Reading Other Poets

I was talking with my housemates (Theresa & Jaime) the other day. We were hanging out in the kitchen eating late breakfast and sipping tea. One of them, I think it was J, brought up her dislike of the idea "enforced" (not her words) by so many of the writing teachers at Sarah Lawrence that in order to write good poetry (or good anything), one must copy and emulate the masters (and hence one must read read read). T assented to the opinion. Both of them felt that such an attitude was merely encouragement to imitate without being original yourself. I gently disagreed, saying that I felt the point was not to copy but to learn what each writer had to teach about technique, craft, and style.

Not long after that conversation, I was browsing through the Internet jungle and remembered a blog I used to enjoy reading--that of Shinichi Tohei Sensei, youngest son of Koichi Tohei Sensei, the founder of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido. The latest entry has a short parable about an apprentice swordsmith, which Shinichi Sensei relates to the power, importance, and way to use the subconscious mind. (Shinichi Sensei writes:

When we try to achieve something, we will evolve in the shape of our own imagining. If the shape is predictable, we will develop into that shape. If the shape is brilliant, then we will develop into that shape.By imagining the very highest level for the beginning, we are able to create what is to become. The important thing is to feel and know the very best until it gets into your subconscious.)

The parable struck me as extremely relevant to the conversation on Sunday. You can write and learn to write well all on your own, but having others to teach you is incredibly helpful. The point of reading the masters is not to mimic them--not to produce poetry just like theirs--but to learn good technique, so well that it fills your subconscious with understanding of quality craft--of good writing-- and you learn from it so that when you need to use such techniques, you can.