Poetry

I have a love hate relationship with poetry. As you can tell from the writing section of this blog (which hopefully you have checked out by now...) I really enjoy writing poetry. It is a fantastic way to share complex emotions and it is very similar to the song writing process which I also adore. Reading poetry however is another story. While I have some lovely memories of pondering the writing of Pablo Neruda, most of my poetry experiences have been ones of annotation and literary analysis. Now do not misunderstand, as I jump for joy every time I get to write an English paper (yes I am a nerd, if you just figured this out then you obviously did not realize you were reading a book blog...), but sometimes I feel lost in the breaking down of poetry. In trying to evaluate how to prove my interpretation of the author's work, I feel like I lose touch with the actual purpose of the poetry. Am I alone in this feeling? Is poetry meant solely for feeling or also for our intense literary analysis?

What are your feelings on poetry anthologies? One poem can be emotionally draining and I have never actually attempted to read several from an anthology, just for fun. Comment with your thoughts on poetry and feel free to share any recommendations. Happy reading!-Becca