One of the craftsmen whom we first expect self-reflection from (apart from the philosopher, of course), is the poet. We would like to read a theoretical, tangible account of their motivation to write and why they think poetry matters.
Since my poetic aspirations were not all nipped in the bud by the frown that ends our adolescence, I too should write a modest ars poetica. So here it is.
Take the famous thousands of chimpanzees hammering incessantly on as many typewriters and producing Shakespeare after a few quadrillion years. Or a more realistic example, your five year old nephew scribbling half a dozen words on a piece of paper that you subsequently decide to recognize as the work of a genius. Or more practically: we could program computers to toss together words with a calculated poetic aura in a way that would fit their mathematical vectors to produce magical poetry. “Sordid” and “excellence” would end up in conjunction (as in the famous poem by Emily Dickinson) because their association vectors are perpendicular and combination would, according to calculations, yield a new rich field of synthetic meaning.
Why is this so wrong? Why can computers never be smart enough? Because it is not about being smart. The art of poetry is not just to say some things and remain silent about others (although it is a sine qua non) but to mean certain things strongly. But that, of course, is not measurable. The five-year-old who scribbled his “brilliant” lines but doesn’t mean anything by it, is, like the chimpanzees, not a poet. A real poet means what he spells out in words, he means it in a way at least slightly ahead of how his audience means it. The audience trusts that he does mean it and that there is a horizon of meaning opened up by the poet’s lines, and the reader can follow calmly in his wake.
So, a poet has to learn to mean stronger, not just to write stronger. How can he or she achieve that? In brief. I hinted trust. Creating a poetic lifestyle, integrating other artforms like music and painting, and every once in a while, try if the working of his words can stand the comparison to old wine.
Mmoja wa mafundi ambao sisi kwanza kutarajia kujitafakari kutoka (mbali na mwanafalsafa, bila shaka), ni mshairi. Tunataka kusoma simulizi la kinadharia, la kweli la msukumo wao wa kuandika na kwa nini wanafikiri mashairi ni muhimu. Kwa kuwa tamaa zangu za ushairi hazikuangushwa kabisa na mkazo unaomalizia ujana wetu, mimi pia ningeandika ars poetica ya kiasi. Kwa hiyo, hapa ndipo. Kwa mfano, kuna maelfu ya chimpanzi wanaofanya kazi kwa bidii kwenye mashine nyingi za kuandika na kutengeneza Shakespeare baada ya miaka bilioni kadhaa. "Kwa mfano, ""mjomba wako mwenye umri wa miaka mitano anaandika maneno sita kwenye kipande cha karatasi ambayo baadaye unaamua kutambua kuwa ni kazi ya kipaji.""" "Au kwa njia ya vitendo zaidi: tunaweza programu kompyuta kutupa pamoja maneno na aura ya mashairi mahesabu kwa njia ambayo ingekuwa fit vector yao ya hisabati kuzalisha mashairi ya kichawi. """ "Sordid" na "excellence" ingekuwa kuishia katika muungano (kama katika shairi maarufu na Emily Dickinson) kwa sababu vector zao ushirika ni perpendicular na mchanganyiko ingekuwa, kulingana na mahesabu, kuzalisha uwanja mpya tajiri ya maana synthetic. Kwa nini jambo hilo ni baya sana? Kwa nini kompyuta haziwezi kamwe kuwa na akili ya kutosha? Kwa sababu si kuhusu kuwa na akili. Sanaa ya ushairi si kusema tu mambo fulani na kukaa kimya juu ya mengine (ingawa ni hali ya lazima), lakini kumaanisha mambo fulani kwa nguvu. Lakini hiyo, bila shaka, haiwezi kupimwa. Mtoto wa miaka mitano ambaye aliandika mistari yake "ya kipaji" lakini hakumaanishi chochote kwa hilo, ni, kama chimpanzees, si mshairi. """Mshairi wa kweli anamaanisha kile anachosema kwa maneno, anamaanisha kwa njia ya angalau kidogo mbele ya jinsi wasikilizaji wake wanavyosema.""" Wasikilizaji wanaamini kwamba yeye anamaanisha hivyo na kwamba kuna upeo wa maana uliofunguliwa na mistari ya mshairi, na msomaji anaweza kufuata kwa utulivu katika kufuatia kwake. Kwa hiyo, mshairi anapaswa kujifunza kumaanisha nguvu zaidi, si tu kuandika nguvu zaidi. Anaweza kufanyaje hivyo? Kwa ufupi. Nilidokeza kwamba alikuwa na imani. Kuunda mtindo wa maisha wa mashairi, kuunganisha aina nyingine za sanaa kama muziki na uchoraji, na kila mara kwa muda, jaribu ikiwa kazi ya maneno yake inaweza kusimama kulinganisha na divai ya zamani.