Relevance of Poetry in Modern Times

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
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1
ENGLISH ESSAY
Literature is a form of art that expresses emotions and feelings in words, and poetry is
probably the most distinctive genre of it. The rhythmic features and meters of a poem
distinguish it from any other form of literature. The rhythmic sound and the abstract use of
words in poetry create a sublime image that intensifies readers’ emotions (Mays). As Ezra
Pound wrote in his book ABC of Reading, that poetry is “news that stays news”, this essay
delves into the relevance of the message and idea that a poetry conveys.
Deaths, barrenness of war and class discrimination in society are the major themes
(Rao) that T S Eliot explicitly portrayed in his poem The Wasteland. Death is the major motif
of the first section of the poem The Burial of the Dead (Eliot). Written in a time when the
world was facing the consequences of the First World War and was preparing for the Second
World War, the poem throughout discusses the futility of war and violence. In several
sections, it also insinuates the differentiation between social classes. These issues are present
in modern days too. Although terrorism and war are entirely different phenomenon, yet both
are violent and hostile in nature. Hence, poet’s concerns about how the brutality of war can
bring only impotency in the society are evidently relatable in contemporary world where
terrorism is a persistent threat. Death is an eternal fact; innumerable literary works had
adopted this theme throughout the ages. The pain and void that death leaves behind are
applicable in any period. Since the beginning of history, social discrimination had been an
integral part of it in any place and any time. Whether a society belongs to a third world
country or first world country, it always will be divided into poor-rich, educated-uneducated,
male-female and many more classifications.
W B Yeats’ The Second Coming is a poem of revolution. Yeats wrote this poem in the
context of Irish Civil War and the First World War (Dalsimer). Through the whole poem, he
illustrates a chaotic picture where there is no hope and only darkness. He describes a world
which denies to recognize the authority and upholds disorder. In this morally confusing