Welcome to sPOkETRY, a site for spoken poetry. This site explores the complex relationship between poetry as seen -- that is, as text presented visually on a page that we tend to read silently to ourselves -- and poetry as spoken -- that is, as recitation, performance, something that is heard. Poetry is a hybrid literary form. It struts in a gray area between the eye and the ear. "[A]s a practice of writing," Susan Stewart says, speaking specifically of lyric, "it has no sound -- that is unless we are listening to a spontaneous composition ... we are always recalling sound" in poetry.
This site has an agenda. It encourages visitors to think of poetry more as an auditory experience, to imagine it as spoken and heard, or much better, to actually recite it aloud, instead of leaving it silently on the page. It aims to remind us that the recitation of English poetry has a long history -- from the mead halls echoing with Beowulf, to the songs of medieval troubadours, to the Elizabethan thespians, to Coleridge's chanting performances -- that is longer even than the history of written poetry in our language. It seeks to resurrect the auditory experience and give it a place of primacy. The question, as Charles Bernstein has put it, is not, "When did modern poetry readings begin? but When did poetry cease to be presented primarily through performance? That is, When (if ever), did silent reading take precedence over live performance?"
Each of the following pages points out some of the different ways in which sight and speech mingle in poetry in hopes of showing just how much can be gained if we recite poetry ... and how much is lost if we don't. Visitors are encouraged to take special note of each speaker's unique delivery, how the qualities of their voices shape each poem, and how their reactions and facial expressions affect our experiences. If nothing else, each page should get you thinking differently about poetry.
Visitors are also encouraged to post their own reactions to the pages, especially if they're unexpected ones. They are also encouraged to upload their own favorite poems, as well as their own recitations if they're feeling brave.
Below you will find a list of links to explore after finishing with this site. Very special thanks are due to all my friends and colleagues who were kind enough to recite poetry for me and make this project possible. Enjoy!
http://www.amazon.com/Close-Listening-Poetry-Performed-Word/dp/0195109929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324014902&sr=8-1
http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/
http://poetry.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k40344&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup70263
http://www.favoritepoem.org/
http://www.spokenwordnewyork.com/
