A brief, passionate rant about the enlivening influence of poetry, very broadly defined with the help of John Stuart Mill and 19th century poet, Arthur O’Shaughnessy, and an invitation to throw off world weariness and cynicism and embrace and live YOUR poetry, your way.
If you’re moved and inclined, please share a comment – perhaps, “I’m IN,” or “I’m a Dreamer of Dreams” or “I’m a Music Maker” or “I’m a Poet” or anything else that feels true and joyful for you.
SOURCE OF TODAY’S POEMS and PASSAGES Arthur O’Shaughnessy, “Ode” (“We are the Music Makers:” Read this HERE. I read it from “Poem a Day” edited by Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery (a great collection!) Passage from John Stuart Mill’s essay, “What is Poetry?” read from “Victorian Prose and Poetry” (Oxford Anthology of English Literature), edited by Lionel Trilling and Harold Bloom.
And don’t forget Emily Dickinson, “The Poets Light but Lamps. ” Read this HERE.