What defines a 'good' poet on P&Q?

The good thing (for want of a better word) is that poetry is becoming something of a lost art in these soundbite-media times. Because it would suck if poetry's worth was determined in the currently popular "let's make a show and have people vote" format that is contributing to the destruction of a valid music industry.

None of the exceptional poets on here would win unless they've got big tits or good pecs. Some of the crud writers probably do...

In my opinion there is no deffining a 'good' poet, or 'good' poetry. it is all about opinion.. but whats good to one is bad to another.. so it can not be deffined.

~Terra

no i am saying good poetry can not be defined.

for example.. many people can say that Robert Frost is an exelent poet, but others could say his stuff is crap. he has lots of knowledge of the craft.

and this is why it cant be defined. what is good to one, is bad to another, and such is life.

I think you pulled a terrible example there. Robert Frost is WIDELY REGARDED as a great poet.

You see, the thing about literature is that it's one of the many things in society that has sprung from (and thus gravitates to) intellectual elitism. You'll find very few homies that dropped out of skool at 15 who will appreciate the works of, say, Siegfried Sassoon. But you may find plenty of university students who do an English course that find his poetry compelling. And to show that intellectual elitism isn't just about class-based snobbery: that elite that appreciate Sassoon could just as easily extend to the well educated military man (be he a well-read soldier or a naval cook!) as to the college educated.

The point is that good poetry stands the test of time, and gets taught to future generations. The rest just gets remembered by its fans.

This may be part of what Paper is trying to say:

Just because Robert Frost is regarded as a great poet, it doesn't mean that people are going to like all of his poems. And because most people usually only judge on one or two poems, if they don't like those one or two poems that they've read, they won't like him even though he is a great poet. SHakespeare is a great writer, yet I hate reading his writing, but that doesn't mean that I don't think he is talented.. It's mostly about personal preference as far as how much you like their poems, but that doesn't really decide if they are a great poet or not.

Hope that makes sense and I hope that agrees with what you're saying, Paper.

what Lovely Bones said was pretty much what i was trying to say, lol.

and dont get me wrong with my Robert Frost example, I love reading his work, i did an essay on his poem 'spring pools'. he is one of my favorite writers and i love finding the hidden meanings behind his work, when i can.. lol.

but yes i can agree that people do get better at thier writing, and just because you are prasied on this site doesn't mean that you would get praised in the real world.

I could care less pretty much about getting praised on this site. I'd rather ask people to comment honestly, and if they hate something let me know what and why so I know. As someone above me said that being praised here doesn't always mean being praised in real life. What defines a good poet here? Their attitude towards honesty and other opinions.

Well, a good poet is someone who can put a good idea across clearly.
Some poems are based on wonderful stories, but excess words and bad spelling have turned them into less than they were supposed to be.
I suppose a good poem is one that you can read, immediately understand, and appreciate simply because it went directly to your heart... without jumbling itself up.

Well, that's my thoughts, anyway. No offense meant.

//T.L.//

Even though it is easier to define concrete substances than abstract concepts. We can make comparisons that might make the subject at hand simpler. Take for instance if I pose the question how do we define good water? Most of us could at least define water. The quality of water could be defined by the impurities or the lack of impurities in it.
Some people will pay a dollar and a half for twenty ounces of water when they are a short distance from a water fountain. Subjectively we can say that good poetry is defined by an intelligent audience, but that might imply that intelligence is bliss. How poetic is that?

none of your list

A good poet can continuosly write poems that everyone loves.

Edgar A. Poe's Alone:

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then - in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life - was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

^^I actually liked it dwelt. especially the lines "From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,"

I could never write like that, and very few people on this site could. He has wonderful imagination, I'll give him that. I always wondered why he was famous. Now I know.

//T.L.//

I believe that a great poet is one who uses language to its full extent and demonstrates the many ways in which this can be done. Developing and exploring linguistics in a way which both educates and entertains their audience.

No-one can deny that Shakespeare was a great poet. Though everyone may not enjoy his works, it is clear that he was very knowledgeable of how to use the language; he was able to create masterpieces using the same vocabulary as everyone else because of the way that he put his words together.

Its like an artist. There are only a limited amount of colours in the world, but the way that these colours are put together on the paper is what creates the wonderful piece of art.
The talent lies in knowing were to paint each stroke in order to create the desired effect.

i think that this statment says it all .."on this site, all of the above
in reality, the literary world....none of the above
what defines a good poet?
^an intelligent poetic audience "