There should be a Hippocratic Oath for poets. If poets were held to anything near the standard of physicians, there would be far less doggerel in the world.
The Hippocratic Oath is a covenant between the beginning physician and his profession regarding his conduct with patients. The following is a Hippocratic Oath for poets. Perhaps such as oath could be called an Orphic Oath, after Orpheus, the mythical father of poetry and music, who descended into Hades and returned.
Does Poetry Make Sense?
Poets require standards. Many novice poets believe that anything that occurs to them to spew across the page in lines should be regarded as poetry. And many novices are convinced that poetry does not make sense and should not. As I was walking across the Ball State University campus, outside Bracken library I heard a young woman remark, “She says my writing doesn’t make sense. But I write poetry and it’s not supposed to make sense.”
That remark told me a lot about student attitudes toward poetry. As I taught English composition, I discovered that most students thought that poetry could mean anything they wanted it to mean. And others believed that only the teacher could tell them what it meant; students could never figure it out for themselves.
Aspiring Poets Need to Know Better
It is understandable for general studies students to begin with inaccurate beliefs about poetry, but by the time a young person has decided to write poetry, it seems that that aspiring poet would know better. One wonders which poets this future poet admires. But the sad fact is that this would-be poet probably does not admire any poets, because he/she has never actually read and studied any poets.
The Oath
If you are a beginning poet, you might do well to consider the following oath, which I have recreated, based on the Hippocratic Oath to which physicians swear at the beginning of their careers.
As I begin my career as a poet, I solemnly swear to the following covenant to the best of my ability:
- I will respect and study the significant artistic achievements of those poets who precede me, and I will humbly share my knowledge with those who seek my advice. I will dedicate myself to my craft using all my talent while avoiding those two evils of effusiveness of self-indulgence and pontification of degradation and nihilism.
- I will remember that there is science to poetry as well as art, and that spirituality, peace, and love always trump metaphors and similes. I will not bring shame to my art by pretending to knowledge I do not have, and I will not cut off the legs of colleagues that I may appear taller.
- I will respect readers and ever be aware that not all readers are as well-versed in literary matters as I am. I will not take advantage of their ignorance by writing nonsense and then pretending it is the reader’s fault for not understanding my disingenuousness. Regardless of the level of fame and fortune I reach, I will remain humble and grateful, not arrogant nor condescending.
- I will remember that poetry requires revision and close attention; it does not just pour out of me onto the page, as if opening a vein and letting it drip. Writing poetry requires thinking as well as feeling.
- I will continue to educate myself in areas other than poetry so that I may know a fair amount about history, geography, science, math, philosophy, foreign languages, religion, and other fields of endeavor that result in bodies of knowledge.
- I will remember that I am no better than prose writers, songwriters, musicians, or politicians; all human beings deserve respect as well as scrutiny as they perform their unique duties, whether artist or artisan.
- I will not rewrite English translations of those who have actually translated and pretend that I too am a translator. I will not translate any poem that I cannot read and comprehend in the original.
If young poets treat their art as a trust between themselves and all they hold sacred, they will gladly follow this covenant and represent their chosen art successfully.
A Post Script – Supporting Yourself by Writing Poetry
Aspiring poets needs to be aware that making a living solely by writing poetry is unlikely. They will, therefore, need to support themselves by other means, at least until they can ultimately parlay their literary reputations into full-time writing. See Dana Gioia.
