The Poetry Meme
I once created the Language Meme and, since this month is the Poetry Month, thought about writing the Poetry Meme.
The Poetry Meme
1) Since what age have you started reading poetry? Which percentage of total reading time do you dedicate to poetry, as opposed to prose?
2) Did you formally study poetry (f.e. at college, school)? If so, did it ignite your interest in the genre or didn't contribute in any meaningful way?
3) What was your first favorite poem? What's your best-loved poem (or poet) now? If you have a particular poem you can't stand, feel free to mention it too.
4) Do you enjoy poetry only in your mother tongue or in foreign language(s) too? If yes, does your perception change depending on the language, f. e. preferring different genres in different languages?
5) Did your preferences change over the years?
My answers:
1) I've started trying to read poetry only the previous year in the attempt to widen my horizons and find more things to enjoy. So far, it has been only in English, not in my mother-tongue, Russian. I haven't read a lot, but for me even that was a giant leap.
2) At school I studied several poems at literature lessons (in Russian, then in Hebrew in Israel plus a few English poems at English lessons). Reading English poetry did plant a seed of future interest, even if I had been unaware of it at the time.
3) The first poem I remember loving was Mikhail Lomonosov's "An Evening Reflection upon God's Grandeur Prompted by the Great Northern Lights". We studied it at school and I re-read it until knowing it by heart. However, then I wasn't interested in poetry and strangely didn't even think to check his other works.
RE current favorite poet I hesitate. It's probably Robert Frost, but I loved Thomas Hood and Christina Rossetti's not religious poems too. And except them I haven't read almost anyone yet.
4) The only poet I read in Russian was Eduard Asadov, who is to poetry what pop is to classical music. (But I still like him.) I even put the translation of his poem "What Is Happiness?" here. (It does sound better in Russian.)
Part of the reason I didn't enjoy some famous lyrical poets, like Percy Shelley, is insufficient knowledge of English. However, I am unsure how big a part it played since I suspect myself to generally not like his style of writing.
5) Will wait and see!
If you know other poets, like R. Frost or T. Hood, whom I may like, please, recommend.