What is Poetry through the Lenses of Dickinson, Chakravarty and Reed

The following essay is a brief discussion of finding out what poetry is. The three poems mentioned in the essay are: That's What Poetry Is by Nirendranath Chakravarty, I Dwell in Possibility by Emily Dickinson and finally, Beware: Do Not Read This Poem by Ishmael Reed. It maintains the structure of a conventional essay with a word count of 464 words. 

Nearly every poet in their life has tried to define the features that constitute a poem. That’s What Poetry Is, I Dwell in Possibility, Beware: Do not read this poem by poets Nirendranath Chakravarty, Emily Dickinson and Ishmael Reed respectively are three such poems which explore the idea of what poetry is through the lens of the aforementioned three poets. Despite having some dissimilarities, the poems do share a common ground in terms of thematic messages, use of metaphors and concrete imagery and symbolism.


The common theme found in each poem is the vastness in creativity poetry can offer. Dickinson describes poetry to be more flexible than prose, which may appear as rigid and opaque as chambers of strong cedar wood. Chakravarty gives the same elasticity to poetry by stating that anything can become the subject matter of a poem, whereas, Reed meshes poetry with its reader implying that anything a reader interprets from a poem becomes the poem. All in all, all three poets agrees that poetry is pliable, supple and malleable in nature and involve any subject matter.

Each of the three poets is adept in using metaphors in their poem while defining poetry. Chakravarty juxtaposes poetry to a lotus which blossoms within him during lovemaking. He also compares poetry to a fruit, ripened by the draught of “raging rays”. Meanwhile, Dickinson says poetry is a “fairer House” which dwells in possibilities, opening its doors to everyone who wants to venture in. Unlike the soft and delicate nature present in the previous poems, Reed rather compares the world of poems to an impolite grotesque monster which devours its readers into it with one giant gulp.

The imagery found in each poem is rather engrossing. Dickinson takes a simplistic approach by comparing prose to a rigid but grand house and mentioning that poetry is much more than that; while Chakravarty expands the definition of poetry as whatever he casts his eyes upon. Reed, on the other hand, paints a grim image. He compares poetry to an old woman who has turned into a hungry beast which swallows the readers. At the end of his poem, he mentions the mass disappearance of rebellious Black people that took place in 1968. His poem is a sarcastic grief over the blatant discrimination of the government against this heinous incident. In his eyes, a poem is a monstrous devourer.

It is fairly evident from the discussion that a poem is nothing but an expression of self. The subject of poetry is vast, and while it is the job of the poet to give this expression a structure, the message still depends on the interpretation of the readers. Poetry is a place of connection and exchange between the wordsmith and the audience.