“Ballads and Bards” –
An International Anthology from Poiesis – 2019 Series
Wordsworth's popular definition of poetry from his Preface to the "Lyrical Ballads." goes like this “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." And Thomas Carlyle has defined poetry as musical thought…
So it implies that poetry is musical notes for chanting or singing rather than reading it internally. We are here to take you to the next strata of Wordsworth’s definition. To the forgotten dimension of poetry that is more expressible than just posting the work in social media or just getting it published in some anthologies.
As we know, to understand a poem in its totality, it has to be read in a proper way. At least, the author should be able to enjoy reading it with some kind of meter. Proper reading of poetry will give tremendous experience to the reader as well as for the listeners. Isn't it really meditative to read a poem or listen to a poem with its vocal vibrations and variations, a bit louder other than just glancing through it silently...? Isn't it a transition from words, its meanings, to the experiences of the soul...? How much we care for such aspects when we compose or present a poem. ..? Perhaps with this question emerges the next level of poetry...i.e taking poetry to a more soothing and beautiful song writing realms...Don’t you feel it’s as a need or necessity, as poetry itself has become more head oriented skipping many precious beats of the heart?
The art of reciting, singing it and song-writing, is altogether a different discipline and requires much dedication and hard work to attain it. Perhaps many years of writing, continuous self evaluation, constant learning, observing and fine tuning oneself and so on. May be these are the various factors that makes poets get discharged at the juncture where something more beautiful really unfurls. Poetry as of now is read more as a prose, just like reading a philosophical quote or as casual as reading a newspaper or a boring school annual report that too for the self, with least botheration about its effect on the listeners.
Since few years, we are in an attempt trying to give more life, purpose and direction to the English poetry scene of India through 'Chanting Bards - A face book - promotion page' to post the poetry recitation videos and audio links. But still it is not taken up by poets ambitiously and confidently. Perhaps, as the nature of task involves and implies, it requires more time and personal fine tunings.
In short and in straight, to chant or sing poems, it has to be written with such an intention. So it is not just putting words randomly as per our wish and making a poem, but writing poetry with some meter in it or with some kind of rhythm infused in it, using the apt words, words and its phonetic balance, fine tuning the flow and structure and so on. Song writing/poetry writing is thus standing out as an amazing terrain to be explored…
Poiesisonline is all about innovations and experiments, we love such explorations… Here, ‘the spontaneous overflows of powerful feelings - well tuned with a musical rhythm are invited from the poets’. We have already initiated it through chanting bards few years before...but what we all lack now is readable poetry ...what we all need is more flowing songs...isn’t it ? Isn’t a challenge that is very progressive too…?
Bards! Are you ready to embark on this journey…? If you are confident, join us with your poems for our Collection of Ballads/poetry/songs titled “Ballads and Bards – Volume 1”
Terms and conditions
1. Maximum lines : 30
2. Should be mailed in MS-Word format with filename as
[‘Ballads and Bards – ‘Your ( poets name) ]’.
3. Maximum – 3 poems/per author
4. Your name in full, place, state, nation.
Poetry Submission :
Email : publishatxpress@gmail.com
Last date: Your poems should reach us on or before 30th November – 2018