Found poetry

Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them as poetry by making changes in spacing and/or lines (and consequently meaning), or by altering the text by additions and/or deletions. The resulting poem can be defined as either treated: changed in a profound and systematic manner; or untreated: virtually unchanged from the order, syntax and meaning of the original.

Comparisons and predecessors

Franze Stenzel describes the Dadaism movement with its readymade philosophy as a predecessor for the practice that later became found poetry. Dadaists like Duchamp placed everyday practical objects in an environment that was aesthetic and in so doing called into question that object as art, the observer, the aesthetic environment and the definition of what is art.^[1]

Stylistically, found poetry is similar to the visual art of "appropriation" in which two- and three-dimensional art is created from recycled items, giving ordinary/commercial things new meaning when put within a new context in unexpected combinations or juxtapositions.

Examples

An example of found poetry appeared in William Whewell's "An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics":^[2]

Hence no force, however great,

can stretch a cord, however fine,

into a horizontal line

which is accurately straight.

In 2003, Slate writer Hart Seely found poetry in the speeches and news briefings of Donald Rumsfeld. In a transcript of a Department of Defense news briefing from February 12, 2002, Rumsfeld ruminated on "The Unknown":^[3]

As we know,

There are known knowns.

There are things we know we know.

We also know

There are known unknowns.

That is to say

We know there are some things

We do not know.

But there are also unknown unknowns,

The ones we don't know

We don't know.

Hart Seely published Rumsfeld's poetry in the book, Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld (2003). American composer Phil Kline set Rumsfeld's lyrics to music in "Rumsfeld's Songs", a song cycle released on Zippo Songs (2004). Pianist Bryant Kong also used Rumsfeld's lyrics on his release "Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld".^[4]

In July 2009, US talkshow host Conan O'Brien twice asked actor William Shatner to deliver the written words of former Alaskan Governor and Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the style of beat poetry. Shatner performed Palin's Farewell Speech ^[5] on July 27, 2009, and several of her "Tweets" ^[6] on 29 July, 2009, during The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien. Shatner was supported by a bongo player and double-bassist.

Another well known example of a public figure's speech being converted into found poetry was the baseball play calls of Phil Rizzuto. Rizzuto was the announcer for the New York Yankees baseball team for some 40 years, and some of his at times rambling or disjointed commentary was collected and reformatted by Hart Seely and Tom Peyer into a collection of Rizzuto's found poetry. An example is Rizzuto's thoughts on the death of Yankees catcher Thurmon Munson in an airplane crash:

"The Man in the Moon"

The Yankees have had a traumatic four days.

Actually five days.

That terrible crash with Thurman Munson.

To go through all that agony,

And then today,

You and I along with the rest of the team

Flew to Canton for the services,

And the family...

Very upset.

You know, it might,

It might sound a little corny.

But we have the most beautiful full moon tonight.

And the crowd,

Enjoying whatever is going on right now.

They say it might sound corny,

But to me it's like some kind of a,

Like an omen.

Both the moon and Thurman Munson,

Both ascending up into heaven.

I just can't get it out of my mind.

I just saw the full moon,

And it just reminded me of Thurman Munson,

And that's it.

A quarterly online literary journal devoted to found poetry, The Found Poetry Review,^[7] debuted in 2011. The inaugural issue featured traditional centos and poems taken from textbooks, Marcel Duchamp paintings, Wikipedia articles, Wonder Woman comics and more.

See also

• Found art

References

1. ^ Stanzel, Franz K. "Texts Recycled: 'Found' Poems Found in Canada." Gaining Ground: European Critics on Canadian Literature. Eds. Robert Kroetsch and Reingard M. Nischik. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1985. 91-106.
2. ^ Whewell, William. An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, page 44. Cambridge (England), 1819.
3. ^ The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld, Hart Seely, Slate Magazine, 2 April 2003
4. ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (2004-07-31). "Music". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 116 (31): 14. ISSN 0006-2510. 
5. ^ The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien
6. ^ The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien
7. ^ http://www.foundpoetryreview.com