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What Can Poetry Teach Us About Beauty?

By Gary R. Hess. Category: Poetry

Poetry is something which grabs us and gives us something we might otherwise not experience through literature.

Beauty is something which grabs us and gives us something we might otherwise not experience through visual and intellectual experiences.

See the connection? Poetry can teach us many things.

Beauty is something which can't be expressed lightly. When I talk to my girlfriend and I try to tell her how beautiful she is and how amazing she acts, it doesn't seem to give the full effect. Of course, she likes when I say those things, but it doesn't seem like it is simply enough for me. It's like I can't fully tell her through merely words themselves. I have to show her and it might even take years or decades before she realizes how much she truly means to me and how beautiful I think she is.

However, with poetry it seems at least a little bit easier. We can express the smells, the sights, the sounds, the feeling, the tastes.

With poetry, beauty is expressed through words, but those words can (and often do) include the metaphors, similes, assonance, and all the other wonderful poetic techniques which aren't available in every day speech. (At least, not in a way that wouldn't sound silly.)

Alright, so beauty can be expressed easily through poetry, but what does poetry teach us about beauty?

That question is a little difficult but not impossible to answer.

Poetry is about rhythm, technique, uniqueness, and expression--all of which are important to beauty.

The rhythm between lines, between meters, between words, between rhymes, and between meanings all relate to beauty. We see a face and first guide our eyes towards the lines of their skin. When we hear their voice we hear the rhythm they speak in. When we see how they act, we see the true meanings they have within themselves.

For technique, there are many ways to go about a poem. I wrote an article before about the 55 forms of poetry. Then, within those forms you are still allowed your own choice of elements. Beauty is the same. There are many types of people and within those types of people you have many subdivisions of those people. We often see beauty the same way. There are many types and many forms.

Uniqueness. For poetry, a quality poem is seen as something unique and humans strive on groups but when it comes down to it, we fall in love with someone because of how unique they are. There's something about a woman or man who is unique which makes us smile and fall on our knees.

As far as expression goes, a poem has many ways of expressing. How the poem is expressed is the most important part. Of course, the same can be said about a woman or man. What are their actions? How do they act? What do they do which makes us fall in love with them over and over? That is beauty.

All in all, beauty and poetry go hand in hand. I guess that's one of the reasons why love poetry has been a favorite among poets since the dawn of time.