poetry and politics

Poetry and politics; two words; two ideologies; two opposing forces, have influenced and shaped societies above and beyond any numerical attachment. Poets like Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Keats, Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Ezra Pound, Swinburne, just to name a few, wrote not just inspire and entertain, but to protect and preserve cultural traditions and mores of worldly order. The political nature of poetry has been undervalued. What better time than now to see the world through poetry. The goal of this blog is to share the belief that through poetry, we can grasp the current political upheavels affecting our traditions, morals, beliefs, biases, opinions, and influences

Let's take Hamlet; Shakespeare's masterpiece of tragically consequential fates, intertwined with the political defactos of the time. Not much has changed. Let's take a look at Act one, Scene one, where Horatio tries to justify the presence of the dead kings ghost, which has arrived in Denmark to warn his son Hamlet about the new king, which has fooled many into taking the throne by murdering his brother and marrying his brother's widow queen:

" A mote is to troulbe the mind's eye.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the roman streets;
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star,
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands,
Was sicj almost to doomsaday with eclipse.
And even the precurse of feared events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen."

Exactly, how is this translated to the now political atmosphere that has plagued our intellect by means of limiting our societal scope through the powers of those who control the media. Horatio attempts to make sense of the ghost that has come from the dead to warn others about the ill-wills of the current state of affairs.
Like in our present state, trouble exists in the most high offices of the land. Things may seem "rosy," and politicians may fool us by saying so, yet we all know we're very close to "erring," which may lead to a fall; a tragedy, as it is written in the stars. disasters in the empire (our government) have eclipsed our knowledge base as our fate lies within an omen-present feel, and the political climate of the time has either frustrated those with some intellectual capacity; and has kept the careless part of society more ignorant and numb to the behind-the-scenes performances of our fellow political leaders.
Through Horatio, we understand that it is easy for those in power to walk amongst the weak and take advantage of feeble minds, in influencing laws, beliefs, and traditions.. The climatures have certainly caused havoc withing our fellow countrymen. think about it...Dreybones