Political poetry brings together politics and poetry. According to "The Politics of Poetry" by David Orr, poetry and politics connect through expression and feeling, although both of them are matters of persuasion. Political poetry connects to people's feelings, and politics connects to current events. Poetry can also make political references and have real effects on the perception of politics.
Political poetry can impact readers because both politics and poetry express views, with political poetry often defined as being: "a specific political situation; rooted in an identifiable political philosophy; addressing a particular political actor; written in language that can be understood and appreciated by its intended audience; and finally, offered in a public forum where it can have maximum persuasive effect".
Political poetry has existed from the earliest times, including the Roman, Horace ( 65 BC – 8 BC).
Can poetry be political? Some critics argue that political poetry can not exist, stating that politics do not belong with and can not be incorporated with traditional definitions of poetry. One of the most vivid examples of this comes from a 1968 essay, "Studies in English Literature: Restoration and Eighteenth Century", written by A.L. French. In this work, French provides criticism of the influential 17th century poet John Dryden's work, claiming that the majority of praise Dryden receives is due to his political messages rather than the quality of his poetry, which French believes is mediocre. For example, French believes Dryden relies too heavily on excessive allusion to get his messages and themes across; French describes Dryden's work and "his treatment of the body politic in the epic simile". French's argument reveals the inherent difficulty of political poetry: the attempt to incorporate the literal (politics), can destroy the fanciful and imaginary qualities that make poetry what it is.
Britain During the eighteenth century the Augustan poets, such as Dryden and Pope wrote political poetry.
Working Class Political Poetry Working-class women poetry describes the works of the voices behind the machinery and factories of the Victorian era. Critic Megan Timney argues that working-class women poets engaged with nineteenth century class politics and their simple use of diction and themes resonated with. This poetry calls for equality in the workplace, fair compensation and the improvement of working conditions. Meagan Timney examines how working-class women of the Victorian era in Britain were deemed unimportant or unrecognized in comparison to working-class males. As a result of this injustice, many female poets from this time period did not receive the proper recognition they deserved. Many women authors did not receive credit for their works since it was hard to trace an author to her work during this time. Only recently has their history been discovered. Timney argues that working-class women poets engaged with nineteenth century class politics and their simple use of diction and themes resonated with Chartist poetry. In works written by Mary Hutton, she incorporated issues of the day during the 1830s and 1840s by politicizing both gender and class while carefully walking a line of legislative changes and political revolution. Other than Mary Hutton, there are other examples of poetry by other working-class women during the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Besides Hutton, there were also others who had their own stance on the treatment of the working-class. These women poets were helpful because of their influencing ideas for revolutionary change and the commitment to justice. Hutton, a Chartist Poet, focused on political subjects and observed the workings of justice and how women of the working class were treated. Working-class women often were denied access to the reforms of the Chartist movement thus denied the right to fight for their worker's rights. Current research of Mary Hutton has opened doors for further research on female working poets like Hutton to be credited as equal to other working class writers. The importance of this poetry highlights the specifics of the working class during this time period, and how work matters to society.
Irish political poetry In the 1840s political poetry was widely distributed in a newspaper called The Nation. This was intended to spread nationalism across Ireland. In 1843 some of the major contributors of the newspaper were Thomas Davis, Charles Gavan Duffy, and John Blake Dillon. They produced an anthology of poetry titled The Spirit of the Nation, which consisted of politicised poetry with heavy nationalistic tones and motives, much like the newspaper.
The contemporary Irish critic and poet Eavan Boland argues that the act of a woman writing poetry in Ireland is a political act in itself due to the traditional exclusion from the art. The prolific Irish poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill asserted, "the image of women in the national tradition is a very real dragon that every Irish woman poet has to fight every time she opens her door". The political poem's roots in Ireland are very male centric, both in who was writing it and also the subject matter. Women often had no voice or were objectified, and put into the traditional housewife role in Ireland's poetic history. Political Poetry was widespread across Ireland in the mid 19th century: "The national and the feminine [was] frequently mixed in the rhetoric of the newspaper" (Boland). This association repressed the female voice in the poetry of Ireland. Since then there have been many successful female political poets from Ireland.
Mexican women's poetry Critic Christopher Conway argues that in the disarray of the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-1848, many Mexican writers recognized that the losses their country was facing were due to the disconnection among their people. Writers responded to this in a number of ways, but most notably through a new dimension of women's poetry. Centralists and Federalists did not stand together which ultimately mounted to the countries losses, and writers saw that the country needed national unity.
Mexican female poets utilized poetry as a way to speak out about the war without being criticized or ignored because of their gender. Women during the U.S.-Mexican War were marginalized and could not hold high political positions. In order to be heard, they created poems and literature. Women poets would go on and form a "sisterhood" of poets that stood up and collectively spoke out against Mexico's government and its failures.
Writing poetry brought empowerment to Mexican women during the US- Mexican war 1. These poets utilized poetry as an approach to voice their feelings in a way where they could feel comfortable without the direct judgement from public figures as well as the men in their lives. Conway explains that "... women began to represent and share their experiences through poetry, thereby carving out space for their voice to be heard by the educated women who constituted the primary readership of literary print material in Mexico..." 1 During the war, Mexican women took on many important roles like republican spies, smugglers, nurses, and conspirators. But as the war went on, the European notion that women belonged at home started to take over and the term of "angel de hogar" (angel of the hearth) became a strong belief. Women were denied education: "... we find a staged dialog between various men and women at a tertulia over the merits of the prospectus of the magazine, which calls for the education of women 'Some argue against women's education, seeing it as a threat to men, whereas others disagree, arguing that that women need to be educated to strengthen marriage and motherhood' (Gondra 1841,15)" 1. Although women had many important roles during the US-Mexican war, men and some women alike feared that women with education would become a threat to the "masculine sphere of politics".
American History American political poetry arguably dates back to the turn of the century. One of the first political poems was written in 1930 by Uri Zvi Grinberg, a poem titled "I Hate the Peace of Those who Surrender". "The East of the Jordan", by Zeev Jabotinsky, is another poem; a more modern poetry book is Democracy in Contemporary U.S. Women's Poetry written by Nicky Marsh; political poetry originates from all around the world, however, it is viewed with distinctive variations. Through the reader's point of view, political poetry conveys and expresses political aspects which then shapes how it is read, "Poetry might be perceived as political by its audience even if the writer did not mean to convey a political message or ideas, values, praise, or criticism." Poetry uses emotion to convey messages that poets to get across, incorporating the use of culture and politics. Politics, however, has always been heavily involved with complex issues that cannot be solved with emotion alone. John F Kennedy, the 35th president, linked poetry to politics when he said: "If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a better place in which to live." The effectiveness of poetry draws from reader experience and emotion; politics, however, is mostly used to convince their audience. Political poetry incorporates these two ideas together, creating something that both influences the audience and convinces them as to the main idea of the poem. William Butler Yeats, an Irish senator in 1922, believed that "rhetoric stems from our confrontations with others while poetry stems from our confrontations with ourselves".
American Indian political poetry In "Surviving the War by Singing the Blues: The Contemporary Ethos of American Indian Poetry", author and critic Rebecca Tsosie argues that the creation of American Indian political poetry in the 1890s was strongly inspired by the struggles and oppression American Indians faced. American Indian Political Poetry consists of poetry and music written by politically motivated American Indians in order to raise awareness and call for change. Many poets, such as John Trudell and Wendy Rose, represent the hardships that American Indians face in their poetry to "ignite and create a unified, spiritual flame". In the mid to late 1980s, influential poets and musicians, such as John Trudell and Jesse Ed Davis, created musical poems about American Indian hardships. Although American Indian political poetry originated in the 1890s, "numerous Indian poets such as Wendy Rose, Paula Gunn Allen, Leslie Silko, Philip Minthorn, and Maurice Kelly" continue to write political poetry in the present day. The messages each artist sends are relayed through the use of poetry and traditional music. The poetry and music written by many Indian poets expose the tragic events American Indians experienced, such as the fight to obtain clean water (issues that are not often talked about). Tsosie asserts "contemporary Indian poets... utilize the strength of their traditional past to address the critical issues of present and future". Many of the struggles faced by American Indians, such as being generalized as being one group rather than being acknowledged as distinct groups, are caused by Western stereotypes. American Indian poets present ideas to deal and cope with the unjust ways they were treated. Tsosie argues "Ward Churchill... notes a central continuity between the 19th century Ghost Dance vision and the contemporary politically motivated poetry of many American Indians". The purpose of the Ghost Dance was for American Indians to be able to challenge the injustices and repression that occurred during this time.