It's been awhile since I added a blog post. I have however, been working on my blog page. Some may have noticed that I added a page to this blog called "The Written Poetry of Natasha Gruss." It's very hard to see when you go to the home page of my blog, just a small link on the right hand bar under the pages heading. I will post the link here so you can find it easier. It's: https://authornatashagruss.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
While it says "written poetry", I also added YouTube Videos of me reading my poems. I've been thinking about writing a blog post on how to read poetry for awhile, but I didn't want to do it until I was able to give samples of me doing it myself, out loud. When posting the videos, here is the one that had the most likes when I shared it:
What to Pay Attention to While Reading Poetry
The above is an example of how to read poetry out loud. There are two ways to read poetry: silently and out loud. When you write poetry, it is really important to pay attention to how the poetry would sound if someone were to read your poem out loud. Even if they read it silently, they may hear inside their head how it sounds. There's not much to say about how to read a poem silently, it's just done. Pay attention to punctuation and line breaks. Like in regular grammar, a comma or period indicates a pause in the material. Less known is that at the end of a line of poetry there should also be a pause. Poetry can also have less conventional grammar like odd spacing, it should be self explanatory that extra spacing indicates a pause. Emphasis should also be placed on capitalized words when reading poetry. These things need a lot of attention when you decide to read a poem out loud.
What to Do When Reading A Poem Out Loud
So why would you put a voice to a poem? Many people have been called on in class to read it, and they don't have a choice. This would normally be someone else's poem, but it may be your own. You may decide to go to a poetry reading and want to share your poem with a group. I have experience doing both of these things. I've been to many poetry readings through out my life, and they have all been well received. If you can, read through a poem before you speak it. Read through it as many times as you can so you can get a feel for it and what you are going to perform.
When sharing your poem with your voice, one of the most important things to do is to make sure your voice is loud enough to be heard. For some people this comes naturally. Some people need practice. If you need practice making your voice louder, you may try speaking over the sound of a fan and see how well you can hear yourself. Also look at the back of a room and pretend like you are speaking to someone there. While you want to be heard, you probably don't want to shout unless your poem calls for it.
If you are going to read a poem, a good idea is to stand up and go to the front of the room. Sometimes, like in a classroom setting, we don't get the opportunity to do this. A sitting position can work as well, but make sure you sit up straight. In the Poems "My World" and "Untitled Coffee Poem," I was sitting while I read the poem, but I was doing a video with a camera close to my face, so it was easy to be heard. In my Haiku, that begins "Slip, Slip to the waves" I was standing.
Untitled Coffee Poem
Memorizing a Poem
Finally, if you are going to read a poem you have written out loud, the best thing to do before 'reading' it is to memorize it. I have been to poetry competitions where everyone had the poem they were "reading" memorized and performed it memorized. This is by far the best way to experience a poem. However, if you are like me, you've written too much stuff to memorize it all. I have sold some of my poetry, and I have felt funny not knowing my exact wording when the person has recited my words back a loud to me. Excited that someone wanted to memorize my work though. In the videos I did, only the Untitled Coffee Poem was memorized when I recorded it. The Haiku that begins "Slip" I read while recording, but since it was so short, I did have it memorized. "My World" was read and not memorized, and yet it was well received. Memorization isn't mandatory, merely a
suggestion.
Ocean Haiku
Things to Remember
Poetry can be read silently or out loud. It can be memorized. It is important to read through poems before performing them and to pay attention to grammar like line breaks, odd spacing, and capitalization. Volume and posture is important when reading a poem aloud. I hope this post helps anyone if they encounter a situation in which they need to read a poem.
