I went to the library with my mom about two weeks ago, and I picked up a collection of John Keats' poetry. I love to read and write poetry, but I'm really not very experienced at all, so my reading of him boiled down to much enjoyment at his lovely writing and a recognition that he is about as much of a Romantic poet as you can get. I found his subject matter to be faeries, nature, sleep, love, and Greeks. Like I said, I'm not experienced, so it got hard to keep track of what he was saying in the longer poems. Overall, it was fun, somewhat challenging for a budding poetry lover in the 21st century.
This week, I got a collection of Dorothy Parker's poetry, which is wildly different from Keats'. Her poems are short, witty, cynical, and Modernist. They were much easier for me to read. Her style is so sharp and caustic, fitting the Modernist period with its disillusionment and discontent, overturning old social customs. She harnesses her shameless genius to create quips that burn more than a Carolina Reaper.
These two poets are extremely different. While Keats is dreamy and flowy, Parker is sassy and sour. Keats sees beauty in love and Parker sees heartbreak chosen again and again. Keats writes medium-long poems to elaborate on the loveliness he sees, and Parker snatches the hope of new love away in a few lines. I found both to be interesting, as they showcase different aspects of the human experience and different takes on poetry.