The first thing to remember about good poetry is that it's subjective. There are no objective criteria for what makes a poem "good." If someone tells you that they don't like your poem, they're probably not being mean-spirited or overly critical; they just don't connect with it on any level. That said, there are almost always ways poets can improve their work. But here's the secret: even if your poem isn't perfect yet, it could still be great! It all comes down to how much passion and emotion you put into writing each line—and how much time you spend honing each detail before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
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Great poets throughout history
If you want to be a great poet, there are some things you should know about the most famous poets of all time.
Shakespeare: He wrote plays and sonnets that are still read today. His work is so good that people still argue about whether or not he was even human.
John Keats: This guy was born in 1795 and died at age 25 from tuberculosis (the disease that killed Shelley). But before his death he produced some really beautiful poems about nature and love--and also dying from tuberculosis!
Emily Dickinson: She lived quietly away from society for most of her life because she didn't like other people very much; however, she left behind hundreds of poems that have influenced many writers since then including Sylvia Plath who killed herself after reading Dickinson's work while being depressed over breaking up with Ted Hughes.
Robert Frost: He was a great poet that wrote many poems that are still read today. His most famous line of course being: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Ezra Pound: This guy was born in 1885 and died at age 65 from treason (the crime of betraying your country).
A good poet is someone who can make you feel something.
So, what makes a great poet? A good poet is someone who can make you feel something.
Poetry is a way to express feelings, and sometimes it's hard to put your feelings into words or even talk about them. A good poet will take those feelings and turn them into something that anyone can understand--even if they didn't have those same experiences themselves!
A good poet is someone who can make you think about things in a new way. Poetry isn't just about words; it's about ideas. Poets use their writing to explore and express ideas, whether they're personal or universal (or some combination of both).
For example: Emily Dickinson, who wrote thousands of poems but never published any during her lifetime because she thought they were too personal. But now we know those poems are essential for understanding her life and work as an artist! You can read them online here if you want--I'll wait while you do so... Back? Good! Now let's talk about what makes those poems so great!
So what is a good poem?
Poetry can be written in many different forms, but the one thing they all have in common is their ability to evoke an emotional response from the reader.
A great example of this is Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". This poem has been described as "one of America's finest works of art" by many critics because it evokes such strong emotions from its readers--and those emotions are not always positive ones!
In addition to evoking emotions from its audience (which should be considered essential), there are three other qualities that we think contribute heavily towards making a successful piece:
A good poem is an experience that gets stuck in your head, like music or a movie, not just something you can read once and forget about. It makes you think about things differently. It makes the world seem larger and more full of possibility--like when you see the ocean for the first time or hear someone say something that changes your life forever. Poetry has power!
In order to write poetry with this kind of power, poets need to know themselves well enough so that they can express their deepest feelings in ways that other people will understand (not just themselves).
They also need to know how words sound together when spoken aloud: syllables with short vowels sound different from syllables with long vowels; consonants make different sounds depending on where they fall within each word; consonant pairs like "ck" or "ch" have very different sounds from single consonants like "p," but when combined into two-syllable words (like "pickle") they change again as part of longer combinations called syllabic units--and so on!
A good poem needs to be written with powerful language and imagery so it has depth and feeling. The writer should use words that are interesting, unusual and exciting for the reader. A poem should also have a strong sense of rhythm and rhyme which adds interest to the poem as well as making it easier for us to remember what we've read.
Poets use different types of words such as similes (like), metaphors (as if) or personification (giving human qualities to non-human things). In addition, they often use imagery - descriptions of things we can see in our minds' eye like colours or shapes - which paint pictures in our minds when we read them aloud!
Poetry can be expressive, challenging and fun!
Poetry is a great way to express yourself. When you're feeling down about something, poetry can help you get your feelings out in the open so that they don't build up inside of you until they explode into a giant mess that makes everyone around uncomfortable. Poetry also allows people who may not have an outlet for their emotions (like when someone has no friends) an opportunity to express themselves without judgment or criticism from others.
The best part is that poetry doesn't have to be hard work; it just takes practice until everything becomes second nature!
