Political poetry

Political poetry brings together politics and poetry. Politics is the process of resolving conflicts and deciding who gets what, when, and how. Poetry is a written expression on an individual's feelings, ambitions, or views. When both come together political poetry is a creative way to exercise one's right to freedom of expression. The writer accomplishes their goal to express their views on the world while impacting the readers, allowing them to derive their own meaning.

In "The Politics of Poetry" by David Orr, poetry and politics connect through expression and feeling. It's a way to communicate and express the writer's views, although both of them are matters of persuasion. Political poetry connects to people's feelings, and politics connects to current events. Poetry can also make political references and have real effects on the perception of politics.

Political poetry can impact readers because both politics and poetry express views, with political poetry often defined as being: "... a specific political situation; rooted in an identifiable political philosophy; addressing a particular political actor; written in language that can be understood and appreciated by its intended audience; and finally, offered in a public forum where it can have maximum persuasive effect". "Most contemporary American political poems are written for contemporary American poets, which means that the political poems are written for contemporary American poets, which means that the political poems generally have more relevance to the politics of the poetry world than to the politics of America." One problem for political poetry is that it might not be relatable at the time. Although writers can say anything that they want or think, speech is powerful and some people will read and relate to it, but not all can. "One of the problems with political poetry, then, is that like all speech, it exists at the mercy of time, history, and other people. But that doesn't mean poetry itself is passive."

Political poetry has many characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of poetry. Some political poems try to show a clear idea and influence the reader. Authors could also express rage and opinions about political matters and call for defiance: these poems are considered protest poems. Other poems use clear language to convince readers to take social or political actions. Not all political poems call for action: some authors use poetry to warn readers of a political disaster that will occur. Some authors might write poems that show past events or figures in a new way. Or, an author might bring the reader into the poem. Poet Adrienne Rich emphasized "the personal is political" in her poems. There are also poets that will highlight a person's actions with the intent to show them as a role model. Lastly, readers could view a poem as political even if the poet did not intend for the poem to be political.

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