What Is the Epic Poem of Your Life?
When you think of poetry, epic poems may not spring to the front of your mindbrain. They do tend more toward the “epic” than the “poetic”, at least as we think of it now. But they employed verse, formal or even ceremonial language and a good bit of repetition, big and small, to make them a little easier to memorize. Epics are certainly early ancestors of poetry. And though we may think of The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, Paradise Lost, or The Divine Comedy, more modern poets have carried on the epic tradition. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a few, including Prometheus Unbound, Lord Byron produced the satirical Don Juan, and Derek Walcott created the beautiful Omeros, just to name a few.
So what makes an epic, well, epic? Well, there’s the hero, usually one of the best examples of superior humanity, and some sort of journey this hero undertakes. There’s a supernatural or mystical element that interferes, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. There are battles to be won and foes to be conquered before our hero can return home, triumphant and noticeably changed (for the better, of course). The poets often began these tales by stating the reason for the telling the story and calling upon a Muse. They then launch into the tale in medias res - in the middle. That way, we meet the hero already in action, usually at a low point in the quest, and then learn what got him there. One could argue that life itself is an epic journey. In fact, one is, one being me. So in the epic poem of your life, what’s the outline? Is it serious or comic? What Muse will you summon and why are you living this tale? Who are the main characters, both human and other, and how have they affected (and will they affect) your journey? Who are your trusty allies and evil villains? Do you yet know what exactly you’re fighting to get to?
