Student-hosted poetry recitation night features poems from around the world
Timothy Baker reads aloud a poem.
Photo credit: Johann Nafzger
By Johann Nafzger
A student-led poetry recitation night in the Borland Recital Hall on Saturday showcased a variety of styles, subjects, lengths, and even languages of poems and allowed students to share their favorite works from published poets.
Photo: Johann Nafzger.
Jacob Huber, a recent graduate of Concordia’s church music program, was one of seven people who recited their favorite poems. He presented a Norwegian poem from memory, both in its original language and as an English translation.
“I was exposed to Norwegian poetry and that just makes you realize, ‘Oh yeah, there’s poetry in other languages too!’” Huber said about his Norwegian poem, “Years of Experience with Bows and Arrows” by Olav H. Hauge. He said that his reason for selecting a poem in another language had to do with his personal experience at a school in Norway as well as a preference for the poet.
“I liked him because he’s earthy,” Huber said about Hauge. “He was a farmer all his life, and yet he knew four languages and he wrote poetry.”
Other recitations included poems by poets more familiar to Western history, such as Edgar Allen Poe. Timothy Baker, a junior in the Music program, recited The Bells by Poe. The poem’s haunting words, along with Baker’s dynamic delivery, prompted a round of applause from the audience at its conclusion.
Several participants and audience members named sophomore Lauren Gilmore’s recitation as their favorite of the event. Gilmore, who is majoring in secondary education in chemistry, presented Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden.
Dylan Buechler. Photo: Johann Nafzger.
Gilmore felt that this poem was one she could “express good emotional depth with,” so she wanted to bring the emotion out and spread Auden’s work to her peers. According to some audience members, she succeeded.
Baker said that the way Gilmore said the poem’s words and captured their meanings was part of the reason he appreciated her recitation. He added that the meaning of the words is the most important part of a poem.
Huber noted the difference between performing music and poetry. During musical performances, he usually does not have to make eye contact, but when reciting, “It’s just me, and they can see all of me,” he said.
The poetry event drew participants and audience members for different reasons, and Baker said he decided to participate because he “just saw the sign and thought ‘Oh, I like poetry.’”
The event hosted by sophomore Elizabeth Salo was affiliated with Sigma Tau Delta, Concordia’s chapter of the national English honors society.
