WHAT DOES POETRY DO TO READERS AND LISTENERS, AND HOW DOES IT DO THIS? LANGUAGE USE AS SOCIAL ACTIVITY AND ITS CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Abstract

Poetry aims to change people’s talk, thoughts and actions but does not do this through direct commands, mands, or directives.  The aim of this paper is to explore poetry in a behavioral or contextual analysis to analyze (1) what poetry does to people and (2) how it does that.  In exploring a first question, “What does poetry to do people?”, it was found that poetry is a way of writing which acts to disrupt normal forms and grammar of writing and, while the lack of grammar slows the reading fluency and accuracy, the disturbances have novel effects on readers’ actions, talking and thinking.  In answer to a second question, “How does poetry have effects on people?”, the social disruptions which produce the effects of poetry have been developed over long histories and include disruptions to form and grammar, the written presentation on a page, line length, and the inclusion of stress patterns rhymes and rhymes.  Some of these also help sustain the attention of the reader since the lack of normal grammar and presentation makes reading poetry more effortful.  Finally, a few clinical applications are drawn out, especially since the experiences and ideas evoked through poetic forms, just like experiences of mental health, are ones which cannot usually just be stated as directives. Keywords: poetry, contextual analysis, verbal behavior, discourse analysis, literary effects, poetic form, enjambment, literary styles