❝My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.❞ - Maya Angelou
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“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” — William Wordsworth
It is, perhaps, fitting that World Poetry Day is celebrated on the 21st of March just as Spring makes its appearance around most of the world. This day was declared as World Poetry Day in 1999 by UNESCO “with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard”. It was a great step towards acknowledging and celebrating languages and dialects that were often neglected in mainstream discourse.
Poetry has always enjoyed a significant position in literature throughout history, awarding prestige to well-known men and women whose names live on to this day. Such is the strength of the poetic expression that it has morphed and transformed over the years into new forms and structures, but has remained as the one means of expression that is always available to the people no matter where they come from.
Different cultures regarded poetry differently, but it certainly held great sway no matter what the time or place or culture. During the times when British monarchy reigned supreme, poets would offer verses in veneration of their ruler such as Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, or cautioned nobles against hasty decisions such as Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Locke. During massive socio cultural upheaval, poets would help bolster their people such as Allama Iqbal’s dual works Complaint and Answer, or Langston Hughes’ plethora of works such as Harlem or I, Too. During times of some great change or event, poets would express their grief and give a glimpse into that period of history with their heartfelt words such as W. B. Yeats’ Easter 1916 or Seamus Heaney’s Casualty.
Then there are other poetic expressions that are much more personal, showing a side of the poets that would be considered vulnerable and brutally honest. These include poems by poetic legends throughout history such as Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver, Rupi Kaur, and many more.
This Women’s History Month, we welcome Spring and commemorate World Poetry Day with one of the finest poetry writers of all time.
Dear March — Come in! Emily Dickinson
DEAR March, come in! How glad I am! I looked for you before. Put down your hat— You must have walked— How out of breath you are! Dear March, how are you? And the rest? Did you leave Nature well? Oh, March, come right upstairs with me, I have so much to tell!
I got your letter, and the bird's; The maples never knew That you were coming,—I declare, How red their faces grew! But, March, forgive me— And all those hills You left for me to hue; There was no purple suitable, You took it all with you.
Who knocks? That April! Lock the door! I will not be pursued! He stayed away a year, to call When I am occupied. But trifles look so trivial As soon as you have come, That blame is just as dear as praise And praise as mere as blame.
🌟 This World Poetry Day, share with us your favourite poets or pieces of poetry in the comments.
