1. What words or phrases do you associate with poetry? 2. Which of the images above best represents poetry, in your opinion?
3. The poet E. E. Cummings said ‘write poetry, for God’s sake, it’s the only thing that matters’. Why might he have felt this way?
4. What do song lyrics and poems have in common?
5. We often turn to poetry in times of celebration or sorrow, such as weddings or funerals. Why do you think people read poems at times like these?
Create
Write your own defi nition of poetry in the space provided on page 29 of your Portfolio, by completing the sentence ‘Poetry is ...’. You will return to this defi nition later on.
