now, he understood the catharsis of it. I also learned about how it is okay to continually revise your poem, which I experienced when we did the drafty-draft poem, as it allowed for me to form a more coherent, deeper, and more technically unique poem. I did not know who Donald Hall was prior to this video, but I’ve come to enjoy the way he tells stories about his life through his poetry, especially about the people he loves.
Within the first few minutes of the interview, Donald Hall can truly claim that his environment, Connecticut to be exact, can be the true inspiration for his poetry. He does say he does not want to mention everything that inspires his poetry, which in a sense is fair. Sometimes the artist can bring out happiness and darkness when they create their art. Sometimes the dark is too dark. Donald Hall also expresses that there must be collaboration and editing or peer review in a sense. However, that being said he wanted and welcomed competition but in a way that the victor would not feel victorious over others. A sense of friendly banter per se. This was with his late wife…As the interview goes on, you can see the love and devotion he has for his wife that he pours out in his poetry, though sad, he remains composed. Donald Hall describes poetry in two ways which I found very interesting. He first describes poetry as sound, the way it sounds is super important. The other point he makes is that it has to have an opposition of the human mind. Meaning that the feelings can be different said than written. Never 50/50 but a trace of a human element. He leaves the interview with two pieces of advice. He wants poets to reive and go over it until their hands bleed. Though emotion pours into the first one, the feelings can change. His next advice is to read the old poets and understand their texts. Have a frame or ear for reference.
After watching the interview with Donald Hall, I gained new insight into the mind of a poet and considered things that I had not thought about before. It seems that he focuses a lot on competition, but more specifically finding the most favorable outcome for whatever work was being completed. It was less about arguing and competing than it was keeping work ideas independent from one another.
In addition to this, I learned about Donald Hall himself. I got the sense that there was a change in his work before, during, and after his wife’s passing from battling leukemia. Before, his work was still his work, but not as focused on a particular personal circumstance like his wife’s condition. During the illness that she was experiencing, he would write poems specifically about his wife in the hospital, referring to the hospital as a ship in one of the poems that he shared. He would write about going to see her, his feelings about her dire situation, and other things surrounding her condition. After her passing, he would write letters to her informing her of things that she would like to hear. He obviously knew that he was not talking directly to her, but the process of writing those letters made it feel like he was doing something about the situation.
Hall used poetry as an escape and a coping mechanism for his familial troubles. Though this was not the only way he used poetry, this topic was what was focused on in the interview. I get the sense that this guy has no reason to shed a tear again, he was very open about anything that the interviewer asked and didn’t shy away from answering questions honestly.
After watching the video on poetry with Donal Hall, I definitely started to think way more about the sound/shape/cadence of poetry and a type of musical connection that I haven’t been thinking about as much, but listening to him read his poetry really stuck with me. I thought many of the things he spoke of regarding his early life and the beginnings of writing poetry were so cool. I loved how he described feeling at ease in the right university atmosphere and how much the cultivation of a fantastic writing community can be for someone’s craft – the seriousness surrounding their work and a type of competitive push for each other to excel. I loved listening to that and connecting with our class, and how much I think we strive to be professional, take each other’s work seriously, and be helpful in our environment. Another aspect I took away from this video was how beautiful his poems about his grieving process with his wife are – one thing he said that stuck out for me was, “It was not grief and horror to write them; it was making grief and horror into poems.” I thought back to our class discussions on the shadow/bag we carry with us, the idea of writing from the scar, and how to remove ourselves from all that unhelpful venting to truly make something out of the less-than-ideal aspects of life. Both his insights surrounding defining poetry and his advice were just so reflective and appreciative of the way of life poetry can cultivate in us – like in his focus again on sound as both an entryway into defining poetry but also in how we as new poets can listen to and read aloud the work of great poets before us and get an ear for the meter. He also brought up such an interesting concept that all good poems should have this opposition and tension built into it, and the phrase where he said ambivalences are characteristics of every human mind and that it should be mirrored within the poem was a truly compelling moment for me in this interview.
I really liked this whole interview but when Hall talked about his poem “The Wish” he said something that really stood out to me. The interviewer talked about how this poem seemed to be a closure about the grief of losing his wife and he agreed with her. But he said about how he didn’t set out to make the poem about closure and that’s not what was in his mind when he had written it. Even so the poem ended up being about closure for him and I really love that. I think good writing that comes from the heart can do more things than the writer ever had intended for it to. I also really like what he has to say about how he follows a poem by the noise it makes. I have to say sometimes I change my writing style because I like the way something sounds in a different style rather than my usual one. I think following the poem in a way is what leads to great poetry. I also really love what he said about a good poem having it’s own opposition in it. Some of my favorite pieces I’ve written have many conflicting feelings or experiences described in them. I think poems like that show the complexity of being a human being which for me makes them more enjoyable to read. I think exploring the gray areas of the human existence is what makes exciting poetry.
In the beginning when Donald was remembering the time about writing the poems of his wife’s death, I really resonated with a statement he gave. He said that he gave himself 2 hours of happy time writing every morning after her death, and gave himself the next 22 hours to grieve her. I really enjoyed the way he described the 2 hours as a happy time instead of his time to grieve. Having that time to remember her, and feel those emotions for two hours is just as helpful as grieving the other 22 hours of the day. I also really loved the poem where he compared the hospital to a ship that had no destination. It was a really interesting way of describing what it’s like to be in a hospital. I also really liked that he gave two different answers for the definition of a poem. That answer alone solidifies that poems can mean a variety of things to many different people and should not be defined to one meaning. His way of writing poetry by following the “sound” is really cool as well. From my understanding, he didn’t mean literal sounds, but the sound or feeling of the poem and how it is written. I also really loved the final remarks in his advice to young poets. I always struggle with revising anything I write. When Hall mentioned that young people may see it as insincere to the poem, I really relate to that. I need to remember that I’m not ruining a poem if I revise it, I am enhancing it and in turn making it even more sincere than when I first plopped it on the page.
As I listened to Donald Hall recite his former poetry, throughout the video assigned, I found that his poems of grief, especially “The Ship Pounding” resonated deeply with me, as I have experienced grief in the past, and really connected to him. His way with words had an astounding impact on me and was incredibly touching, and surely has a solid impressionable effect on others. In this poem he speaks fondly and crestfallen of his wife Jane, who is suffering from cancer and enduring chemo treatment. In this poem he describes the “devices that dripped chemicals into her wrists,” in a manner of personification to give depth to the seemingly human-like qualities of a wretched machine. He has very unique word choices which enhance the poem’s emotional impact and keep me engaged throughout. He is a poet with pure passion, character, and feeling, which really shows through his tone. Overall, I was really pleased with this video and enjoyed it thoroughly. I do, however, wish he articulated a bit more as it was a bit hard for me to understand him thoroughly. With this small but crucial fix, I can get the most out of the video as possible.
This interview really exemplified the importance of sound and music for poetry. While Donald Hall read his poems out loud you become so engaged and engrossed in these poems. I think this is because he knows the importance of and how to write in a storytelling way. Hall mentioned that a piece of advice he gives to poets is to read the old poets and do what they called “cultivating the ear” to the music in those poems. This relates to how poetry was an oral tradition and so it mattered that it sounded pleasing. Nowadays, we mostly read poetry silently which lacks most of that musical aspect. Hearing Donald Hall read some of his poems out loud taught me the importance of reading out loud or listening to other poets, especially the older ones, and also reading my own poems out loud when attempting to revise them.
Donald Hall also discussed his revision process. He explained that he spends a great amount of time revising poems and he believes that it is “deadly” to participate in workshops in which you must present new pieces each week, due to that being such a quick process of creating work. I have found this resonating because after I have handed in some of my poems I go back again to revise them more, or even change them almost completely. Hall’s description of his process writing the childrens’ book taking a year, and then suddenly coming together, exemplifies quite well that some great things take time. He originally thought that the poem would be one thing, spent a year revising or trying to finish it, and then had a moment where he realized what it was meant to be, takes the pressure off trying to write a good poem right away. Overall, I think it is extremely valuable to read and listen to older poets, taking their advice. My main takeaways from this interview with Donald Hall were cultivating the ear to the music within poetry and taking my time revising or finishing poems.
I really enjoyed when Hall talked about how poetry can be a vehicle to communicate and connect with others. For him, it was his wife Jane who has passed on. He felt as if there was a remaining connection between them while addressing his work to her. The other part I found interesting about this collection was Hall considering their form as letters. When I think of poetry, I don’t think of the sort-of narrative conversation that can be found in letters. Poetry, from my based understanding, is imaginative and creative with complicated technique or imagery. My point in addressing such is that it simplified what I seem to feel has so difficult. Hall strips away technique or poetic ability to simply state that poetry, for him, was like a conversation. That at the core, he was trying to get out things he wanted to say to someone who can no longer physically be present. I imagine this allowed Hall to get words out more freely because the subject matter was so significant. Although only a perspective, because he is still (in the literal sense) trying to write poetry, it shaped my perspective. I feel I can approach writing with this in mind and it will hopefully make the brainstorming easier.
I think one of the biggest things that stuck with me about Donald Hall’s talk (about specifically poetry) was the ending where he gives advice to future readers. Not necessarily about the part about reading the classics (that’s exactly what my old English teacher told me to do, and I wholeheartedly agree). I’m more referring to the idea that poetry needs to have a specific sound. I think on a subconscious level I knew about that, but one of the best things about enjoying poetry is reading it aloud to someone, or even just to yourself. I love savoring the syllables, and reaching that one spot when the words just click, and you can tell that “this” is the best spot in the poem. As for the rest of the talk I don’t think it was necessarily the poetry lessons that stuck with me the most, it was the story he had about the poetry. It was remarkably interesting to delve into his mind a little bit and hear how he approaches and handles poetry. It’s always interesting to hear how people talk about their passions, and it’s clear he loves poetry. The way he speaks and describes how he feels is almost poetic in and of itself, and it translates perfectly to his poetry and how he reads it (which I suppose ties into my favorite piece of advice from him).