In school, many of us are taught that poetry is something difficult to approach, and it is necessary for you to deeply analyse and dissect every word. For this reason, many people often discount reading poetry as too pretentious and so are unlikely to buy it for themselves or another.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with meticulously breaking down every line of your favourite poem, I believe that – equally – poetry should be viewed as fun and accessible. You don’t have to understand every aspect of a poem’s deeper meaning in order to enjoy it. In many cases, simply reading a poem out loud can convey its sentiment.
If you’re completely new to poetry, then an easy route in is via ‘Instagram poetry’. These poets, such as @rupikaur_, often receive a lot of criticism for not being ‘proper’ poetry, but whilst I may not be their biggest fan – they certainly make poetry more accessible. Another well-acclaimed Instagram poet is @atticuspoetry, who has a large celebrity following with the likes of Karlie Kloss and Alicia Keys. Their poetry is often short and easy to understand. My aversion to them is that they are somewhat Tumblr era poetry, meaning angsty 2014 me would’ve loved them, but now I view them as verging on cringy…
However, I often find that their shortness, though sometimes being effective in conveying one idea, means that it is difficult to approach them with too much nuance or variance of interpretation. Authors like Rupi Kaur have undoubtedly widened the audience for poetry, with her ‘milk and honey’ becoming one of the best-selling poetry books ever.
If you want to push yourself beyond the confines of Instagram poetry, I would actually recommend going back to some of the poets you likely studied in school. For me, this means the likes of previous poet laureates, Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage. Given that it is a highly acclaimed award, reading any poet laureates work is normally a safe bet. What I like most about Duffy and Armitage is their tendency to use colloquial rhetoric, meaning that while their poems often deal with complex emotions or deep metaphors, but, they are ultimately easy enough to read due to their informal style. For Simon Armitage, his collection entitled Kid and Book of Matches are good places to start.
If you’re craving a bit of slightly angry feminist poetry than I cannot recommend Duffy’s The World’s Wife anthology enough. The collection revises classical myths, biblical stories and fairy tales that often present the female figures as inferior to the male protagonists, allowing for the construction of a strong feminist narrative. For example, Mrs Beast, evidently based on Beauty and the Beast, challenges stereotypical gender roles in portraying Beauty as being an aggressive figure who asserts her sexual dominance over the beast. While I love the anger portrayed in many of her poems, which is often extremely witty, Duffy’s work extends beyond that of ‘angry feminism’. Also found in The World’s Wife, the poem Anne Hathaway, written about Shakespeare’s wife, is an incredibly sweet and loving poem. She also has many other collections, with Rapture in essence being a tribute to all aspects of love.
If you’re interested in poetry, like Duffy’s, that has a strong feminist viewpoint, then I would recommend the likes of Sylvia Plath, Audre Lorde, Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker. Though Plath’s work can be challenging and deeply tragic, her collection Ariel in particular is beyond beautiful. Moreover, discovering poetry by authors like Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker, who are primarily viewed as novel writers, is a good route into poetry if you’re already familiar with, or keen on, their style. Walker’s first poetry collection, Once, centres around her experience as a student in East Africa, as well as her life as a Black woman in Southern America. Grace Nichols similarly portrays a strong Black, female narrative in her work, such as the collection entitled The Fat Black Woman’s Poems. Her work is influenced not only by her experiences as a Black woman in the UK but also by her Guyanese culture and is often acclaimed for its lyricism. She is able to write with both acute social awareness and great humour.
Lastly, though my focus has certainly been on female poets, with the exception of Armitage, I feel like it would be amiss not to mention the work of Shakespeare. Though Shakespeare may be for many the epitome of dull English literature that they want to remain in their school years, many of his sonnets are pretty accessible. One of my favourites, Sonnet 130, speaks of the supposed imperfections of his lover, and yet how insignificant they are due to how rare and true their love is.
Ultimately, while the list of poets I could recommend is much more extensive, the ones mentioned so far are certainly a good starting point.
Poetry doesn’t have to be scary and its ability to convey emotion in such a beautiful manner makes it a perfect gift for any bookworm this Christmas, or for anyone who just wants to try something a bit different.