An essay on what is going on today in American society concerning the state of poetry in our popular culture.

My favorite all-time poet is Robert Frost. Frost was a four-time Pulitzer Prize winning American poet who was also a teacher and lecturer. He wrote oft-quoted poems, which included “After Apple-Picking”, “The Road Not Taken,” “Home Burial”, and “Mending Wall.”
His universal appeal and popularity encompasses the full spectrum of our humanity, and it is a model of the timeless message his poetry
evoked. It is a good example of a renewal renaissance that has become more evident in the movement of poetry today.
During his day, Frost tried to capture the essence of democracy in much of his poetry. It was a major part of his appeal. His poetic development had been grounded in the development of Greek democracy, as he credited the Greek poetry in Virgil’s Ecologues as one of his main inspirations.
Always attempting to search for the perfection of self by telling man that he needs to overcome certain social restrictions to realize his personal potential, Frost’s country style of poetry (pastoral) was his way of understanding and finding self. He enhanced imagery, symbolism, and metaphors in his works, and he was a master lyricist whose figurative language, rhetorical methods, elliptical ideology, and humor - became aesthetic work that unified the form of it’s art.
Frost first affirmed the relationship of his poetry to a fundamental idea, emphasizing the need for individual satisfaction first, and his poetry eventually evolved into certain social appeals and uses.
Recently popular modern poet Billy Collins was interviewed by Margo Hammond, the Book Editor of the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, concerning such matters of humanity and the state of poetry today.
In the February 5th, 2006 edition of the Times newspaper
(Perspective section) the article, entitled “Where the Poems
Are”, emphasized the current psyche of poetry in America.
In the article Collins stated that he believes that the popularity of poetry is on an upswing because people are tiring of the drudgery of their daily lives – searching for answers for a better life.
Collins reflected upon today’s socialized noise – a volume of public noise created by politics, consumerism (capitalism), and technology; as well as a media that emphasizes an escapism and language that belongs to a crowd (the masses), talking to everyone at once – rather than to the individual. He contended that the growing popularity of poetry is a search by many people for self-awareness and fulfillment in order to attain personal advancement.
“When we hear and feel a good poem,” Collins said, “we feel we are the only person in the world.” The messages in Collins’ poems are found by uncovering hidden meanings of fulfillment and a realization reached through a wrenching search for the soul in an effort to attain a deep understanding.
From the legendary Robert Frost, to current popular poet Billy Collins, the essence of the search for self in popular poetry is coming full circle.