We Are Authors Not Poets

Who agrees? I know I have no right to say who is a poet and who isn't but, I know I am definitely not a poet. I am an author.

In my opinion poets right for the public, they don't write what they're truly feeling.

I write from my heart, what I say is not really 'poetic'

I'm just a person..who writes.

The definition of an author is:
One who writes or creates something.

The definition of a poet is:
a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)

I think a good poem is one that the majority of the public understands. They don't care how you feel. So none of my poems are good, nor will I ever strive to make them 'good'.

How do you feel about this?

I understand what you are saying but I have to say that if you're saying that poems write for others than I am a poet and to a certain extent I'd say that everybody is a poet on this site. If you truly didn't write for anybody but yourself then you wouldn't post on this site for others to see. Just my views here
All the Best
Sondos

This is the "Great Debate" what makes a poet, poetry, for that matter. Some poets where created by their tortured and tormented souls, the pain and trails in their lives, others by the artistic pursuit of elegant and eloquent expression of feelings, life, through words, the use of literary language. So, the eturnal poet's question, what make you more a poet heartfelt emotion or the ability to use language in an artistically expressive manner? Well, I would personally say the ability to use language - not necessarily in an artistically expressive manner, but certainly, in an effectively expressive manner - even the tortured and tormented soul who wrote, still did, in fact, write well. Not all art is aesthetically beautiful, but true art always has a certain beauty - at least in how it was done. Van Gogh did not always paint a pretty picture, but the beauty of his strokes, still, could always be seen. What makes a poet, in my view, is not what he's expressing but his expression (i.e. how he expresses it) and he does this expression through words, literary language!!!

In my opinion poetry is an art, and art has to do with pleasing. Everyone has different tastes. Personally I would also not want to present myself as an expert on he meaning of words, and attempt to dictate to someone how they should feel. Our feelings are as much a part of our psyche as any part of our body is to our physical form Even though there are vast differences in our ability to perform on various levels of mental emotional, and spiritual planes I believe most of us have the desire to improve our poetry. The moment I boast to you of my great humility is the moment you see my lies. I would like to believe I care about the way people feel, and poetry should be the way we should relate to one another

A very gray area this is... I'm in agreement with most of, but not all of what is being said. I think it's too hard to distinguish... But I know for sure, I'm not a poet... Although I would like to be considered so, I would consider people like Robert Burns a poet... Being a poet doesn't always suggest that you are to "please" the audience, however poets wouldn't be poets without pleasing the right people... right?! Hmmm... A very shady subject!

Yeah, what you're saying Simon makes sense.

How?

Ahh. Ok, but that's kind of what I said before..?

Lol, I still don't understand what you said previously, about being both.

A poet is a imagintive thinker and an artist of words.

We are authors because we write about our trials and tribulations

And we are poets because we convey it as an art.

"A poet is a maker, as the word signifies--Dryden"

Hmm, wonderful thoughts from everyone.

ummm a poet is simply someone who writes poems. i don't think you really need to write a certain way or write for different things to be considered a poet....who chooses how someone has to write to be considered a poet anyway?

an author is a writer of any sort of text.

it's not really that difficult.

I consider myself a writer that plays in the fields of freedom, dabbles in the imaginative, swims the pools expression and selectively shares life experiences in what I hope is a creative way....a writer yes...a poet....a far cry.

I've got soul but i'm not a soldier.

None of you can tell me exactly what is and is not a poem.

So it stands then that none of you can tell me who is and is not a poet by their works.

Just keep doing your thing.

i can. if you write poetry, you ARE a poet. it doesn't matter how good or how you write poetry. a poet is SIMPLY a person who writes poems.

Oh...

I thought you were suspended, Lisa..

Guess not!

Lol

Uh...Huh.

Ha, I was talking to myself, I'm not having the best day, and..that was all jumbled up wasn't it?

Anyways..yeah..I read it over.

I said the same thing you did.

What about talent....

Doesn't that come into play. Because from what you said Sunny. Any person with enough drive and patience, can do this.

Erm...Well, I gues it was a good thing I asked this question..this is pretty interesting.

I think it depends on how much rep you have built up.

For the singer example, if the singer was young, and new into singing, and made say..10 awesome songs..then made 1 or 2 crap ones.. I think they would lose the title

Yes, you can lose a ranking, title or place among the greats....performance is essential and failure to produce at that level allows you to give up your place among the greats.....What was and what is are often two different things.

actually i disagree sunny. like i said...it doesn't matter how good you write poetry or how much you devote your life to it. a poet is someone who writes poems. it's that simple.

hmm

i took it upon myself to look up "poet" in the dictionary.

po·et P Pronunciation Key (pt)
n.
1. A writer of poems.

hmm wow.

Some times the meaning of words is a riddle
The bow launches the arrow and kisses the fiddle
Sometimes a nut splits as the trees are leaving
Many ambiguous words can be so deceiving

Crocodile Dundee says, that's not a knife
As a mugger prepares to take his life
Authors must be authorized to write a book
Some bakers are half- baked, before they cook

I see said a blind man, as he picked up a hammer, and saw
The rule is to measure a fine line before you draw
Don't lose sight of the sites, as we have rights to write
Poetic license gives ease to tease the verses to light

Freedom rings as the caged bird does sing
An unsung song with a message to bring
The rhythm of the rhyme is so sublime
To call it a creation would be no crime

If I may quote what has already been said
From poetic feet off the top of my head
Poems are written by fools like me.
But a poet cannot even make a tree

"i took it upon myself to look up "poet" in the dictionary.

po·et P Pronunciation Key (pt)
n.
1. A writer of poems.

hmm wow."

I looked them both up in the dictionary..It's how I supplied you with the definition of them..In the very first post...

Poet is a person who writes poems?
Why didn't you look up what poems meant before?

Poem:Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose.

^My 'poetry' is not felt by the audience. It's felt by me only, and it is not intended for any audience.

So..Basically, I don't write poems.

Now, if I'm a person who doesn't write poems, I'm not a poet am I?

That's just me..and how I think..I don't know how many other people here aren't poets, or agree with me.

Yes, I do create..But not in that sense.

a poet isn't an occupation though.

"a manner that is felt by its user and audience"

aren't all the people on this site your audience. and if you don't write poems then why do you post on a poem site. and i didn't look poems up because i already know what they are.

POET
A writer of poems.
One who is especially gifted in the perception and expression of the beautiful or lyrical

AUTHOR
The writer of a book, article, or other text.
One who practices writing as a profession.
One who writes or constructs an electronic document or system, such as a website.
An originator or creator, as of a theory or plan.

I am simply a writer, I do not desire a category

When did Author come into all of this?

As long as we aren't plagiarizing all our stuf, we are all authors...

HAPPY LIT?

so you believe nobody on this site is a poet?

If you are a poet, then you are.

If you are NOT a poet, then you are NOT.

See how easy it is....

blah blah blah

“I think a good poem is one that the majority of the public understands. They don't care how you feel. So none of my poems are good, nor will I ever strive to make them 'good'.

How do you feel about this?”

I feel that you have reached your goal of not being easily understood
Some of the best authors have been described as esoteric
One must enter into their circle to understand
I wrote a woman, that I was infatuated with, a letter disguised as a poem. She was an intense muse. More intense than any I had met for a time. The other muses I had to work with were esoteric mystic poets. When I gave her the letter of the words that passed through me, I admit that I anxiously waited for a reaction. When she told me the poem was beautiful I felt an ecstasy that never could be described by words. My desire to unite with my muse brought about physical changes in my body, soul, heart and mind. I remember that it was more important to me that she understood my feelings than the general public. After I felt the emotional agony of rejection by her my thoughts returned to a muse that was only a memory, a muse that had found freedom in the confinement of a prison. I have become a slave to my desire to be understood

Of course you are going to say that Lisa, because that is all you know.

Doing nothing but make stupid “Ha” and say “Blah Blah Blah”

You have nothing remotely intresting to say….Sad

actually ismail, i just said that stuff to keep a discussion going. i myself have never considered myself a poet nor do i even consider my "poems" poems. i use to call them rhymes but then i broke away from rhyming. so i just call them writings. it is nice that you are able to judge before you really know. or maybe "hah" and "blah blah blah" is all i really know. and who are you to say i have nothing remotely intresting to say? have you had an actual conversation with me outside of this poems and quotes site? have you ever been in a real conversation with me? have you ever even read anything i have written? no you haven't. and i highly doubt that you have read anything i've written.

when other people are being closed minded, it is easy to make them angry to where they ridicule you. i could care less if you disagree with me on any of this. i understand what all of you are saying. sometimes it's just intresting to see how people take in something that somebody is standing strongly on.

author: Ismail
date: 2006.03.15 10:18
answer
Oh...
I thought you were suspended, Lisa..
Guess not!

author: The Wingless
date: 2006.03.15 10:28
answer
Lol

author: Ismail
date: 2006.03.15 10:30
answer:
Uh...Huh.

it seems as if you don't want me on this site but it may just be me.

"When we become aware of our humility, we've lost it."
— Unknown”
“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking more of others"

Lisa I don’t believe there is a more worthy member on this site than you
Although your work is not easily understood by the shallow, I find it to be extremely thought provoking.

Poets should be diverse and open minded in my opinion.

This discussion reminds me of the joke about the lone ranger and Tonto

The lone ranger says to Tonto.. Indians to the west. Tonto says let’s ride east kemosabe …
The lone ranger says Indians to the east.. Tonto says lets ride north kemosabe. Lone ranger says Indians to the north. Tonto says let’s ride south kemosabe.. Finally after seeing, he is surrounded by hostile Indians the lone ranger ask Tonto what do we do now?

Tonto asks what do you mean “we” pale face?

Yes Lit:

Saying "Blah Blah Blah" thrice, makes an interesting sentence that contributes to the discussion at hand.

Wingless: Please, save me your bull. If I wanted you out, I would have said so. And you would be the first one to know. Now stop being paranoid.

Back to the topic: Poetry is a written art form, where it relies on pictorial and oral representation, and uses a vast amount of aesthetic qualities than the notional and semantics content.

"Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits"-Carl Sandburg

To write a poem, there has to be rhythm or be fixed in a specific meter, form and rhetoric.

“A poet exists within a cultural and intellectual tradition and usually writes in a specific language.”

"And manglers of the English language if you continue spelling incorrectly like that."

My name..is not windless.