The poetry of ethics

Find your natural rhythm within the conventions of established processes

Even after years studying English literature, I’ve remained somewhat confused about the nature of poetry.

On the one hand, modern poetry has given rise to free verse and prose poems, which reject the structure of traditional poetic forms. On the other hand, classical formats such as sonnet, haiku, iambic pentameter, even limerick, demand adherence to a rigid formula of syllables, meter, and rhyme.

At first blush, it seems that unyielding classical structures should inhibit the free-flowing creativity most often associated with poetry. Why should an outpouring of the soul be limited by confining, arbitrary conventions? Won’t greater artistic brilliance emerge from setting our creative impulses free to express themselves however they may choose?

Not necessarily.

In his book Imagine, Jonah Lehrer explains how too much freedom granted by too little structure may actually impair our imaginations, allowing them to run wild and lose focus. Through the demands of adhering to strict rules governing the arrangement of words, the poet has to search harder, compose with more deliberation, and prod his imaginative abilities to find the perfect word to fit the restrictive space.

In other words, less freedom inspires greater creativity.

Decades before there was any discussion about athletes juicing to enhance their performance on the field, Bob Dylan coined the now-ubiquitous term as he struggled to squeeze out this internal rhyme in his revolutionary ballad, “Like a Rolling Stone:”

Ahh you’ve gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely

But you know you only used to get juiced in it…

Needing a word to rhyme with “used” and communicate the self-indulgence of drug culture, Mr. Dylan may have exhausted the lexicon of possible expressions before finding refuge in the last resort of inventing the word himself.

Whether in artistry or in business, when we’re forced to work within the confines of structure, we can end up producing dazzling explosions of innovative genius. Jonah Lehrer sums it up this way:

Break out of the box by stepping into shackles.

Even if you’re not a poet, the same principle applies to every other aspect of your life. True freedom can only survive within a cultural structure limited by the conventions of the social contract, respect for the rules, and civil discourse. Without structure, there is anarchy; where there is anarchy, there is no freedom.

The absurdity of political anarchy is that by dismantling the restrictions imposed by authority we end up trading the law of the land for the law of the jungle, where only the strongest are free. Social anarchy indulges the irrational utopian fallacy that overturning the foundations of civilization will somehow promote a healthy culture of psychological well-being and harmony.

On the flip side, it’s pointless to follow the rules of poetic construction without adding the spice of creative license. That produces nothing but stilted and uninspiring drivel. So too, meticulous adherence to the letter of the law ultimately subverts the intent of the law by exploiting loopholes and murdering common sense.

This is the reason we actually increase corruption when we attempt to legislate ethics.

An ethical mindset requires a perpetual balancing act between respecting the letter of the law and intuiting the spirit of the law, between navigating the gray areas bounded by what’s legal and what’s illegal while critiquing the morality of the law itself.

This is true in society at large, in business, in education, in our communities and our families. Only when we take responsibility for keeping our moral compass well-calibrated will we succeed in our relationships, in our commercial endeavors, and in our communities.

King Solomon anticipated the impetuosity of our age when he observed:

“Do not remove the boundaries of eternity, which were set in place by your ancestors.”

In our efforts to create a free, equitable, and prosperous culture, it’s easy to forget that the conventions and traditions that have guided human society for generations do not inhibit progress but provide the bedrock on which we can build an auspicious future. The more we respect the established boundaries of civil society, the more firmly we position ourselves to enjoy the enduring rewards of freedom.

Image by Roland Mey from Pixabay