12-29-2012, 04:31 AM
If asked i suppose i would say that paradise lost by john milton is my favorite, and although the republic by plato is not exactly considered a poem, it can be read as such, especially when you get to the parts of the tales told within, like how some viewed the afterlife.
Henry David, and Ralph Waldo also wrote some lasting poetry, about appreciating nature and on mans nature.
Dantes views, related to miltons works take things in a much darker direction and deal more with mans sufferings, at least those who failed to accept redemption, or were beyond it.
You can read and write poetry that has no religious connotations, but usually there is some philosophical bent to it, some moral, or at the very least some emotional response.
I am not sure where you should start first, as far as reading. It would depend on your interests. You could start simply, and read childrens fables and books that have been popular for a long time. Or you could watch alot of movies, as most have stolen ideas from poetry.
I am not sure if i could rightly recommend you begin with an epic like miltons, for one there is an overarching religious message, and it was written so long ago and in such a way that it would be hard for most to understand who are not well versed in english and some latin roots. There are also alot of very old myths and legends and fabled things entwined into it that are not common knowledge today.
You could read it as a disbeliever and simply enjoy the work, the characters developed, and situations.
If you are as you say a proclaimed atheist, you may want to begin by reading works from each of the philosophers of history. It sounds like you do not have a personal understanding of "why" things are, the point of it all.
You do not have to totally adopt a belief system laid down by someone else, take snippets of what you feel fits and puzzle it out yourself. Paint the picture of your view of things, and then you can write poems to try get others to see what you see.
Some poems are just willy nilly distractions, and others are trying to make you think, and others try to think for you.
As it was said, art is done for arts sake. There could be a world without art, and the natural end of man is simple propagation of species. But as is alluded to in the republic the end of some people are the works they do, the end of a doctor is good medicine, the end of a carpenter is what he builds with skill, the end of a farmer is the food produced, the end of a sculptor is the statues he makes, the same with painting and wordsmithing.
Just because the majority of peoples "end" is simple propagation and raising of the children, some feel that to create something lasting and of quality, appreciated for centuries can be a higher calling.
And that is what separates man from animal and plant, they have a simple mechanical or instinctual singleminded purpose in life.
It is the free will to make a multitude of decisions, and actions that defines a person.
Henry David, and Ralph Waldo also wrote some lasting poetry, about appreciating nature and on mans nature.
Dantes views, related to miltons works take things in a much darker direction and deal more with mans sufferings, at least those who failed to accept redemption, or were beyond it.
You can read and write poetry that has no religious connotations, but usually there is some philosophical bent to it, some moral, or at the very least some emotional response.
I am not sure where you should start first, as far as reading. It would depend on your interests. You could start simply, and read childrens fables and books that have been popular for a long time. Or you could watch alot of movies, as most have stolen ideas from poetry.
I am not sure if i could rightly recommend you begin with an epic like miltons, for one there is an overarching religious message, and it was written so long ago and in such a way that it would be hard for most to understand who are not well versed in english and some latin roots. There are also alot of very old myths and legends and fabled things entwined into it that are not common knowledge today.
You could read it as a disbeliever and simply enjoy the work, the characters developed, and situations.
If you are as you say a proclaimed atheist, you may want to begin by reading works from each of the philosophers of history. It sounds like you do not have a personal understanding of "why" things are, the point of it all.
You do not have to totally adopt a belief system laid down by someone else, take snippets of what you feel fits and puzzle it out yourself. Paint the picture of your view of things, and then you can write poems to try get others to see what you see.
Some poems are just willy nilly distractions, and others are trying to make you think, and others try to think for you.
As it was said, art is done for arts sake. There could be a world without art, and the natural end of man is simple propagation of species. But as is alluded to in the republic the end of some people are the works they do, the end of a doctor is good medicine, the end of a carpenter is what he builds with skill, the end of a farmer is the food produced, the end of a sculptor is the statues he makes, the same with painting and wordsmithing.
Just because the majority of peoples "end" is simple propagation and raising of the children, some feel that to create something lasting and of quality, appreciated for centuries can be a higher calling.
And that is what separates man from animal and plant, they have a simple mechanical or instinctual singleminded purpose in life.
It is the free will to make a multitude of decisions, and actions that defines a person.