By: Frosty Boi

(Be warned this is super dense and probably not even that good of a blog post. Don't be mad at me, I'm trying to get back into writing blogs again.)

     Okay so let's start by saying poetry is hard; about as hard as Scalia's ax-helve is for English. However, it definitely has become easier, little by little. So what makes a good poem? Honestly, I'm not sure. But for the most part, I think it's all about how the poem makes you feel and how well the author can get you to understand the reasoning behind certain actions. A tad cliché right? I know I'm not the person you would expect to get all emotional, but as I was I trying to decide on which of Robert Frost's poem I liked the best, the only one that kept coming to mind was "Home Burial". Let me explain:
     It all started when we were reading the poem in class. I was frustrated that I didn't understand it. Jenna was frustrated that she had to do the presentation. Scalia was frustrated that I wasn't listening. Everyone was frustrated. I will admit, I was only 1/4 listening throughout most of the presentation. However, my attention was fully engaged when we reached the halfway mark. For those of you that don't have the poem in front of you, the halfway point is where the couple begins to talk about how they speak to one another. This one stanza allowed me to understand the entirety of the rest of the poem. Really. I'm not kidding.
     Up until that point, I both did not care about what was happening in the poem nor did I understand why it was happening. Let's be obvious here: the poem is about a grieving couple trying to cope with the death of their newborn. Easy right? Simple enough. So. Let's get to the real question: why is the couple so detached from one another? The general idea of the poem may be about how the couple is arguing and trying to grieve in different ways. However, the main point I believe Frost is trying to make is that the couple just is not on the same field. We can understand this when Frost uses the stairs to show how the couple, emotionally and physically, is not on a single level. I really love the whole focus of the poem and I wish the blog post was to just write about our favorite poem but it's not so let's get back on topic.
     So what makes this poem good? To me, it's the emotional core that surrounds the main idea. If a poet can create a connection between the reader and the poem, then understanding the meaning behind the poem becomes immensely easier. I understood what the husband was trying to say with: "My words are nearly always an offense...". I get it. Weirdly enough, I get it. Talking to people is hard. We take spoken words for granted but they are extremely powerful. One slip up can destroy someone's whole image of you. Talking to strangers is hard because you don't quite know them or what to really talk about. But talking to someone you care about or even love is the hardest thing anyone can do. Because that truly matters. You have a purpose when talking to those you care about and you care about the outcome of the conversations you have with them. The man in this poem is trying his hardest, a sincere effort, to understand his wife and how to communicate. But she's shutting him out, she's refusing to help him and blames him for not understanding. No matter what he does, nothing is "up to snuff". Suddenly I was able to understand the emotional core of the poem.
     Obviously you are not going to personally identify with every single poem you read. And just because you don't, does not necessarily mean it's not a good poem. An author does not have to write a poem that everyone can relate to; however, I do believe every poem should be about something understandable to the audience.
     So what makes a poem truly good? Say it with me now: it's all about the human condition. If a poem is just about being human, no matter how complicated the diction may be or how dense the dialogue is, everyone can understand it eventually. Motives become clear and actions become believable. In the simplest terms: the poem has to mean something to people. If it's just fancy words on a page with complex meaning then it is not a good poem. Frost writes most of his poems with the human condition in mind and I think that's why he has become such a famous poet. His poems are relatable and they hold tangible weight to the emotions they are trying to express.
     Now that I've rambled on for way too long, let's talk about the ugly. What makes a poem bad? I think that's simple if I just contrast my previous answer. A bad poem means nothing. This is going to be hard to explain over writing but I'm going to try my best anyway. When looking at poetry I think it's important to look at who it was written for. Most of Frost's work was published in collections making them accessible by anyone with access to a bookstore. While his poems may not have been written directly for the general public's reading pleasure, he definitely had the masses in mind when writing each and every word. Going back to my answer: a poem is bad if it means nothing... to the intended audience. Nothing is a strong word but I think it serves its purpose well. I mostly just wanted to say that for the cool sounding effect. I really mean that if the meaning is so hidden and convoluted to its intended audience then it might as well mean nothing.
     So which poem was my least favorite? And the winner is (drum roll)... "The Ax-helve"! While not poorly written by any means this poem is just not good in my opinion. Who is this poem even meant for? Frost's family? Creepy neighbor? Local priest? Mike Pence? The meaning is so shrowded that there is simply no good way to understand it. It might as well mean nothing. The poem also drifts from Frost's normal trend of writing about the human condition. While the story is about companionship and new discoveries, the ideas of human emotion and struggle have taken a backseat.
     I really don't have much to say about this poem in particular. I mostly just didn't like it but I also wanted to a pick a poem that I could give a reason for it being bad. I could have just picked a poem that I had issues understanding and analyzing but that doesn't mean the poem is bad, so I decided not to take that route when picking my "bad" poem. I think overall "The Ax-helve" does everything right. The structure is nice and the diction is superb but it just was not good. The meaning is still a mystery to the class as half the people are not completely convinced its what we originally thought. Scalia just likes anything to do with ax-helves so he's happy with the analysis I guess. If I'm being honest I'm not completely sure about the meaning but that's a story for another day because that is not what this blog is all about.
     If you've made it this far through this terrible rant you deserve an award, but let's conclude. Good poetry has connections to our humanity; it has understandable issues. Bad poetry lacks relatable moments and meaning to its intended audience. Well, at least that's my opinion.