Beats and the NY School

Poets often use different styles and ways to help their readers or audience better understand the poems. There is no real right or wrong way to write poetry; poets use different styles to reach a different type of audience or to explain in a different way. For example, after reading the poems “Sometime During Eternity” and “Why I am not a painter” the audience is given the objectives of the poem in different ways.

After reading, “Sometime During Eternity” it feels as if the poet is presenting his poem in the form of a story. There is a sequence of events presented in the story, rather than just a list of thoughts and ideas. There are some instances in the poem where it feels like the poet added a few thoughts, but only to make the audience realize that the poet is only a narrator and not a character; for example, “as if he is THE king cat.” In the beginning of the poem the poet mentions the existence of the character, “and that the cat” and then goes through events and in the end says, “real dead,” giving it a ending. On the other hand, in “Why I am not a painter” the poet presents the poem as if he is talking to his friend. For example, “for instance, Mike Goldberg is starting a painting. I drop in.” This is a completely different technique used by the author than the one used in “Sometime During Eternity.” O’Hara uses this technique as a tool to list his thoughts and talk as if he is presenting a small part of his autobiography in this poem.

There are many other techniques used by the poets that make a different impact on different audiences. Some of the poets have used popular life as technique, while others have written poems that are meant to be read fast. The above two poems both have their own ways of impacting the audiences (not necessarily making one better than the other).