3:55 Century Dictionary definition of imagination. This lecture is quite profound. But every time the speaker talks, I can’t help but hear Leadbelly singing.
I don't like poetry. This is a confession, not a boast. I would love to be able to appreciate TS Eliot. Can anyone suggest how someone can cultivate a genuine appreciation for poetry?
Maybe read an anthology. Many poems you'll happily skim over, but some may stick, and the ones that stick may offer you a gateway into some of the ones you initially dismissed. Reading people like Eliot requires a bit more though, because he draws from things like the Bible, or the works of Dante, Shakespeare and Wagner. So to truly appreciate Eliot, one must also have read pretty widely. Funnily enough, it was from reading the Waste Land that I really recognised my cultural illiteracy, which made me resolve to read the Bible, the Western Canon and watch Wagner productions. My life is infinitely richer as a result. The answer in any case, is just read!
