How can you relate?

Thursday in class, we spent our time reflecting on poems. We were required to memorize a poem which I think for some of us, who had not memorized a poem since about sophomore year, this was definitely a bit of a stretch for our brains. Mrs. Lemon asked the class to “discover or resurrect a poem that challenges you in some way”. In order to memorize our poems in an effective way, I personally found I had to understand my poem thoroughly. Our poems were each crafted with particular phrasing and organization and once I studied and analyzed my poem I definitely found myself with a greater understanding of my poem. This is something I think most of our class can relate to. As we discussed in class reciting a poem also causes the reciter to pay more mental attention to  rhythm and punctuation. The class then read and commented on our partner’s blog post about their respective poem. I found that doing this showed me how each person reads a poem differently. A person’s experiences and outlook affect their perspective and analysis of a poem. This idea ran into our next exercise in class.

We revisited the three poems: Delight in Disorder" by Robert Herrick; "The Sea" by Mary Oliver; and "From Blossoms" by Li Young Lee. We each picked a poem we wanted to delve into a little more and we started our loop writing on “finding the joy”. Our focused free write centered on finding a vivid image or moment that reminded each of us of something we had experienced. Just like I discussed earlier, each of us would find a different memory or experience within the poets’ writing. Then we wrote about a moment of utter delight we had experienced through a memory, story, book, movie, or travel which we were reminded of from our readings.

I came away from our class with better understanding of how poems, which originally one might not comprehend at all, can relate to anyone. The smallest detail or word can ignite someone’s personal experience and bring them an understanding of writing from a time different than their own.So next time you are confused on a poem or passage in a book, just stop and think "how can I relate"?