What is poetry?

This week in class we discussed the issue of "what is poetry?" Many people had varying answers to say the least. Not only were there different opinions, but also opinions that could not be agreed upon. Now, the major aspect we agreed upon was that poetry is very ambiguous and free.....sounds like a very ambiguous rule of poetry to me. I started thinking to myself, "what is the determining factor of poetry?" Does it have to have a certain structure, be filled with certain writing devices, have a particular  grammar usage?

I finally came to a very Aristotelian opinion of the matter when I was reminded of a motto that I learned from a teacher. It goes; " You can't change plans if you don't have one to start with". Now this relates to many things but in the aspect of figuring out what poetry is I believe this is poignant. Everyone agrees that no matter what form poetry is in, it expresses feeling. Like Aristotle believed, it was meant to be a purgation of feeling for the writer and the reader to experience. I believe, that it is important to learn and teach the poetry devices. Metaphors, personification, alliteration and the various poem structures and very important to know. One must learn these and from this state then they can be manipulated and morphed in order to convey something else. Once you have a plan and structure of poetry, it iso only then that you can change it and work it into something else.

Once you get this, the question of "what is poetry" becomes even more ambiguous and for me, I was left only with conveying emotion must be apart of poetry. Dance, rap, sculpture, athletics, even prose writing can speak to people and touch peoples' spirits just like some "poetry" can have all of the poetic devices in it but not speak to anyone.

Although Jay-Z may not come off as the most "poetic" in his diction what he is saying I believe is true. Rap is something to pay attention to. It is too important to too many people to disregard it as fun. It obviously strikes a chord with many people making it poetry. The same goes for Marie Ninja. Each aspect of this video is poetry. The lyrics, the song, and the dance. Combining all of them makes for an emotional experience that touches one's spirit and feeds the soul.