Studying Life in Poetry Class

English poetry is one of several subjects which I am taking in this semester. It is a subject that discusses about some aspects that build English poetry. Before taking the class, I thought that it would be the same as Indonesian poetry. However, I found things different and they are, of course, obviously more complicated than Indonesian Poetry. Actually, I never thought that I would take this subject since I decided at the first semester that I would focus on Linguistics subject. However, the fact that I had to do was different from what I had planned. The guidance book showed that English poetry was subject that I had to take in the fourth semester. Therefore, when I register for classes, I forcedly clicked English poetry to be my study schedule. I just thought that I had to do whatever it took. On the other hand, I found many things in English poetry class that I can take as lesson in my life.

The first meeting, it was the introduction, as always, to what we would study in this semester. The lecturer told us many things but I forgot what they were because there was something that really disturbed my mind. It was like pulling teeth. This happened when the lecturer gave the students and I a poem that he asked us to read and understand. The poem was about someone giving a rose to someone else. It was also explained in the poem that red meant desire and passion meanwhile white meant pure and sweet. Then the one in the poem gave a creamy rose with a flush on its tip. The lecturer asked us to interpret the meaning of the poem. A student said that she believed that desire would destroy love. She also said that desire would hurt the love itself so that she suggested all of us to push aside our desire and passion from love. This opinion was also agreed by another student. He said that desire and passion was something to avoid and ban. On the other hand, I really disagree with what they were saying. I just thought that the one in the poem only tried to be honest. He gave a creamy rose, not a white rose, with a flush on its tip. This meant that he was actually honest about what he felt. He knew that he was a human being who felt both love and desire as humans were born with them. I thought that it was too hypocritical to say that we humans had to push aside our desire and passion from our love. It was too goody to say that desire and passion would just only hurt the love meanwhile they did not know that actually desire was the base of love. Why do men fall in love with women and vice versa? Why gay men fall in love with men? Why can’t straight men fall in love with men? Why can’t gay men fall in love with women? It is because of desire which is the base of love. They denied this and said that desire would just hurt out love. At the time, I really wanted to ask them “Do you want to have a wife or a husband who is always saying ‘I love you’ but always letting you sleep alone in a cold night?” But I did not speak my mind. Finally, I just study that to understand something, I need to look at its very basic aspect so that I do not simply make a wrong judgment.

The next meeting, I studied about rhythm and meter. The lecturer gave us a poem and then he asked us to segment every single word based on its syllable. After that, we had to try to identify every single syllable whether it was pronounced stressed or unstressed. After doing this way, we could know identify and know the rhythm and meter of the poem. However, something came to my mind. I was really questioning whether doing this kind of activity was important or not. I asked myself, “Is it important? Why would I do this? Can this improve my knowledge? Will it be useful for my study?” Many questions came hard to my mind like cats and dogs. I then tried to suit myself and think deeply. After a while, I figured out that rhythm and meter were something building the beauty of a poem. I understood that poems actually presented the beauty that was composed of a particular aspect. From this way, I can understand that there is actually a cause and effect in life. To reach a great result, a big effort need to be done just like a complicated way is done to create a beautiful poem.

Another meeting, the topic was about concrete poetry. The lecturer showed us a poem which its arrangement of words reflected a picture. I simply thought that it was ridiculous. Why did the poet do such a complicated way just to write a poem? I tried to think and then I found out that actually the reflected picture was related the meaning that was conveyed. The picture was made to deliver the meaning that was brought by the poem. Then, I realize that I also need to do the same in life. To successfully deliver a message, I need to do several ways that will make my message more understandable so that people will not misinterpret what I mean.

I have got several life lessons in my poetry class. I realize that there is always a lesson behind everything even though it is something that I think it is ridiculous. However, to find out the lesson is not easy. A deep thinking needs to be done to discover a precious lesson behind something.