April is National Poetry Month: Celebrating the Human Spirit
The greatest poet in the English language, William Shakespeare, was born
April 23, 1564 (and died on the same day, 52 years later), so it's especially
fitting that April is National Poetry Month. According to the Academy of American Poets, it's "the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary event curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry's important place in our culture and our lives."
Poetry, it has been observed, can express truths that are inaccessible in any
other medium. It pervades our lives, even when we're mostly unaware of it: in
the music we hear, the prayers we repeat, and the core truths that guide us.
Most importantly--as Pres. John F. Kennedy observed in his speech "Power and Poetry," in honor of the late poet Robert Frost--poetry expresses the human spirit. "Our national strength matters," Kennedy said in discussing the importance of the poet's work, "but the spirit which informs and controls our strength matters just as much."
Take time to celebrate that unquenchable spirit with National Poetry Month this April. Here are some suggestions of poetry-related titles to offer your readers:
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