V.

New Sources and Forms

The history of American poetry is usually told as the story of great poets, from Anne Bradstreet through William Cullen Bryant, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, and Robert Frost. But these poets form a small part of America’s vast poetic production, much of which has been written by people whose names are forgotten. Journals and newspapers preserve much of their work, and scholars have just begun to rediscover 18th- and 19th-century American poetry in those archives. Similarly, much of the most popular, politically astute, and radical 20th-century poetry appeared in workers’ newspapers and journals and in popular songbooks. A great deal of this verse still awaits rediscovery.

The recent flowering of culturally diverse poetry has led scholars to seek out the roots of that diversity, and these sources continue to turn up in forgotten archives. Not only is current American poetry more diverse than it has ever been, but these discoveries mean that the poetry of the past is also more diverse than previously thought.

With the growth and reach of modern technology such as the Internet, American poetry in the 21st century has entered what is perhaps its most prolific period. The Internet dwarfs other mediums in its ability to make the work of thousands of new poets available to anyone who cares to read it. It also makes easily available a vast range of past poetic voices.

The Internet and its electronic environment are also altering the forms of poetry. Poets today experiment with kinetic structures in which words shift, alter, and transform themselves in innovative new ways, often combining with visual images and sound tracks. Hundreds of online poetry journals have emerged, making both traditional and radically new kinds of poetic expression possible. This work is sometimes grouped under the category of “new media poetry.” Some of this new poetry uses interactive software to actually involve the reader in the creation of the work.

This movement toward a merger of poetry with new delivery technologies had its beginnings early in the 20th century. The development of mass recording technology—such as the phonograph (record player)—allowed the easy distribution of songs, which began to fill the lyric needs of the culture as poetry once did. In the last several decades, songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Bruce Springsteen have gained notice as much for their poetic lyrics as for their catchy melodies. Harkening back to the jazz accompaniments of many Beat poetry readings, artists such as Ani DiFranco, Laurie Anderson, and Sekou Sundiata have blended poetry, music, performance, and visuals to create a hybrid and still unnamed new genre.

In recent years new forms continue to emerge that further connect poetry with its early oral roots. David Antin has been described as a “talk poet” whose performances mix comedy, storytelling, and poetry in intriguing ways. Poetry “slams” feature poets reciting their verse in competitions before boisterous audiences. Modern rap music artists produce dazzling works employing rhyme and rhythm, building on a largely African American tradition of urban poetry linked to black music. All of these developments show how the words of many poems today are not written on a page, but are sung, recited, improvised, cast into motion, and otherwise actively performed.

“To have great poets, there must be great audiences, too,” wrote Walt Whitman in 1855. His challenge remains valid today: Thousands of poets produce new work every year, all of them trying to connect with an audience. The demands on poetry audiences continue to increase as the range of poetic expression widens.

In the 21st century, scholars and lovers of poetry must be prepared to encounter a sometimes unsettling mix of styles, influences, traditions, and innovations. Diversity has always been the hallmark of American poetry, a characteristic that only intensifies as the notion of poetic “schools” gives way to an increasing blend of genres, voices, sources, and modes of production and distribution. Ultimately, however, whether it is in recordings or on the printed page, accompanied by music and videos or delivered in cyberspace, American poetry remains a vital and challenging part of America’s artistic production.