Who are the Poets?

Who Are the Poets?

Having addressed the question of Why Poetry?  I would like to explore the equally compelling question of Who are the poets?   To me, poets are society’s truth seekers.  They have parabolic minds which explore questions like the meaning of existence, the relationship between God and man,  the language of nature, and the essence of wisdom intuited. The poets, having explored these questions, have reached out to share their insights with the rest of us.
The following are some of my favorite poets and their definitions of poetry:
1- Poetry is shared experience. Walt Whitman
2- Poetry is an outpouring of emotion recollected in a moment of tranquility. William Wordsworth
3- Poetry is something that begins in delight and ends in wisdom. Robert Frost
4- Poetry is a simple explanation for a complicated emotion.  Mark Strand
5- Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth, by calling imagination to the help of reason.” Samuel  Johnson.
6- The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.  William Shakespeare
7- Poetry is comprised of three things: Intellect, taste and moral sense.  Intellect deals with Truth. Taste deals with Beauty.  Moral sense deals with Duty.  The end of poetry is music since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception.  Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Edgar Allen Poe
8- A poet is one who has penetrated to the sacred mystery of the universe, a prophet who will communicate God’s truth to men.  Thomas Carlyle

As a footnote to Carlyle’s definition, I would like to suggest that it is not enough to “penetrate the mystery of the universe and communicate God’s will to man.” Living God’s
will is equally necessary.  There are persons whose lives have embodied the virtues of the written word. Through them the word has been made flesh and dwelt among us.  Christ is the only person who has done this perfectly, but there are others who have done well. In expanding the parameters of poets to include those whose lives have been poetic, I hope to make it clear that this  Poetry for the Soul blog is not just about written poetry, it is also about life.  Only when the truths of poetic insight are personified by the person who intuited them and wrote them, can they be fully understood.  The virtues of Integrity, Reverence, Excellence, Action, Charity, Hope, Order, Unity, and Truth are delineated in the following poem:

I Reach Out

With integrity of heart I reach out as did Ghandi
with a pure and fervent fast to gain liberty
and the statement I shall make is that one man’s effort
to be brave and strong and free can affect the course of men and history.

I’ll show reverence for mankind as did Mother Teresa,
with her ears that heard and her heart that understood,
as she helped the poor, her loving words appeased them,
and affirmed her motherhood, for she saw in them the things that made them good.

For true excellence of mind, I recall Helen Keller,
reaching out of darkness to embrace the light,
and the knowledge I shall gain, I shall give to others;
to the deaf, the mute, the blind, and to seekers after truth through all mankind.

To gain action in my life, I recall Mr. Franklin,
with his list of virtues that became his creed;
and the virtues that he sought for I shall seek for,
and from grace, to grace proceed, till the gifts I hunger for are guaranteed.

For true charity of soul, I recall Mr. Lincoln
with his iron will and his velvet covered glove,
and the legacy I’ll leave shall be one of honor,
and of wisdom from above, for the binding of the whole with cords of love.

To achieve the gift of hope I shall stand as a beacon
with my torch held high as does Lady Liberty
and the standard I shall raise shall not fade, nor weaken,
but burn on through storms and blight, till the rising of the sun dispels the night.

To gain order in my life I recall Noah Webster
with his dictionary’s sequenced alphabet
as he thoughtfully, methodically proceeded
to pursue his daunting quest, he observed Persistent’s path moves step-by-step.

To unite discordant parts, I recall young Mandella
who beheld apartheid sundered black from white.
As he gathered valors that would heal his nation,
he became what unifies, for he claimed the power valor magnifies.

For a knowledge of the truth, I shall do as did Shakespeare
I shall pen my questions asking, “what ‘s to be?”
When the answer comes, l shall write it in a language
which bestirs epiphanies,  for I’d loose the  truth’s empowered  majesty.

Thus the mission of my life shall be one of mercy,
filled with words of hope and deeds of charity,
and the offerings I shall make I shall make with meekness,
and with sweet civility, for I’d wear the robes of true humility.

For the virtues of the pure, for the wisdom of the just,
for the compass of compassion, I reach out.