Why reading poetry is good for you

Many people detest poetry because they are daunted by it. There’s this prevailing idea that not getting the message or meaning is equivalent to wearing the dunce cap, that deep language unnecessarily masks the profound and possible spiritual epiphanies.

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For one, reading poetry requires an openness to the possibilities of language. It is poetry’s only instrument; unlike a musician or painter who is aided by sound and paintbrushes and canvases, poets only have words to work with. Accepting that words can change our lives is the crucial first step in letting poetry into our lives. 

Many therapists, psychologists, and spiritual leaders have lauded poetry for its ability to offer peace of mind, treating it as a form of meditation that leads to healing and transformation. This is true, as poetry’s duty is othering and verisimilitude, an encounter with what could pass for truth. There is an inherent generosity in poems that rises above the need for the writer to just express what he or she feels or thinks. 

Poems inspire us to look at things from a different perspective. At the end of the poetic encounter is a meeting with insight: that which goes beyond wit, beyond the things we readily detect in other forms of media in this fast-paced modern world. Now more than ever, we need opposites of wit. We need to feel humbled. We need to read poems.

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Hi there. Charles Bishop here, a certified bookworm based in Pompano Beach, Florida. For more on my interests, check out this blog.