Celebrating the power of poetry

During Joe Biden's presidential inauguration on 20 January, 2021, Amanda Gorman's poem "The hill we climb" created a great impact on millions of viewers in the US Capitol. The occasion took place two weeks after a violent mob laid siege to the seat of the American government. During a difficult time of pandemic and political unrest, her words worked like a balm – comforting and healing. 

Amanda said, "What I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal. It's doing that in a way that's not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think America needs to reconcile with."

Research has proven the positive impact of poetry reading, writing, and reciting on our lives, especially in times of great need. So it is no wonder that in a materialistic world full of chaos, hatred, jealousy, betrayal, and disease, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "We need poets to change the world."

By giving voice to the marginalised, victimised, and oppressed, poetry assists in raising awareness about important issues and can be used as a catalyst for social change.

Poetry, one of humanity's most ancient and treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression, has been around for centuries. "Epic of Gilgamesh" is believed to be among the earliest works of documented poetry (2100 BC, Babylon). 

Depicting life in its variety, poetry combines people, culture, nature, and history. It instils an abundance of feelings and emotions in human beings and inspires them to change their perception of life.

UNESCO adopted 21 March as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999. The aim is to support linguistic diversity and preserve endangered languages and forms of different cultural poetic expressions. Since then, every year, World Poetry Day is celebrated worldwide to honour poets, both past and present, revive oral traditions of reciting poetry, popularise poetry and cultivate habits of poetry reading, writing and teaching. 

Even before that "The Academy of American Poets" initiated National Poetry Month in April 1996 to create awareness about the beauty and power of poetry in our daily lives and celebrate all American poets. Since 1998, the day has also been celebrated in April in Canada.

Through centuries countless types of poems like ballads, elegy, epic, haiku, odes, sonnets, villanelle and free verse have emerged in different periods and evolved. Whatever the type, the fundamental purpose remains the same: exploring human existence and existential dilemmas of mankind and stimulating powerful emotions through words. 

The artistic mastery of poetry in bridging feelings and creating the ability to influence others helps to see life from a new perspective. It also provides solace to conflicting, confused minds and helps to heal trauma and grief. 

"Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew

That even as we hurt, we hoped

That even as we tired, we tried

That we'll forever be tied together, victorious…

For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it."

When a baby cries or sleeps we sing lullabies and poems. Why? 

The rhythm of the poems calms and comforts the baby. We teach the child the alphabet by singing 'abcdefg'. Poetry creates enchantment and wonders in a child's mind from infancy and fosters creativity. 

Poetry is music through words. The beautiful combination of literary devices like metre, alliteration, assonance, consonance and onomatopoeia create rhythm and the inherent music rejuvenates our souls and fills our lives with energy and vitality.

The power of poetry is heightened when recited. As the focus has to be on the words to grasp the underlying meaning, listening skills improve. The rhythm helps build fluency in reading. The vivid visual imagery helps in creative imagination. 

Memorising and reciting poetry help boost cognitive abilities.  According to Susan Wise Bauer, author of "The well-educated mind: A guide to the classical education you never had," memorisation helps children understand language syntax, patterns and word meaning. Reciting poems, on the other hand, teaches young children rhythm, pronunciation and a deeper, emotional connection with literature. 

Providing opportunities for children to read and write poetry lessens their fear, sadness, anger, anxiety and tiredness, making them happy and less stressed. 

Another study found that guided poetry writing sessions significantly alleviate depression and trauma in adolescents who have been abused. Other studies found that poetry therapy helps reduce anxiety and stress and improves emotional resilience, empathy and overall quality of life of terminally ill patients, family members of patients, distressed individuals and frontline healthcare workers. The healing power of poems is a great gift for human beings. 

Moreover, the influence of rhyme and rhythm on the mind makes things easier for us to mentally process information. The right choice of poems also creates positive emotions. 

Poetry can be a powerful weapon to change the world. 

Poems can mobilise a whole nation to protest and build resistance. Kazi Nazrul Islam's poems like "Bidrohi" protest against the cruel, unjust exploitation and autocratic colonial rule of the British Empire in India and are historic in building rebellion. 

Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird" is filled with powerful themes of racial oppression, freedom, captivity, happiness, sorrow and hope. 

By giving voice to the marginalised, victimised and oppressed, poetry assists in raising awareness about important issues and can be used as a catalyst for social change.

The nature poems of romantic poets, on the other hand, have a calming effect on the human mind and help us perceive the beauty of life and nature.

Poetry has the power to touch hearts and minds.  "How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning instils strong emotions of pure love.  

Poetry is instrumental for personal and universal growth and understanding. In addition, poems often deal with complex themes and ideas. To fully comprehend, we need to sharpen our analytical skills. This process of analysing and interpreting a poem helps us think more flexibly and creatively. 

Poetry is all around us, shaping our everyday lives. Poems are words of shared experiences of people. It helps us connect to our humanity. It transcends the barriers of language, nationality and time. It helps promote global peace.

Indian-American poet Meena Alexander said, "In a time of violence, the task of poetry is in some way to reconcile us to our world and to allow us a measure of tenderness and grace with which to exist."

Poetry is a powerful guiding light, shining brightly, during good and bad times. Poetry is a precious gift. Poetry is life. 

The author is the director of the Continuing Education Centre, Bangladesh, a multilingual poet, columnist, op-ed and fiction writer, translator, and training consultant.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.