The reason why some people decide to become poets is of their deep understanding of the human condition, their personal struggles, an utopist vision of the world and the fact that they realize that communication is truly important to us. The need to be understood and loved is one of the greatest needs of the human character; this is where art comes into place.

Without words and sounds we cannot express ourselves perfectly to be understood as we would like too, the magical music of the human voice or just instruments mixed with sensible words create poetry to its highest form. Poets, singers, actors, novelists and ballet dances etc, they all come from that artistic group which helps to portray life through their arts.

Through their arts they help us, the artists, to understand what one soul is trying to communicate to the other, the poets and other artists open our eyes concerning the issues which society cannot explained in a more either refined or explicit manner, art has no barrier. The poets help us translate our feelings and ideals into words and search the truth hidden in the deepness of our mortal souls to improve human beings.

Like Oscar Wilde said in “The Decay of Living”; Life imitates art far more than art imitates life. There is some truth to this for the reliance of common sense into the right portrayal of the human condition is often repeated not to say mimicked by modern society. But again without life there would be no art and so is it possible for some to think that life is inartistic for both feeds off each other.

Art relies on the imperfection of society to live and create a more simplistic and perfect world that supplants it. As for poetry which is a form of art that permits society to express them, state their fears share their joys and draw their hopes.

Poetry could be seen as a purging tool that helps to clean the soul or just an artistic way to portray life. This portrayal can be gloomy and full of despair as T. S Eliot’s The Waste Land or can be a historical and mythical poem such as Virgil’s The Aeneid.

Poetry is an art form that is a cultural necessity to society, one cannot get rid or forget or not use it, it is a necessity I repeat. In the modern society especially now I have observed that no longer do poetry keeps the important place that it once did. Which frightens me a little especially in this modern society of ours, if we lose the way to communicate then there will be a rupture between different factions in society.

It is extremely revolting to my point of view. Poetry has always been an important part of the arts; after all it is believed widely among the literary circles that the burden of the past, the present and the future are best handled by the grip of literature. If one goes to popular websites he or she might find thousands of young aspiring poets publishing poems on their page and old poets who never actually made it, will all their publishing dreams come true? Probably not, only a few will actually make it to the top.

Post modern poetry is not defined by the perfection of the poems but more of their imperfections. This in no case is supposed to be discouraging news for the young aspiring poets and writers but more of a encouraging note to explain to them that the art of writing poetry especially in this modern age requires and demands more than just sentimental feelings and a thesaurus dictionary.

It requires personal genius, hard work and a deep understanding where poetry comes from, where it is and where it is supposed to go. The artist’s poetic vision some might call this.

Postmodern poetry has shifted focus and style from neoclassical, romanticism, naturalism and modernism to so forth to become a more personal creation of the poet in a psychological way, focusing more deeply into the self, nature, philosophy and religion etc. In a way one could say that postmodern poetry has become the extension of the poet, is this wrong? Does this elongation of the self destroy the artistic purpose of the poem’s construction and poetic existence? This answer is for the poet and artist only, he or she must decide if yes or no this applies to their own art.

One cannot disagree with that Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s declaration of intellectual independence and celebration of self written in 1837 has not impacted the way that modern poetry is fashioned and examined by most. Poetry is what binds the society, materially, culturally and psychologically. Without its profound and respected use plus its revered study in the universities, schools and literary circles, modern society I believe would still be searching for their national and personal identity.

The search for identity and the constant wandering of the human minds concerning the truths of life and it’s meaning has always been one of the most important goal of poetry, it is the poet’s job to liberate himself mentally and spiritually from the world to tin this manner discover those hidden truths, defining in this way the existential meaning, public and private, of modern society.

Post modern poetry’s goals are to explore the questions of them of self and society, the journey that life is and where it is taking us, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The quest for self discovery in its purest elements is the poet’s dedication into a deep exploration of the human soul.

Personal suffering are often viewed and used in modern poems, they are in a complicated sense important for the reader’s instant connection with the poet’s mind. This psychological connection between the two, poet and reader, is very crucial it permits to create a rare sensorial and mental sharing of the minds. But the poetic elements of tradition should never be forgotten in a poem composition or the work of art dies from lack of imagination and mental output.

The creation of a poem in those present times demands from the serious poet (by that I mean someone who is adamant in becoming a famous and published poet no matter what) an consummate reader of art critics, folklore, having a sense for finding universal themes that binds society together and a wide knowledge concerning literature. Plus an great awareness of people’s suffering and experiences and a mental consciousness is also needed to my point of view.

These elements add up together should facilitate the task of a poet in his or her quest for the fundamental truths of life. These elements do not make a man or woman a poet. A poet is born and made by the circumstances of life. It is a need to become a poet not a choice. When the poet finally realizes that he wants to become a poet is when he is dissatisfied with the world and needs an escape so goes to art to find this refuge.

Then the poet creates and destroys life with his words and his rhymes, striving to perfect his art. The poet of course must learn from life experiences, without them he or she cannot create art which return to my original point that art and life imitates each other and that without one the other cannot exist.

The poet’s needs to advance it s poetic message in the eternal quest but without the poet’s critical awareness of society’s position , place and goal , without the curious eyes to read the human souls’ suffering , the poet is not a poet and his or her works are useless to society.

Language has shaped many countries into what they are now, life William Butler Yeats with his poems full of Irish myth and folklore he recreated the national identity of his people by voicing their different experiences and aspirations in am ore historical sense.

The poetic experience of a nation outstretch, modifies and even expends it reach through it s history bringing it back to the present as an important lesson learned. Using the past as a mirror with the help of poetry than society can view a part of their future deciding if they are happy the way things are going or if a profound change is needed.

Not only a change in the culture and national identity but also in a political way as the U.S.A just had their first African American president but also in a mental aspect starting in this manner a psychological, cultural and spiritual regeneration into society’s deep cores.

To end this essay I want to add that postmodern poetry has really defined society and the self in a tragic, ironic, romantic and naturalist ways, always striving for those fundamental truths to ease the human pain and try to comprehend it. Post modern poetry has tried and still is trying to comprehend the constant suffering and sense of joy of existential solitude.

Poetry is the exact study of the self in society making sense of life by representing it in art forms. At the end what poetry does is to remind us that in our darkness, aloneness, and silence we are definitely not alone.