THE PRAISE POEM: CELEBRATION

Reading:  See the Praise Poem section in Sacrament of the Mundane, and chapter 8, "Odes and Praise Songs: When Poets Look Up," in 13 Ways.

 

Poems in praise of a particular person, object or ideal are poems that invite you to create lush, specific, fervent language, language that constructs a multi-dimensional image of that which the poet finds praiseworthy.  

The Western tradition is full of praise poems: Ode to an Athlete Dying Young, Ode on a Grecian Urn.  There is a well-known African tribal tradition of praise poems, with powerful animal and elemental imagery, which some prominent African American poets have adopted.  This beginning poetry workshop is actually named after a poem by contemporary poet Al Zolynas, because his line “ah, gray sacrament of the mundane!” gave me the perfect theme for young writers: learn to see the sacred in our everyday lives.  The moment Zolynas describes glancing down as he washes dishes has always illuminated for me a way of seeing, an attitude, a shift of perspective.  Here’s Al Zolynas’ poem:

          THE ZEN OF HOUSEWORK

        I look over my own shoulder

        down my arms

        to where they disappear under water

        into hands inside pink rubber gloves

        moiling among dinner dishes.

        My hands lift a wine glass,

        holding it by the stem and under the bowl.

        It breaks the surface

        like a chalice

        rising from a medieval lake.

        Full of the gray wine

        of domesticity, the glass floats

        to the level of my eyes.

        Behind it, through the window

        above the sink, the sun, among

        a ceremony of sparrows and bare branches,

        is setting in Western America.

        I can see thousands of droplets

        of steam --each a tiny spectrum --rising

        from my goblet of gray wine.

        They sway, changing directions

        constantly--like a school of playful fish,

        or like the sheer curtain

        on the window to another world.

        Ah, gray sacrament of the mundane!

Pablo Neruda has a long series of “Odes” in which he praises everyday objects such as a Tuna, an Artichoke, a Chestnut, Salt, a Lemon, and pair of Socks, a Fork and so on (see SM; also, Neruda's book, Elemental Odes, is published online )..  Edward Hirsch writes of Neruda’s praise poems,

The list of their subjects is dizzying. Nothing ordinary was alien to Neruda, or, for that matter, ordinary -- everything was magical. He wrote separate odes to tomatoes and wine, to an artichoke and a dead carob tree, to conger chowder, to a large tuna in the market, to his socks and his suit, to his native birds, to light on the sea, to the dictionary, to a village movie theater. He wrote an ode to time and another to the Earth, an [ode entitled] "Ode for Everything." . . . The first poem, "The Invisible Man," is explicit in its sense of the poet's urgency: "what can I do,/everything asks me/to speak,/everything asks me/to sing, sing forever." . . . The odes are funny, fiery and exultant, savagely new and profoundly ancient.

For this exercise, choose a common object from your current surroundings; empty out your pockets or backpack if you feel the need for more choices.  The more random, the better.  If you can, set the object in front of yourself on your desk, or go sit near it  Remember: Everything deserves praise.  In the style of Neruda, write an Ode to that object in a freewrite.  Do this several times, each time remembering to turn off your ‘inner editor’ and let the beauty of the object take over.  Title the poem simply “Plate” or “Scotch Tape” for now – it worked for Neruda.

Beauty in Small Things

Another kind of praise poem is a Beatitude (it is also frequently combined with a prayer poem).  “Blessed are the ______, for he/she/it/they ________________” is the basic form that has been used since Biblical times, and probably earlier. Choose a new object and write in  “Beatitude” style about it; after your freewrite time is up, choose a minimum of ten and a maximum of 14 lines to construct a Beatitude for the object.  Work for both utter seriousness, and a little light-heartedness.  See if your poem wants to go one way or another.  Be open to being funny; or to being deadly straight.  Strive for honest praise.  What does the object commonly do?  What work does it perform?  What miracles might it create?  How would the world be different without it?  How would YOUR world be changed without it?  What mundane but necessary act or work does your object perform that makes the world a better, easier, more convenient or beautiful place?

* Now try this exercise with a person as your focal point of praise.  This might be a family member, a celebrity whose impact you admire, an anonymous person whose path crossed yours recently.

* Now try this with a group of people as your focal point – a community of some sort:  blessed be the doctors … the actors … the dog-catchers … the janitors …. the stockbrokers … the kindergartners … the baristas …. the little brothers ….

As you write and revise, think about unsung heroes.  These can be people, objects, events, ideals, concepts, even a certain time of day or year.  It could be something we would normally never think of praising, or at least not praising lavishly; it could be something often praised, but for completely different reasons than those you are citing. 

 Watch and listen to Quincy Troupe's praise poem, "Poem for Magic."  Thinking about praising a celebrity whose art or work in the world deserves celebration - anything from social justice to pure entertainment.

PRAISE.  What does it mean to celebrate the existence of some one, or some thing?  Is it like falling in love?  Seeing it as if for the first time?  Listing what is beautiful, useful, surprising, ugly?  Noticing – really noticing?  Give us your take on praise.