Between A Writer And A Poet…

As we already know, all writers are not poets. So, writers here represent all literary writers who are not poets.

Who is a poet?

Poets are writers of poetry and they communicate their feelings or ideas through writing or art which they perform before their audience.

Permit me to say that a poet is a rhetorical artist – he expresses his emotions in such a grandiose or dignified manner to provoke certain feelings or questions in his readers.

Poetry is not always a straightforward description or explanation of a concept but takes a perfect emotional approach. A poet, due to this attribute of a poetry, isn’t much concerned with explanation.

Have a look at the following poem from PunME

Here a poet writes to provoke emotions – “Aw, gross!” and questions – “Did the dreamer really eat his shoes?” What did he do when he realized he was eating his shoe for real?”

Poetry can most of the time be metaphorical and it takes good reasoning to be able to comprehend what a poet is implying.

Have a look at the following poem.

‘Doll’ by savagesavante

Doll
They’ll pluck you
Out of thin air
carry you
To places you don’t want to go

Doll
They will call you pretty little thing
And proceed to destroy you

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In the poem above, ‘Doll’ could be a symbol and could represent someone undergoing a terrible suffering or a sort of brutality in the hands of another.

Who is a writer?

According to Wikipedia, a writer is someone who uses written words in various styles and techniques to communicate ideas.

A writer picks up an idea and makes step by step effort to make his reader understand it. The writer takes different approach to make his reader understand.

Example 1

“Domain Chaos” by Florence Ezekafor

Hon. Eke was a well-known billionaire who had numerous successful business establishments that yielded income, even while he slept.

He had numerous filling stations all over the nation – six large malls located in Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt.

In addition, he had a booming mall and a hotel in Dubai and there were rumours he had many other hidden businesses. With all the money machines, there was no limit to his inpouring of hard cash…..

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In the above story, the writer tries to describe a character to the reader.

Example 2

“Why We Need A New Year Plan” by Bukola Orry

One of the assignments my mentor gave to me before December was to write out my new year plan. It took me almost two weeks to write out the plan, and after writing out the plan he assessed it and we discussed about how I can stick to the plan and also how I can achieve my goals without being distracted.

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Writers dedicate lots of time to explain their ideas and could do this using an entire book, focusing on providing answers.

In a nutshell

Both the writer and the poet who communicate ideas.

Both writers and poets provoke feelings or emotions in their readers.

They both give the reader a message to walk away with.

They are both intellectuals, who know how to use words in a pleasing way, to pass a message across to their reader or audience.

BUT

As the writer tries to convey meaning and provide answers, the poet looks for how words sound -rhyme and how to makes the reader think deep and ask questions.

The writer takes time to help the reader get to the essence of the idea but the poet bends towards brevity without much concern about clarity.

In the end, both writers and poets each come up with terrific works which impact the lives of the readers in unique ways.