I was a long time coming to the realization that poetry was meant to be read aloud. Maybe you already knew that, but I was a slow learner.
There really is a difference.
This short video nicely emphasizes the added impact of vocalizing a poem. It presents different reader voices side-by-side and we can judge for ourselves.
[NOTE: I posted this poem by itself many years ago but feel the added context is worth considering.]
The poem itself – “When You Are Old” by W.B. Yeats – is so splendid that I myself made a video of me reading it several years ago. But I have been wary of it ever since because my reading voice is so terrible compared to professionals.
I did, however, rather like the supporting visuals I added to the spoken poem, and have included them again in this version. You can judge if the visualizations add another dimension to your experience of the poem.
In the poem itself, Yeats asks a woman to imagine a future when she is old, reminding her that others loved her for her physical beauty while he loved her “pilgrim soul” and the “sorrows of [her[ changing face.”
The suggestion is that she may one day look back and regret missing out on his deeper, more spiritual love.
Enjoy, if poetry interests you.
“When you read aloud a poem by a great master like Yeats, your own voice, your breath, your body becomes the medium for that master.”
– Robert Pinsky, Poet Laureate of the United States
giblets & flapdoodle 