Using the Programmes
Read the poems first!
A poem can stand any number of readings. In this way its rhythms and sounds and meanings get under your skin. Understanding of a poem grows as a snowball rolled in the snow grows: by repeated contact. The Passwords series has been made in order to help in the process of getting to know the poems in the NEAB GCSE syllabus.
The best way to approach a poem is to read it to yourself, read it again, say it to yourself, say it out loud. With no interference from others, you can enjoy the sound of the words and the range of meanings that come into your head.
As Simon Armitage tells us in the first programme:
'The printed word is the most intimate form of communication... these little black lines on a white piece of paper, they're like microbes of thought, they get right down inside your optic nerve and they explode there, they germinate, and they're full of ideas. And it's very, very private, reading, it's just you and the book. It's almost more intimate than somebody whispering in your ear.'
There are difficulties with presenting poetry on television. Television is a relentlessly literal medium: it displays rather than suggests; it ties meanings down. Poetic images can have a wide and subtle range of meanings - suggesting different things to different people - quite different perhaps from what the poet intended. Once a poem is published and sent out into the world, it is no longer the sole property of the poet; it belongs to the reader too. There are no 'right' or 'wrong' readings. A television director can only choose one picture at a time to illustrate a line from a poem that might hold many images and meanings all at the same time.
While the programmes attempt to compensate for this in various ways, it is something to be aware of when you watch the series. Always read the poem to yourself first and think about what images you would choose if you were the director. Then measure your version against the programme - it will almost always lose something.
The programmes are not a substitute for building a personal relationship with the poems or researching the poets yourself. But they can help when you get to the 'wondering' stage: 'I wonder what the poet looks like?... What part of the world does she come from?... Where did the idea for the poem come from?... How does she read that line?... What does the poet think it means?... What would her voice sound like?'
Also, when you're searching for things to say or write about a poem, it can help to hear what somebody else has to say. You may agree or disagree, but at least it will get you thinking and responding to the poem yourself.
Approaches
In making Passwords, the production team have stuck to some fairly simple and obvious principles:
- Poets talking about poetry.
Where possible it is best to have the poet reading their own poetry and talking about what it means to them. When this was not possible, we were fortunate to have some first-rate British and American actors and readers.
- Real readers.
In the series as a whole we have tried to reinforce the idea that anybody can respond to a poem, that you don't have to be an expert to get something from a poem. A wide range of people, including funeral directors, falconers, mortuary technicians, eco-warriors, boys from Eton and Asian girls from Halifax, read and respond to the poems.
Sounds and shapes. The effect of a poem derives as much from its sounds and rhythms as from its meanings. Also, most poems exist on the page: the shapes of the words and their layout on the page can also be important.
Key Themes
When talking to the poets or discussing the poems with the readers, the following general questions were borne in mind:
- What makes a poem?
- What is poetic language?
- How is a poem different from prose?
- What is a poem for?
- What is the nature of the poet's craft?
- How does a poem work?
- How does a poet work?
