04-14-2014, 02:40 PM
It is a scary thought for me, for some reason. The idea of poetry as a method of persuasion. Reminds me too much of propagandists. You could try anything by D'Annunzio, or Shaw.
I find persuasive poetry more accessible when there is an element of satire, humor, or irony though. There is a "like" sestina by stallings that is awful to some, but some of the younger crowd find it fairly entertaining.
In all actuality every poem seeks to persuade the reader on some level, to suspend disbelief and participate in the experience. How successful the poem is may often very well depend on the author's ability to minimize the presence, and evidence of, such designs, or even the idea that there is a hand at work. Readers don't want to know that they are being persuaded, they want the experience for themselves, without being aware of someone else imposing thoughts on them, which is why writers are often advised to leave the "ego" out of it.
Rhetoric and bombast both can be an unholy bore, and the more imposing any element of a "message" is, the more artfully it must be delivered, if the reader is to get any enjoyment out of it.
I find persuasive poetry more accessible when there is an element of satire, humor, or irony though. There is a "like" sestina by stallings that is awful to some, but some of the younger crowd find it fairly entertaining.
In all actuality every poem seeks to persuade the reader on some level, to suspend disbelief and participate in the experience. How successful the poem is may often very well depend on the author's ability to minimize the presence, and evidence of, such designs, or even the idea that there is a hand at work. Readers don't want to know that they are being persuaded, they want the experience for themselves, without being aware of someone else imposing thoughts on them, which is why writers are often advised to leave the "ego" out of it.
Rhetoric and bombast both can be an unholy bore, and the more imposing any element of a "message" is, the more artfully it must be delivered, if the reader is to get any enjoyment out of it.