Is It True That Poetry Isolation Itself from Other Genres?

I don’t think poetry necessarily isolates itself from other genres. For some strange reason, people keep trying to put poetry in a box as if all poets do the same thing. That simply isn’t true.

Isolation in Poetry: An Exception Rather Than the Rule

There are some poets who seem what one might call isolated or separate from themselves. For example, Sylvia Plath and Robinson Jeffers can seem apart from the rest of humanity in certain poems. Plath, a wonderfully gifted poet, was severely depressed and committed suicide as a young woman. Jeffers built a stone tower and lived apart from the rest of humanity, other than his closest family. He seemed to have little use for most human beings and preferred animals. However, such poets are the exceptions among poets, not the rule.

Closeness and Intimacy in Poetry

Other poets can seem extremely close, warm, and intimate in their poems. For example, Hafez, Rumi, and Walt Whitman showcase a deep connection with their readers. These poets share their innermost thoughts and feelings, making readers feel a connection and understanding.

The Versatility of Poets: Spokesmen, Religions, and Beyond

Ultimately, poets can be spokesmen for the discriminated against and disadvantaged. For example, Maya Angelou, William Blake, Robert Burns, and Langston Hughes spoke for voices that were often silenced. On the other hand, poets can also be intensely religious, such as Gerard Manley Hopkins, a Jesuit priest, or writers of sermons like John Donne. However, some poets maintain no use for biblical myths, like A. E. Housman, or they can be mystics, such as William Blake, who viewed the biblical god as "Nobodaddy." Poets like Dante and John Milton seem to believe fervently in hell, while other poets have been Universalists like Emily Bronte and her sisters.

Diversity Among Poets

It is hard to imagine a bigger difference in humanity than that between Dante and Milton, who endorsed a god who would send most of humanity to hell, and Walt Whitman, who embraced everyone from saints to sinners and said our every atom was just as good as his. One cannot imagine Whitman sending anyone to hell if he could save them. Thus, it is a mistake to ever assume that poetry is this or that. Rather, poetry is as diverse as the poets who write it.

Humor and Wit in Poetry

Some poets are humorists, like Edward Lear and Ogden Nash. It might be a mistake to read too much into what they wrote. They seem mostly intent on amusing themselves and us along with them. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Connection and Isolation: Personal Feelings in Poetry

There are other poets we might call "poets of the heart". For instance, William Blake, Robert Burns, and Emily Dickinson. We may not always understand them, but we can almost always feel them. These poets are not isolated but sharing themselves through their poems. However, there are also poets whose work is more difficult to find. For instance, William Shakespeare is famously difficult to find in his plays. I believe this is because Shakespeare was a keen observer of human nature and he typically depicted what he saw in human nature with all its diversity without rendering judgments.

Conclusion: The Diverse World of Poetry

It would be a mistake to say that poetry is "isolated" because some poets seem to have been isolated. We can always find other poets who seem closer to us and more companionable. Poets I feel close to as a reader include William Blake, Robert Burns, and Walt Whitman. I feel as if they are old friends with similar thoughts and feelings. I feel close to them not isolated. The poets I feel most distant from are those who seem to lack compassion, such as Dante when he seems happy to see his enemies suffering for all eternity in hell like so many evangelical pastors and Catholic priests, or Milton when he takes the side of the biblical God against Adam and Eve when they were clearly his victims. For me, the real aliens are poets I can’t begin to understand like Dante and Milton. But that doesn’t mean poetry is this or that. It only means that there is great diversity among the earth’s poets.