April is National Poetry Month, and I’m thrilled about this because poetry is one of my favorite forms of expression! It can be a really good way to put your deepest thoughts and feelings into words. I often find it easier to write what I am thinking or feeling than to try and find words to speak what is inside.
Poems can make you laugh, & they can make you cry. They can take your mind on a wild adventure, or make you stop to consider the deeper things in life. They can be healing, or they can hurt.
It struck me today as I was cleaning house and listening to music just how much poetry is an integral part of Christianity. (Cleaning house has nothing to do with poetry at all, but one can never predict when inspiration will strike…) 🙂
Anyhow, many of the scriptures, particularly the Psalms, are written in couplets or poetic meter. For instance, Psalm 119. It is written in sections that correspond to individual letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and every verse mentions the word of God in some form. (verse 1, the law of the LORD; verse 2, his testimonies; verse 3, his ways, etc.)
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the psalmists poured out their hearts to God on paper. In the psalms we can see a glimpse of the joys and trials of the Israelites as they wandered through the wildernesses, and see what David was thinking and feeling as he hid from Saul.
So many of the songs and hymns we sing are also written in rhyming phrases. Some of them are simple, (such as Jesus Loves Me,) and some are more complex, & require deeper thought to understand the meaning, (like Amazing Grace & The Love of God.)
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”
John Newton
Anna Bartlett Warner
”Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong.”
Frederick M. Lehman
“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair bowed down with care, God gave his son to win. His erring child, he reconciled, and pardoned from his sin. Oh love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure the saints and angels song.”
Music is my favorite form of poetry by far, and it is an essential part of everyday life for me! I also like to read poems from many different sources, such as Amy Carmichael, Emily Dickinson, Robert Browning, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Francis Scott Key, Fanny Crosby, Louisa May Alcott, Isaac Watts, & Robert Frost.
I could go on musing, but I will stop there for today!
I will be sharing a few poems & highlighting different poets and their stories this month, and I would love to know:
- Do you like poetry, or could you live without it?
- If you like poems, who are your favorite poets?
- What is your favorite style of poetry?
- Have you ever written poems?
I look forward to hearing from you in the comments! 🙂
Boldly Graceful 