{"id":4119,"date":"2026-04-13T09:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/?p=4119"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:14:48","slug":"national-poetry-month-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/2026\/national-poetry-month-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate National Poetry Month in April!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have often joked with people that in a zombie apocalypse or in some post-asteroid-impact apocalyptic world where we\u2019re back to using sticks and stones and living a hunter-gatherer existence, English majors are probably the first to be booted out of the group\u2014or worse (think Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket<\/em>)! Farmers can grow food, hunters can catch game, artisans and metalsmiths can make clothes and cookware, carpenters can build shelter, mechanics can fix things, engineers can design and rig up machines, and doctors and nurses can heal. But does knowing Shakespeare or writing poetry have any practical purpose?<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s a rhetorical question, and perhaps it can be either yes or no. But as someone who studied and appreciates literature, I\u2019m going to say YES! The literary arts play an important role in communities and in human society as a whole. Since the first cave drawings, storytellers and bards have captured our imagination; they have brought people together and reminded us what it means to be human. Throughout history they have held prestigious positions in societies that understand their value and the value of the written and spoken word.<\/p>\n

While the storyteller and bard presumably might not have many, if any, life-saving skills, their stories and woven words entertain, educate, and most importantly uphold morale, especially in times of crisis. In Giovanni Boccaccio\u2019s Decameron<\/em>, stories keep a group of ten young Florentines amused and sane during the Black Death in 14th<\/sup>-century Italy. Taking refuge in a countryside villa, the seven women and three men each tell a tale so that at the end of nearly a fortnight 100 stories are told. The book\u2019s premise and its collection of short stories convey the power of storytelling and that stories, whether in prose or verse, can bring us comfort and joy in times of hardship and distress.<\/p>\n

Poetry, like stories and other literary works, enriches our lives with its creative use of language to express thoughts and feelings. In moments of joy or sorrow, love or heartbreak, peace or rage, poetry allows us to put words to feelings we cannot otherwise describe. It gives us new ways of seeing things by making the ordinary and the mundane splendid and novel. Poetry also offers us different ways to see and understand the world we live in, and in a Mad Max scenario where the law of the jungle rules, it reminds us of our humanity.<\/p>\n

During National Poetry Month, we encourage you to read, write, or share a poem. It\u2019s a way to celebrate poets and the value they have in society and cultural preservation. We asked library staff to share a poem they like, and here are their picks!<\/p>\n

Tiffany<\/strong><\/p>\n

St. Crispin\u2019s Day Speech<\/strong><\/a> (from Henry V, <\/em>Act IV, Scene iii) by William Shakespeare<\/p>\n

I love this piece because it\u2019s all about connection and shared experience. The line \u201cwe few, we happy few, we band of brothers\u201d really sticks with me. It\u2019s about people coming together, standing side by side, and feeling like they belong to something bigger than themselves. It\u2019s also one of those pieces I can quote anytime and it still hits. I also like how it builds. It starts reflective and then grows into something powerful. You can really feel the shift when it\u2019s read out loud, and it makes the message hit even more.<\/p>\n

AnnMarie<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Utilitarian View of the Monitor’s Fight<\/strong><\/a> by Herman Melville<\/p>\n

When Melville wrote this poem, America was undergoing a cataclysmic shift. The Civil War had taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, and then in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In addition, the 1860s saw the world undergoing great shifts in politics, industry, the sciences, and philosophy, as the effects of the Industrial Revolution continued to be felt, and new ideas like the Theory of Evolution called previous worldviews and traditions into question. Into that chaos steps Melville with his pen, to write with journalistic precision about the Battle of Hampton Roads in the Civil War, and the first clash of two ironclad warships, a battle that ended in a kind of stalemate but nonetheless changed the course of naval warfare. Using a meter \u201cmore ponderous than nimble,\u201d Melville describes the brutal, cold inorganic clangor of the new war machinery, the \u201cblacksmith\u2019s fray,\u201d comparing it to the way \u201cwarriors\u201d used to fight for glory in the classic epics of Homer and Virgil. Melville even evokes Virgil and Homer\u2019s dactylic hexameter now and then, such as in the lines: \u201cThe anvil-din \/ Resounds this message from the Fates.\u201d As though standing on the edge of a precipice, seeing the development of America\u2019s military-industrial complex in the future, and looking back at the way wars used to be fought in the past, Melville seems elegiac as he writes of the way Americans have lost a sense of glory and honor: \u201cWar’s made \/ Less grand than Peace, \/ And a singe runs through lace and feather.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of talk about \u201cwarriors\u201d in the national discourse today, and the United States is at war with Iran. Bombs have been dropped on schools. I wonder what Melville would think of all that. What would he think of how wars are fought today, and will be in the near future, driven by bombs and drones? What would he think of wars being fought by AI, of software that can turn a target\u2019s cell phone into a bomb? Are these methods of war still courageous? Herman Melville would not think so.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Karla<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tesoro<\/strong><\/a> by Yesika Salgado<\/p>\n

I chose this poem because it is about grief, death, and identity (Salvadoran American), it’s also about growing up, community, experience, and culture. It’s light and heavy, humorous, honest, and powerful, simple and bilingual. There are details that seem very specific and close to her, but they are very relatable to me, and I imagine lots of Salvadorans.<\/p>\n

Her poetry books\u00a0are available on Libby<\/a>\u00a0and Hoopla<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joy<\/strong><\/p>\n

To a Mouse<\/a><\/strong> by Robert Burns<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In celebration of Scottish American Heritage Month, I chose Robert Burns\u2019 \u201cTo a Mouse\u201d\u00a0because it is one of his best\u2011known poems and is written in Scots, giving it a strong sense of Scottish identity and tradition. Burns turns the simple moment of disturbing a mouse\u2019s nest into a thoughtful reflection on fear, survival, and the uncertainty of the future.<\/p>\n

Adry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life Itself Is Grace<\/strong><\/a> by Frederick Buechner<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know that it counts as a poem\u2014probably just more of a quote but frequently referred to as \u201cLife Itself Is Grace\u201d:<\/p>\n

Listen to your life.<\/em><\/p>\n

See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness:<\/em><\/p>\n

touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it<\/em><\/p>\n

because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,<\/em><\/p>\n

and life itself is grace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Otherwise for ACTUAL poems\u2014the 2016 viral sensation “Good Bones<\/a>” by Maggie Smith (not THAT Maggie Smith!) and \u201cGo to the Limits of Your Longing<\/a>\u201d by Rainer Maria Rilke.<\/p>\n

I don’t generally consider myself to be a big poetry fan, but I do like some that I run across, the ones I’ve suggested here being some that more quickly come to mind. I also like quite a few Mary Oliver poems but no specific one comes to mind and her collections sometimes read more like essays which I do quite enjoy. Another poetry collection I enjoy and have shared with others is Joan Chittister’s Between the Dark and the Daylight<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

There’s a running theme here of most of the poetry and essays I enjoy being from Christian authors but I’m not a religious person, I’m definitely<\/u>\u00a0not a “spiritual” person\u2014I just find that a lot of the writings from these folks do a good job at conveying a sense of longing, uncertainty, and the general ups and downs of the human condition\/existence.<\/p>\n

Rachel<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Privacy of the Home<\/strong><\/a> by Mark Strand<\/p>\n

You want to get a good look at yourself. You stand before a mirror, you take off your jacket, unbutton your shirt, open your belt, unzip your fly. The outer clothing falls from you. You take off your shoes and socks, baring your feet. You remove your underwear. At a loss, you examine the mirror. There you are, you are not there.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think this is a really great example of how prose can be poetic. At first glance, this just looks like a block of text. Not the typical presentation of a poem. But when you read it, you can feel its subtle rhythm. Also, Strand pretty much distills the human condition here.<\/p>\n

Kevin<\/strong><\/p>\n

With That Moon Language<\/strong><\/a> by Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)<\/p>\n

Thanks for the opportunity to share this cool poem from the 14th<\/sup>\u00a0century!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shauna<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Summer Day<\/strong><\/a> by Mary Oliver<\/p>\n

For someone who does not consider myself “into” poetry, I have trouble sorting out my favorite poem, because there are many that I love and that speak (or sing, as I think poetry does more than speak) to my soul. I have some favorite poets, too, principally among them Philip Larkin (especially “Is It For Now Or For Always<\/a>” and, in an opposite way, “This Be The Verse<\/a>“) and Billy Collins (especially “Marginalia<\/a>” and “The Lanyard<\/a>“), but the poet and poem nestled close in my heart is the late Mary Oliver, and her poem “The Summer Day.” You may be quite familiar with the final two lines of this poem, because they are the bit that both elate me and take my breath away whenever I read it. Mary Oliver’s poetry is almost always about the natural world, and has some kind of universal spiritual feeling that appeals to me (somewhere between an atheist and an agnostic).<\/p>\n

Suzanne<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cremation of Sam McGee<\/a><\/strong> by Robert Service<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This poem was required reading in Canada\u2026and in some cases needed to be memorized<\/em>! It\u2019s also best when read out loud.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert W. Service\u00a0(1874\u20131958) was an immensely popular British-Canadian poet known as the \u201cBard of the Yukon,\u201d famous for ballads like “The Cremation of Sam McGee” and “The Shooting of Dan McGrew<\/a>,” both of which tell dramatic, often dark, stories of prospectors, gamblers, and saloon life. While\u00a0not legally “required reading,” his vivid poems about the Klondike Gold Rush are staples of Canadian literature and widely read, often regarded as culturally significant.<\/p>\n

Service\u2019s poems focus on\u00a0the harsh wilderness of the Canadian North, Yukon gold rush miners, adventure, and the everyday lives of common people. His work is characterized by rhythmic, narrative ballads, with famous themes covering grit, danger, and the supernatural allure of the Arctic.<\/p>\n

Claire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prayer Before Birth<\/a><\/strong> by Louis MacNeice<\/p>\n

Many moons ago we did this poem at school in England.\u00a0 It was in no way controversial, and I loved it (still do).\u00a0 It is in the BBC 100 Collection, which was created by The Poetry Archive to mark the BBC’s centenary in 2022.<\/p>\n

Young<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sonnet 18<\/strong><\/a> by William Shakespeare<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>April is also a month when we celebrate Shakespeare Day<\/a>, and what\u2019s National Poetry Month without mentioning the Bard. This is Shakespeare\u2019s most celebrated sonnet, and it happens to be my favorite. I admit, I\u2019m a sucker for mushy poetry. The beauty of this poem lies in its comparison of the beloved\u2019s beauty to a summer day, a classic Petrarchan conceit that is as simple as it is elegant. Shakespeare has this natural gift as a poet for expanding our imaginative reach and bringing to our mind the image of the ideal through the seemingly trivial and mundane comparison of two dissimilar things. And in this sonnet we can see his poetic genius at work in which the beloved\u2019s beauty is playfully compared to summer in the beginning, then toward the end the beloved becomes summer personified until at the end her beauty transcends the comparison to summer and she becomes the ideal beauty that will be made eternal in the poet\u2019s verse. All this is accomplished in fourteen lines and without much elaboration, but the imaginative force of Shakespeare\u2019s language pushes the limits of our thinking to see beyond the physical and temporal image of the sun and see the ideal and eternal beauty of the beloved. (Just a note, I use the feminine pronoun even though it is believed that the first 126 sonnets were addressed to a young man.)<\/p>\n

On the topic of sentimental love poems, J\u2019ai fait une promesse<\/a><\/em> is quite the opposite of Sonnet 18. It\u2019s a rather sad love song by the English band Anathema. Songs are very much poems, but just sung to music. I\u2019ve always liked this song for how profoundly sad it is. It\u2019s in French but here\u2019s the English translation:<\/p>\n

The way that the willow bows over the stream
\nlike a mourner crying for their loved one
\nreminds me of last fall
\nwhen on one knee, I pledged myself to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

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