Compiled by Adamu Muhammad Dodo
…As we celebrate we Mark World Poetry Day, March 21, 2023
…Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in Tranquillity – William Wordsworth; in his famous ‘Preface’ to Lyrical Ballads, January 1801
…If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold, no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry; if I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way? – Emily Dickinson
…World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21 annually to promote the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world. It aims to promote poetry as a means of preserving indigenous languages and cultures, as well as to encourage the translation of poems from different languages to promote cross-cultural understanding…
World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21 every year to promote the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry across the world. The day is an opportunity to appreciate the beauty and power of poetry, as well as to acknowledge the critical role it plays in inspiring social, political, and environmental changes. It is also a time to celebrate the diverse range of poetic expressions and traditions found around the world.
Many events are organised during World Poetry Day, including poetry readings, workshops, performances, and competitions. The day is also marked by the publication of new poetry collections, the unveiling of public art installations, and the hosting of online poetry events.
Overall, World Poetry Day 2023 will encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with poetry, explore their creative talents, and connect with each other through the power of language and imagination.
World Poetry Day 2023: History
World Poetry Day was first announced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in its 30th General Conference in 1999, and the intention behind this adoption was to recognise the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the people’s mind, promote cultural diversity, and encourage dialogue and peace.
World Poetry Day 2023: Theme
World Poetry Day 2023 theme is “Always be a poet, even in prose.” Poetry is full of concepts, feelings, and thoughts.
World Poetry Day 2023: Significance
Whether it is William Wordsworth the leading first generation of English Romantic Poets, Abū ‘Abdallāh Rūdakī the father of modern Persian poetry, Tagore, Kabir, Khalil Gibran the Lebanese-American Poet philosopher, Pablo Neruda a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nigerian Nobel Pizza Wole Soyinka, Emily Dickinson the American Poet, Abu Nuwas of Iraq, Ibrahim Naji (Egypt), Badawi al-Jabal (Syria) and Al-Tijani Yusuf Bashir (Sudan), Alexander Pushkin or TS Eliot, poets have always contributed to captivate, move, and even transform readers since time immemorial. Preservation of poetry is the preservation of different languages and cultures and an affirmation of individual talent.
The Poets light but Lamps – Emily Dickinson
The Poets light but Lamps —
Themselves — go out —
The Wicks they stimulate
If vital Light
Inhere as do the Suns —
Each Age a Lens
Disseminating their
Circumference —
“Poets Light but Lamps” by Emily Dickinson is a free verse poem organized in two sets of quatrains. Dickinson begins the poem by stating that as poets provide the energy to light up the world around them with optimism and sanguinity, they lose a part of themselves in the process. They play the role of wicks of candles, which tend to diminish as they give off bright light. She then proceeds to compare poets with suns and elicits that as new eras come and go, a new perspective of viewing this light emerges…