By Tabitha Bozeman
April is a month made for language. Between National Poetry Month and William Shakespeare’s birthday, it is hard not to notice how much of our lives are shaped by words: both our own and those of others. And, how the words of others can still be the ones we carry with us long after we leave the classrooms and textbooks behind. Poetry and literature show up in unexpected places, often when we need them the most.
With my students, I start with song lyrics. This is probably the most accessible example of poetry for most people. It is also a good reference for the way pieces of songs can get stuck in our minds. I know that there are times I’m overjoyed, or devastated by grief, or feeling generally uninterested in anything, but then a line from a song, or a poem, or a novel will drift through my mind. In this way, poetry and literature help us put words to the experience of being human.
Shakespeare understood this ability of language to transcend utilitarianism and become the container for abstract and hard to verbalize experiences. Today, his words still shape how we talk about love, jealousy, courage, ambition, grief, and hope. Even people who have never read any of his plays or sonnets are likely quoting him without realizing it. That is part of the appeal of literature: it becomes so ingrained into our thinking and processing of the human experience that we often don’t even notice it. Language can somehow stretch to hold what we experience and feel and know. It gives us the tools to preserve the important parts of this life, a way to keep what matters.
Literature and poetry are tools and entertainment that grow with us. As children, we first learn poetry and literature with nursery rhymes and tongue twisters. Limericks about silly characters, and fairy tales with happy endings help us laugh at life and imagine hopeful futures. Language teaches us rhythm and play. As older students, poetry challenges us to think differently, to pay attention to the world around us. Stories begin to help us ask hard questions and recognize that more than one thing can be true at the same time. As adults, a favorite poem, or a new novel can become something else entirely as we turn to them to be companions during change, uncertainty, celebration, and loss. Our experiences create new lenses to view familiar themes and stories and poems.
Literature changes because we change.
April is a reminder to return to those poems and plays and novels that we have enjoyed in the past and an opportunity to revisit them with new eyes.
As we reach the end of National Poetry Month and celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday, it is a great time to look up a familiar poem or story that once grabbed your attention, made you laugh, or generally seemed confusing. Read it out loud. Listen to a song and pay attention to the lyrics. Check out a new writer a friend has suggested. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you discover because poetry and literature are not always something we outgrow. Often, they are words we grow into.
Long after a first reading is forgotten, words remain. Words that help us name what we love, understand what we fear, and recognize what connects us to one another. Words can reach across centuries, and across the repetition of ordinary days.
In our world where news bounces from one headline to another, and online trends come and go and mind-numbing speed, some words remind us to slow down long enough to notice that language is still a gift and a tool, a container and a salve. When a line pops into your mind, pay attention to it. Look it up and re-read it. It might be exactly what you need.
