Rachel Lindley
11-15-2001, 10:58 PM
To comment on any matter which involves someone's religious faith can feel rather like pointing a staple gun at one's own head, particularly if that commentary happens to be negative. Faith is deeply personal and is often a fundamental part of someone's identity; to be informed that the poem one has written as praise to God is mediocre or even downright awful can be seen as an attack on one's religious beliefs. The poem is considered off-limits, sacrosanct, and above reproach because of its subject matter.
A common mistake by writers of spiritual poetry is the belief that their poems, because they speak about God, are somehow made better because of the subject. These authors have confused poetry and prayer. Every prayer, if it is made with one's whole heart, is perfect in the sight of God. There is no critique. Because God knows the soul, errors in spelling and grammar are irrelevant, weak images are overlooked and clumsy phrasing forgiven.
That isn't how poetry works. You do not communicate with God; you communicate with us, the human beings, the readers of poetry. Good poetry hinges on a strong working knowledge of one's native language, the ability to manipulate words in a way which creates unique and vivid imagery. The purpose of this forum is to support writers as they improve their ability to communicate a spiritual message to others. Critique is offered, not as an attempt to dismiss religious faith, but as a means of instructing a writer how that message may be more powerfully communicated to the reader. Good poetry has specific characteristics and relies on specific literary tools. If a writer wishes to improve a poem, it will be necessary to learn how to use those tools. It takes effort, and the effort pays off with vibrant poetry. If no effort appears to have been made, if the characteristics found in good poetry are not found in poems posted in the Spiritual forum, the problems will be pointed out.
Think about it: if your faith is so fundamental, so much a part of who you are, wouldn't you want to create the best possible vehicle to communicate this? If you write a poem to praise God, wouldn't you want that poem to be worthy of your subject?
(with contributions by John Boddie)
[This message has been edited by TheBroad (edited 11-16-2001).]
A common mistake by writers of spiritual poetry is the belief that their poems, because they speak about God, are somehow made better because of the subject. These authors have confused poetry and prayer. Every prayer, if it is made with one's whole heart, is perfect in the sight of God. There is no critique. Because God knows the soul, errors in spelling and grammar are irrelevant, weak images are overlooked and clumsy phrasing forgiven.
That isn't how poetry works. You do not communicate with God; you communicate with us, the human beings, the readers of poetry. Good poetry hinges on a strong working knowledge of one's native language, the ability to manipulate words in a way which creates unique and vivid imagery. The purpose of this forum is to support writers as they improve their ability to communicate a spiritual message to others. Critique is offered, not as an attempt to dismiss religious faith, but as a means of instructing a writer how that message may be more powerfully communicated to the reader. Good poetry has specific characteristics and relies on specific literary tools. If a writer wishes to improve a poem, it will be necessary to learn how to use those tools. It takes effort, and the effort pays off with vibrant poetry. If no effort appears to have been made, if the characteristics found in good poetry are not found in poems posted in the Spiritual forum, the problems will be pointed out.
Think about it: if your faith is so fundamental, so much a part of who you are, wouldn't you want to create the best possible vehicle to communicate this? If you write a poem to praise God, wouldn't you want that poem to be worthy of your subject?
(with contributions by John Boddie)
[This message has been edited by TheBroad (edited 11-16-2001).]