Although it may appear simplistic to say that a poet’s job is to write poetry, this is the essence of the art form. What else a poet can do is highly dependent on a number of factors, including the poet’s fame, whether he or she is a professional or amateur poet, what kind of training the person has, and whether writing poetry is a full-time or part-time job. Poets come from a variety of backgrounds as well. A true artist may crouch in a jail cell to find the right words, another may work in poverty, a few poets steal a moment between baby’s naps to scribble a verse, and still others may attend state dinners and appear on Oprah. From those who can barely spell to those with doctorates, education and orientation are diverse.
This all boils down to the poet’s simple description: he writes poetry. Given the available opportunities, such artists may be able to perform their work full-time and even be compensated for it. In many places, poetry is an underappreciated art form, and gaining recognition can be difficult. Artists can start submitting their work to small poetry magazines, and if they’re lucky, one of the few publishers who understand poetry will publish a book of their work. A career could be built on increased recognition.
The poet and academic marriage is a simple one in poetry. Many well-known poets teach in language departments, and they may focus on teaching students how to write and analyze poetry in particular. From this perspective, writing poems does not have to be about making money; however, recognition can help advance an academic career or make it easier to publish large volumes of work.
Many people are natural poets who don’t need to be taught. Education can range from secondary to post-secondary work, and it could have been obtained in a variety of ways other than learning how to write poems. As previously stated, some poets, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds, may have little or no formal education, but they may gain notoriety because their words speak to the state of the world in a particularly poignant or gritty way.
It’s possible that poets who become well-known, and there are many excellent ones who will never do so, have a quality that reaches out to those who read their work. Many people consider poetry to be deceptive because it uses flowery language that rhymes to convey romantic themes. Poetry, according to those who love it, is the use of effective language to tell truths about the human condition, and that fantastic poets have truly come from the highest ivory towers and the most terrifying prison yards.
Finally, a poet selects language that reflects their ideas or state of mind, with the goal of communicating those thoughts to others. Some people are fortunate enough to be named Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, or William Penn Warren. Many other poets will likely go unnoticed, despite the pleasure they derive from the well-crafted phrase.