A Successful Semester

I came into poetry class this semester with no expectations. I really had no idea what we would be doing: writing poetry, reading poetry, how the entire realm of poetry was even addressed. At first I found the samplers overwhelming. I would struggle to try to annotate the poems and search for any meaning I could come up with. I even found learning meter to be a little relieving; it was finally something numerical I knew I could understand. But, as the semester went on I began to understand that the purpose of the samplers wasn't to understand and pull meeting out of every single world, but to read over and enjoy whatever responses and feelings I felt, and use them to formulate a general understanding of the themes and techniques of that sampler. As I began to read the samplers in a new light, I found them less overwhelming and more enjoyable. When I stopped hunting for meaning, I actually got more out of the poems.

I learned a great deal semester, a lot of which were different techniques, themes, and devices used by poets and how they evolved over time. But, a lot of what I learned was simply how to enjoy poetry as an art form; to stop over thinking each detail and instead take in the work as whole. Once I was able to take a step back, I could see more clearly the themes and poetic styles we learned about in class, and actually appreciate them. I could also enjoy the readings I went to, and plan on to go to more even once the class ends. I realized that while the tedious history must be studied to understand the language, devices, etc. and may be grueling at times, once you have some knowledge and start to understand it, you can really appreciate and like poetry. I really feel I achieved that this semester, which I know had much to do with my professor, Ray, so thank you for that.