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Modern Poetry Sayed Ahmed The thought of poetry brings about images of nature, songs, romanticism, flowery language,

and complex ideas. Poetry is all these things, or some of these things, or none of these things; it has no bars or limits. Poets such as Tschinag, Bly, and Groddeck would have us believe that without certain restrictions, the poet will ultimately be unsuccessful. Other poets, such as Whitman, believe that such restrictions are completely superfluous. Whitman says . .. .let me not dare, here or anywhere, for my own purposes, or any purposes, to attempt the definition of Poetry, nor answer the question what it is. Like Religion, Love, Nature, while those terms are indispensable, and we all give a sufficiently accurate meaning to them, in my opinion no definition that has ever been made sufficiently encloses the name Poetry; nor can any rule of convention ever so absolutely obtain but some great exception may arise and disregard and overturn it. But then what makes a poem great, successful, and inspirational? Certainly there must be some rule or rhyme to be followed in order to achieve these goals within poetry. However if we combine Whitmans exemplary ideology and Groddecks belief of a divine instinctuality or gott-natur, we are left with the recipe for a superb poem. One poem that displays a balance of these ideas is Suheir Hammads First Writing Since, a passionate, politically-charged poem that stresses the many facets of human emotion. Several contemporary poems found in New America display the Whitmans beliefs as well as an energy best described as gott-natur. Although I use Groddecks term gott-natur, I use it in a much broader sense of the word. He describes it as a non-human energy that sense the interdependence of all things alive, and longs to bring them all inside a work of art. The only error I find in this definition is to exclude human nature, which is essentially to deny ones own nature and its interdependence. Hammad takes a difficult, controversial subject and seeks to liberate the oppressed from prejudice and hatred. In this way she mimics the greats of the past Whitman, Knight, Clifton. Human nature plays a big role in her poem; emotions dictate the style of each stanza, ranging from fragile to frenzied, emotional to angry. Yet the writing also displays gott-natur, an energy that gives life to the poem, transports us to a time when the dead Iraqi children,/ The dead in Nicaragua, in Rwanda,/. vied with fake sport wrestling for Americas attention. The passion in her poem is what gives this poem its unmistakable gott-natur. Another such poem that displays both gott-natur as well as Whtimans influence is Wendie Burbridges Mother May I. Unlike Hammads poem, this one does not have any political aspirations; the calmer tone and conversational writing is still reminiscent of Whitman, but also Clifton. The smirk/Told me too much/Busted. The freedom to write such short, one word lines, is certainly Whitmans influence of free verse. But this poem also possesses gottnatur: I just crawled out on the roof/ Sat on the aluminum shingles/ Listened to the banyan moving in the wind/ Gazed at the moons and stars/ Heard the dewdrops tapping/ Against the pavement. This stanza, rife with imagery, energy, emotion, and passion, instantly transports the reader to this little rooftop in Hawaii to gaze at the same stars and moon. Different as these poems may be in their nature, their commonality lies in their ability to effectively combine the ideologies of Whitman and Groddeck, at least to a certain extent. In Dorianne Lauxs The Laundromat, we see a different type of gott-natur and use of Whitmans ideology. Here we see animalistic passion and need, combined with the sheer ability to write a poem of this nature and find it acceptable. We crowd around/ the Amazon at the watering hole, twitching our noses like wildebeests or buffalo, snorting, rooting out mates in the

heat. Laux attempts to take human actions and fuse it with its raw, animalistic roots. It is no secret that humans seek mates, but to compare us to animals that have no other reservations is an act of gott-natur that reminds us of our nature, our roots. This poem also represents the things Whitman strived for in New World poetry; the freedom to say as we please, regardless of how risqu it may be. Whitman has many such poems himself, but never worried about what others thought of them. To him it was a way of life, and to describe such things was a necessary adjustment for society. If we consider just Whitman and Groddeck on their own, and refer to their own poems, certainly there is no denying that they are brilliant. Yet alone, Groddecks perspectives are far too restrictive, and Whitman ultimately hoped that poetry would be a means to express, vitalize and give color to and define their material and political success, and minister to them distinctively. By combining Whitmans strive for freedom within poetry, and Groddecks zeal for energy and passion within poetry, we are left with the poems of a contemporary New World. These poems are restricted from no subject or style or people. Hammad, Burbridge, and Laux are just a few of the poets in New America that fulfill this modified view of gott-natur and Whitmans idealogy; through the hard work of the poets that came before them, many of todays poets can bring their inner energy and utilize the freedom to write what they please. This is a vision for the future that perhaps both Whitman and Groddeck would be content with. References: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16035 New America: Contemporary Literature for a Changing Society

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