What is Poetry Good For?
Published February 24th, 2009 | 
Recently, Wendy Cope, a well-known British poet who was once considered to be one of the front-runners to be the next Poet Laureate in the U.K., came out against the Poet Laureate position. One of the reasons she gave for the criticism is that the Poet Laureate is expected to write poems for special occasions (and the royal family) and she doesn’t like writing poems “under pressure.”
While it’s my own preference not to have to write poems on predetermined topics, I understand the importance of being able to do this and how doing it is a big part of the larger poetic tradition. Listen, poetry began as part of the oral tradition — before written language and the evolution of other genres and media, poetry was the method for entertaining the public interest, passing along stories and information about notable events in human history. As written language evolved, so too did poetry, taking on a more official role in society as societies hardened into more definite class and power structures. As such, there have always been “court poets.” From the days of “Gilgamesh the King,” to Billy Collins’s 9/11 poem, “The Names,” poetry has had a definite function in society of recording important events in it’s own unique fashion.
While Cope makes an important point that one doesn’t need to have a Poet Laureate in order for poetry to fulfill this role and I, too, have often wondered from time to time if a the Laureate positions in both the U.S. and the U.K. are even necessary, it’s hard to deny the history of the poem and it’s role in society. Even if poetry is no longer as popular as the latest John Grisham thriller, it still holds a place in our world — maybe now more than ever. If nothing else, that the most powerful democracies in the western world still recognise this role, even if the Poet Laureate is only a bullshit ceremonial political appointment, is a sign that poetry is still important enough to have an official national poet. The Poet Laureate position may be “archaic” and “ridiculous,” the day they abolish the job, that’s when I’m really going to start to worry.
One Response to What is Poetry Good For?
I think the Poet Laureate position is still important, if only because it serves, like you said, as a sign that poetry is important enough in our society to have an official national position.
The term Poet Laureate still has some prestige among the laypersons, even if it serves a largely unnecessary funtion.