[While researching for our Poetry Trail project, I've been asking myself 'What is the connection between Poetry and the Environment?' and came up with the following. Please add your thoughts and comments.]
Embedding Poetry in the Landscape
• Why is this important?
• What is the connection between poetry and the environment?
There is a symbiotic relationship between poetry and the environment that brings out the best of both worlds.
Poetry is an expressive and powerful medium that can be utilised to cast a spotlight on the broad canvas of our physical environment in a number of ways. We are all familiar with poetry that describes the natural world of landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and how the poet interacts with this world. We also find poetry that draws attention to serious issues particular environments face going forward into an uncertain future. In all cases poetry, particularly when it is honed, refined, and without obfuscation, can deliver a targeted, encapsulated message with immediate impact.
The environment, on the other hand, by its very existence, both inspires and terrifies writers. Certainly, the environment can help invoke the poet's muse by providing a plethora of settings that promote creativity and stimulate the desire to experience, to connect to 'place', to describe and to relate. But it also exposes the need to listen, to make sense of contextual clues and to question, and herein lies the challenge for poets to communicate their responses in a meaningful way.
Judy Bandidt
July 2015
Embedding Poetry in the Landscape
• Why is this important?
• What is the connection between poetry and the environment?
There is a symbiotic relationship between poetry and the environment that brings out the best of both worlds.
Poetry is an expressive and powerful medium that can be utilised to cast a spotlight on the broad canvas of our physical environment in a number of ways. We are all familiar with poetry that describes the natural world of landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and how the poet interacts with this world. We also find poetry that draws attention to serious issues particular environments face going forward into an uncertain future. In all cases poetry, particularly when it is honed, refined, and without obfuscation, can deliver a targeted, encapsulated message with immediate impact.
The environment, on the other hand, by its very existence, both inspires and terrifies writers. Certainly, the environment can help invoke the poet's muse by providing a plethora of settings that promote creativity and stimulate the desire to experience, to connect to 'place', to describe and to relate. But it also exposes the need to listen, to make sense of contextual clues and to question, and herein lies the challenge for poets to communicate their responses in a meaningful way.
Judy Bandidt
July 2015
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