Beauty Is Suffering [Part 3 - The Poet]
Beauty Is Suffering [Part 3 - The Poet]
Words are quite fundamentally mysterious. Throughout history, whether they have been spoken or written, they have shaped our path to where we stand today. Before writing, the primary method of passing knowledge down to the next generations was through poetry and dance. We could not have the society we have today without utilising our most valued tool - language.
Those unique amongst us, with particular skill in prose are as Auden wrote, passionately in love with language before anything else. As poetry is very much autobiographical in nature, many of the most celebrated poets in history expose themselves to the world in a way few people can.
It is this vulnerability and frailty within which we immerse ourselves and experience the poem through the senses. As Keats wrote, upon hearing a poem, we are not meant to 'figure the it out'. Just as one swims in a lake, the purpose is to not immediately swim to shore. The point of swimming in the lake to be in the lake, to luxuriate in the sensation of water. A poem emboldens the soul to accept mystery.
In order for us to connect with a poem, the poet must write about the world, not through knowledge, but through experience. It is in these moments that the poet has the ability to capture the true essence of that which took place.
More often than not, it is in these moments that the poet suffers the most for not only can they experience the situation as we do, but to their own peril, can put the most accurate of words to that which we struggle quantify.
It is through their eyes, do we see the landscape of human experiences more clearly.
Video: Bright Star
Music: James Horner - A Beautiful Mind OST - Playing A Game Of Go, Looking For The Next Great Idea