Michael Bugeja

Q I have come across a sentence which refers to ' the tradition of People's Poetry'. Can you define this for me and give names of poets who you feel follow this genre?
-- With thanks,
Sandra Phinney

A Great question here, because so little is written about the tradition of "People's Poetry." The term means so many things it rather defies definition, especially as a genre. In fact, the
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetics contains no listing of the term.

But we all seem to know it.

I would define it as "poetry embraced by the people to such extent that the author (or style by which the author is known) becomes a touchstone for a social or literary era and/or for a social cause."

Certainly, Shakespeare was one of the first people's poets in English culture. In fact, the scholars of his day considered him a kind of Elizabethan Steven Spielberg -- far less apt to influence the ages as his contemporary, Ben Jonson. (Shows you what critics know.) In particular, the play "Romeo and Juliet" was "Titanic" in popularity.

So Shakespeare, as usual, would top my list. But you would have to classify, at one time or another, other English laureates--Lord Tennyson and Christina Rossetti come immediately to mind--as people's poets. Also, such a list would include the Irish master, William Butler Yeats.

Wordsworth was one of the early people's poets with the publication of Lyrical Ballads. A 1798 advertisement for the book makes direct reference to use of common, or people's language, in poetry: "The majority of the following poems are to be considered as experiments. They were written chiefly with a view to ascertain how far the language of conversation in the middle and lower classes of society is adapted to the purposes of poetic pleasure."

Here's a snippet of such language from one of Wordsworth's ballads, the first stanza of
"The Idiot Boy":

'TIS eight o'clock,--a clear March night,
The moon is up,--the sky is blue,
The owlet, in the moonlight air,
Shouts from nobody knows where;
He lengthens out his lonely shout,
Halloo! halloo! a long halloo!
In America, Walt Whitman certainly would be considered one of our first "people's poets" with his equally influential, Leaves of Grass. To see how that volume was received, check out 1881-82 reviews of Whitman's masterwork at this link:
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/whitman/works/leaves/1882/reviews/
His voice still echoes today, influencing another "people's poet," Allen Ginsberg, whose masterwork remains "Howl," articulating the rage of the modern generations.

After Whitman, several other poets became representatives of "the people," including Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg. But my favorite remains Edgar Lee Masters whose incredible but underrated 1915 collection, Spoon River Anthology, established the free verse standard still in use today. The
"voices" in the fictional town Spoon River are dead, speaking from the grave, and revealing the town's secrets. Here's an example:
Amanda Barker
Henry got me with child,
Knowing that I could not bring forth life
Without losing my own.
In my youth therefore I entered the portals of dust.
Traveler, it is believed in the village where I lived
That Henry loved me with a husband's love,
But I proclaim from the dust
That he slew me to gratify his hatred.
The interesting fact about being a "people's poet" is that most writers today shun the distinction, feeling that it lessens their impact on or clout in the literary world. I disagree. I think such poets touch the heart and soul of the populace in a special way and, as such, demand our respect.

One such example is Maya Angelou. She's been featured on Oprah, sure. But she has spread her love and wisdom far and wide in the poetry realm. So many among us felt a sense of pride when she recited her inaugural poem in January 1993. To view that poem, along with the works of many others who might have been mentioned in this column, check out an excellent poetry site on "The English Server," hosted by the English department at Carnegie Mellon University, at this link: http://eserver.org/poetry .

-- MB

Michael J. Bugeja's poetry has appeared in hundreds of America’s most prestigious magazines and journals. He has authored four text- and trade books, including Guide to Writing Magazine Nonfiction (Allyn & Bacon, 1997); Living Ethics: Developing Values in Mass Communication (Allyn & Bacon, 1996); Poet's Guide: How to Publish and Perform Your Work (Story Line Press, 1995); and The Art and Craft of Poetry (Writer's Digest Books, 1994). In addition, he has published two books of social criticism and six book-length collections of poems, as well as a collection of award-winning short stories and a novel.

His writing awards include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, an Academy of American Poets award, and a lengthy list of other awards and prizes. He writes a column on poetry for Writer's Digest and is honorary chancellor of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.