One of the most anthologized 'ars poetica' poems is Marianne Moore's. From the first line, "I too dislike it,...", Moore immediately disposes of any claim to pomposity, which is one of the problems most readers have in their conceptions of poetry, generally formed from early school experiences, when as students they were forced to memorize arcane, pedantic, full-rhyme poems. Notice Moore's use of indentation, enjambment, and line breaks in this excerpt from her famous work:

Poetry

The benefit of discovering a poet's particular philosophy in his or her ars poetica poem (granted, there may be more than one, but generally one stands out), is not only that a reader can perceive a distillation, or essential 'theory of poetics' there, but one may use the poem as a basis for comparison with other poets. Neruda, for example, is quite clear that the poet's "art" is more than a mere personal endeavor; it encapsulates the "obligation" of an artist to society, and does so in the first person. His poem is not playful. While it does not include the whimsical, specific images of Moore's vision, Neruda's poem is not dismissive of poetry's necessary "derivative(s')"; which, for him, become intelligible precisely because they speak in natural voices:

The Poet's Obligation

Although there are many passive attitudes in this poem, which is taken from one of the poet's own personal favorite collections, "Fully Empowered," and written during a particularly fruitful time in the writer's life, the overall sense is one of great activity and depth. The poet as vessel for the sea--"a breaking up of foam and quicksand" (l. 26 ) responds as one who may pass through normal boundaries of self, cell, prison, building, and window, much as water can flood. The person who receives the gift of 'freedom', however, is almost a communal persona--"...and, hearing me, eyes may lift themselves" (l. 22).

This oblique distancing mechanism has the effect of making the "poet's obligation" not one of egoism and personal power, but rather, a sincere marriage to natural forces. Reading other of Neruda's poems, one experiences the same subtle distancing of the writer's persona from the writer himself. It is this unique ability that contributed to Neruda's profound influence and breadth.

I have been invited to include here my own 'ars poetica' poem, and I do so somewhat reluctantly, not wanting to follow Moore and Neruda, but rather to take my place, as William Wordsworth so aptly described the landscape of poetic ego and poetry in his sonnet: "If thou indeed derive thy light from heaven...", among the minors. Here I am grateful to assume the comfortable identity of a local poet, one that 'burns,/ Like an untended watch-fire, on the ridge/ Of some dark mountain..."

That said, I would like to end this discussion with my own 'ars poetica' poem--the piece I feel best defines a personal theory as well as encompassing certain ideals. If I have been successful, this poem maintains the form of a free verse poem, is minimalist in structure, and avoids the pitfalls of didacticism. In metaphoric terms it may reveal my belief in the poem as reliquary. Poems, whatever their form, should be approached quietly and reverently, with an eye and ear open to the emotional wealth any well-wrought artistic work contains.

Tic Douloureux