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Anyone care to share their favourite poems or poets? One thing that puts me off poetry is that I find it hard to understand the matter under consideration. I even struggle with Shakespeare although I did the 'Merchant of Venice' in my school days. I also had this wonderful trainee teacher who introduced me to the love for poetry. Of course it helps that there free Shakespearean plays online during this lockdown period. A great way to come to love the arts and literature. https://www.theclassroom.com/benefits-reading-poems-11971.html (Updated September 26, 2017) Benefits of reading poetry 1. Academic Benefits The US undersecretary of education (2012), praised arts education, claiming it teaches critical thinking and innovation, helping students see the big picture. All of these skills, she argues, lead students to be more creative problem-solvers. Just like visual arts or music, reading and writing poetry require concentration, patience and attention to details, skills that can be carried into other areas of study. Further, poetry has been shown to increase reading fluency among young students by teaching them that the placement of words, as well as the words themselves, affects meaning. 2. Intellectual Benefits .....Additionally, poetry increases verbal intelligence by introducing readers not just to new words, but to different meanings for words they already know 3. Emotional Benefits Poetry enhances readers’ emotional lives. As reported by the UK's Telegraph Media Group, researchers from the University of Liverpool used brain scans to measure volunteers’ responses to reading..... 4. Empathetic Benefits Poetry increases readers’ empathy. In 2011, The Guardian News reported on its website that studies from the University at Buffalo indicate readers put themselves in the place of protagonists while reading, making them more sympathetic toward characters. By stepping into another’s life, readers shared experiences they could not have otherwise and demonstrated greater empathy for characters. These are changes Oatley believes readers carry into everyday life, which could have a profound positive effect on society. One of my favourite Poems :- 1. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard BY THOMAS GRAY The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.