Good afternoon, welcome to our series sharing Unique Holidays: April 2022: National Poetry Month. I hate to even think I need to teach Charlie Poetry and have no, clue where to begin. But with April being National Poetry Month it looks like it’s time to start. Would you like to help me teach Charlie Poetry?
National Poetry Month, April, is an opportunity to celebrate Poetry. National Poetry Month is a special occasion that reminds us of the integral role of Poets and Poetry in our Cultures. Poetry helps us appreciate the world around us and empathize with one another. Typically, we think of Poetry as boring or nerdy. This month allows us to change our perspectives and look upon Poetry as a rhythmic art of expressing one’s love and thoughts.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
The success of Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March led to the initiation of National Poetry Month in April by the Academy of American Poets. The first-ever National Poetry Month was celebrated in 1996, but the history of Poetry itself goes back to about thousands of years ago.
Dating back to 2100 B.C., the “Epic of Gilgamesh” is cited as the first-ever written piece of Poetry, which tells an epic tale of a hero in ancient Mesopotamia.
Storytelling about history was quite popular until the 20th Century but is rarely used nowadays. Ballads were a common way of capturing history during the Middle Ages. Ballads were also used to announce news to kingdoms. An Ode was a lyrical Poem that glorified an event or person. It was also used in the past to tell stories about victories.
Aristotle described three genres of Poetry: Epic, Comic, and Tragic. This paved the way for Poetry to flourish throughout Europe and the Middle East. However, these three genres were changed by aestheticians to Epic, Lyric, and Dramatic. The genres of Comic and Tragic identified by Aristotle were combined into subcategories of the dramatic.
Modern Western poetry comprises various forms and genres from different Cultures and pasts.
HOW TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
- Set up a routine of writing a piece of Poetry every day as a way of celebrating National Poetry Month. Jot down your feelings and thoughts about different things in a rhythmic manner and voila! You’ve written a poem. This, on the one hand, acts as a way of commemorating this month and, on the other hand, helps to improve the cognitive function of the brain
- Arrange a Poetry event at your nearby Library and perform various activities to create awareness about this less-explored genre. You could host a Poem competition, a staged act of a Poem, or exploring different types of Poetry. People of any age can take part in this event and share their Poetry.
- Seek out pieces of Poetry by Poets who are now almost forgotten. Read and analyze the meaning behind their Poems. You can also choose one Poet every day and go through their poetry.
5 FACTS ABOUT TYPES OF POETRY
- Haiku — is the shortest poem which originated in Japan. Haiku contains only 17 syllables.
- “Mahabharata” — is the longest Poem containing around 1.8 million words, which originated in India.
- Rap– is considered a form of Poetry comprising synchronized verses.
- Epic– is the earliest type of Poetry that consists of a rhythmic narration of the heroic actions of someone.
- Written language- during early times, written language was considered poetry and was recited and sung to help people remember laws, and history.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
- Did you know reading Poetry proves beneficial for improving critical thinking? When we first look at a piece of Poetry, we may find the Poem difficult to comprehend. Thus, analyzing the meaning behind the Poem and what point the writer is trying to convey is helpful in encouraging the brain to think of different things from various perspectives.
- National Poetry Month encourages us to remember the famous poets and their Poetry. This month enables us to pay a tribute to those Poets whose poems contained profound meaning.
- Poetry really helps us to control our emotions and to heal from traumas. We can successfully do this by jotting down thoughts and feelings that are making us feel depressed which can also help to relieve stress.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
