Lesson 3 | Are you a poet of the Body, Mind, Heart or Soul?
Blind date: Categorizing the uncategorizable and readings for every taste & tingle!
This is class 3 of 8 from Shannan Mann’s Forever Workshop “Hot and Heavy: Writing Love & Sex Poems that will Actually Get Published and Have Readers Begging for More”
There’s a school of poetry that believes a poem or a poet can categorize their work in one of these four ways: poetry of the body, poetry of the mind, poetry of the heart, poetry of the soul.
I’ll break down the characteristics of each of these below, but first, it’s important to understand that a single poem can have crossovers in multiple or even all of these categories. So what is the benefit of trying to categorize a poem (whether someone else’s or your own) in this way?
For me, it helps me find a compass for my poem. With this compass in my hand, I know I’m free to go any which way, but I’ll always know where my poem is meant to leave. Is it meant to arrive at a deeper truth about the body? Or to uncover a secret of the mind? Maybe to express some deep joy or pain the heart? Or, perhaps, to reach upwards and onwards beyond the body, mind, and heart altogether? I can take many paths to get where I’m going, but with this compass I can also stay on track. This ultimately results in a tighter, more focused poem.
Before heading into the breakdown, it’s also important to keep in mind that this is not a hierarchical list. A poem of the body is not lesser than a poem of the soul and a poem of the mind is not smarter than a poem of the heart.
To make it easy for you to place your own writing amongst them, I’ve broken down these categories with what each kind of poetry emphasizes and explores, what notable “critics” have indicated in connection to that, and a couple of contemporary poets that really embody that type of poetry.
Poetry of the Body
Emphasizes physicality, sensuality, and the human experience in relation to the physical world
Explores themes of desire, touch, movement, and the body's interactions with its environment
Critics like Elaine Scarry in The Body in Pain and Susan Bordo in Unbearable Weight discuss how the body is a central site of meaning and experience in literature
Contemporary poets like Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich often get knee-deep into bodily experiences, examining the intimate and often raw aspects of physical existence
Poetry of the Mind
Emphasizes intellectual exploration and contemplation
Explores abstract concepts and philosophical inquiries
Critics like Cleanth Brooks in The Well Wrought Urn and Northrop Frye in Anatomy of Criticism discuss the importance of intellectual rigor and complexity in literature.
Contemporary poets like T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens write about cerebral experiences, examining challenging mental states in connection with the world and the self
Poetry of the Heart
Emphasizes emotions, feelings, and the intimate experiences in a confessional manner
Explores themes of emotional depth, personal connections, and the intricacies of human relationships.
Critics like Helen Vendler in The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets and David Orr in Beautiful & Pointless discuss how emotional resonance and lyrical beauty are central to poetry.
Contemporary poets like Mary Oliver (through her nature and faith poems) and Pablo Neruda (through his passionate love poetry) examine the more vulnerable aspects of human emotions (what holds us back and also what sets us free)
Poetry of the Soul
Emphasizes spiritual and existential themes, exploring the metaphysical aspects of human existence.
Explores themes of faith, purpose, transcendence, and the divine.
Critics like Harold Bloom in The Western Canon and Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and the Profane discuss how literature connects with the divine and the mystical.
Contemporary poets like Li-Young Lee, (uses rich, lyrical language to explore the intersections of memory and faith) and Joy Harjo (intertwines Native American spirituality and the natural world), frequently delve into spiritual experiences, examining transcendental and mystical experiences as they are lived on a personal level
Recommended Reading in each section
Below I’ll recommend 3 different types of readings in connection with each of the 4 categories. The first is a contemporary (publishing in the last few years) poetry collection.
Then, a nonfiction book (whether criticism, creative nonfiction connected with writing, or educational).
And lastly, a literary magazine that consistently exemplifies and publishes poetry within that specific category (which is not to say they don’t publish poems that fall
Body List
A Hundred Lovers by Richie Hofmann (2022)
“...a catalog of encounters, sublime, steamy, and frank. Inspired by French autofiction, the poems feel both sharp and diaristic; their lyrical, intimate world brings us everyday scenes imbued with sex.”
Read → “Every Night”
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
“...Goldberg started a revolution in the way we practice writing. Instead of looking at writing as something open only to a few, she made it available to everybody. Her simple, ingenious exercises set free a generation of writers waiting to experience the inner and outer pleasures only writing can provide.”
Read → “Be Specific”
Yes, yes, shameless self-promo but also, come on – we’re literally named after a porn subscription service!
Read → Myriam Klatt
Mind List
“...a constellation of verse and prose, voice mails and vignettes, songs and felt silences, that brings the personal and the collective into startling relation. Sometimes the scale is intimate, quiet, and sometimes the poems are sweeping, Orphic experiments in the animation of our common world.”
Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle
“...acknowledges and celebrates in the odd mystery and mysticism the fact that poetry must both guard and reveal, hint at and pull back... Also, and maybe most crucially, Ruefle’s work is never once stuffy or overdone: she writes this stuff with a level of seriousness-as-play that’s vital and welcome, that doesn’t make writing poetry sound anything but wild, strange, life-enlarging fun.”
“An international journal of literature, culture, and the arts, is published in January, March, May, July, September, and November at Kenyon College.”
Read → “Free Will” by Bin Ramke
Heart List
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
“At once a love story, an elegy, and an urgent plea—Ilya Kaminsky’s long-awaited Deaf Republic confronts our time’s vicious atrocities and our collective silence in the face of them.”
The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser
“Observing that poetry is a natural part of our pastimes and rituals, Muriel Rukeyser explores the vital force of poetry and the arts in American culture. She opposes elitist attitudes and addresses Americans' fear of feeling, which contribute to a devaluation of poetry and the arts in the U.S. Multicultural and interdisciplinary, this collection of essays makes an irrefutable case for the centrality of poetry in American life.”
Read → “The Fear of Poetry”
“...a literary journal that’s totally bonkers-in-love with voice-driven writing, pop culture, and the kind of honesty that gets you right in the kidneys. We love stories and poetry and art because they’re our insides turned out for everyone to see: the darkness and the confetti in equal measure.”
Soul List
“With formal virtuosity and ruthless precision, Kaveh Akbar’s second collection takes its readers on a spiritual journey of disavowal, fiercely attendant to the presence of divinity where artifacts of self and belonging have been shed. How does one recover from addiction without destroying the self-as-addict?”
Read → “Pilgrim Bell”
Ordinary Lights by Tracy K. Smith
“... Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith tells her remarkable story, giving us a quietly potent memoir that explores her coming-of-age and the meaning of home against a complex backdrop of race, faith, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter.”
Read → Excerpt
“... fosters contemporary art and writing that grapple with the mystery of being human by curating, cultivating, convening, and celebrating work that explores religious faith and spiritual questions.”
Generative Exercise: “The Meet-Cute”
Meet-cutes were my favorite part about romcoms but nowadays they hardly reflect reality because we’re all on our freakin’ devices, noses buried deep in random feeds or getting lost in the abyss of social media. Ouch, dark. But, well, let’s try to recreate the magic of the meet-cute and harness it help our poems find their opportune, perfect category from the above.
Based on what you’ve learned in this lesson, I’d like you to look over the different recent poem drafts you have and organize them into these categories. Consider these categories like four homes in a cozy neighborhood. Have your poems walk around, where do they feel alive, where do they want to live?
In the comments, share your findings. Where does your poetry overwhelmingly reside (or wish to reside) – the body, mind, heart, or soul? Maybe there are some cool crossovers…share a bit about that. And if you’re really feeling up to it, I’d love to see some of your relevant poem drafts also!
On Wednesday, Shan’s setting boundaries. More specifically, how to use form and perspective restrictions to break free of bad writing. If you’re subscribed your all set, if you’re not and want to receive this class well you’d better..
As far as my writing goes, I guess I’m a cardio thoracic intern (sorry, been watching Grey’s Anatomy reruns). It makes me wonder though if this is “specialization” or limitation.
Why couldn’t I write body poems, for example? Repression? Frigidity? Or — harrowing realization — am I a closet pearl-clutcher? I still don’t have the answer, and I suspect I’ll continue to interrogate myself on this point for a while longer.
I love the idea of the body-heart-mind-soul compass, though; I love how it’s a means by which I can navigate a poem and not only my own.
Really enjoyed this lesson, Shannan. Thank youuu!
I thought I was a poet of the body, but reading through some of my recent work, it definitely reads like poetry of the heart masquerading as poetry of the body. Here's the last piece I wrote:
'Remember This (Lincoln version)'
remember this:
coffee bitter and strong and toast slick with butter, muted sun streaming through the sheer blinds, dogs at our feet, eggs perfectly salted and crisp. tousled and pliable with the freshness of sleep, I don’t need to touch you but I can, so I do.
I could do this forever, so let’s.
you’ve taught me to slow down, so we take life at a snail’s pace, take an extra day, take our time.
at the flea market, I find the perfect pair of overalls. serendipitous, as if everything has brought me here to find them, every mistake aligned until it reveals the perfection it was hinting at. cosmic, simple. a huckleberry milkshake you can’t get anywhere else so drink it until you’re high on sugar and a cool breeze at the hottest moment.
when i read these words out loud, I want you to remember when I wrote them, for each one of your senses to spark with memory.
i’ve learned your rhythms, learned to stop to see the beauty in the shape of a butterfly’s wings, its stuttering shadow flickering across the dirt. we’re all on this crooked path that veers and tricks before it intersects.
i can’t say i’d do it all again, but here — dirty dog paws, melting ice cream, a fly perpetually landing on my knee - i know that this is joy.