UNESCO Director-General's Message on World Poety Day 2014.
Every year, UNESCO celebrates those who give life to poetry as
one of the highest forms of linguistic and cultural expression. Poetry
is a song of freedom, enabling us to affirm our identity through
creation. Poetry is also the song of our deepest feelings; in the words
of the Brazilian poet and diplomat João Cabral de Melo Neto, “even
unintentionally, every word that comes from emotion is poetry”. Through
its words and its rhythm, poetry gives shape to our dreams of peace,
justice and dignity, and gives us the strength and desire to mobilize to
make them real.
All peoples throughout history have developed and practiced
forms of poetry, so as to pass on orally their knowledge, history and
myths – the Vedas and Ramayana in India, the Hebrew Bible, the Iliad and
the Odyssey in Greece and many other philosophical and religious texts –
to express feelings, to talk about daily life, to withstand trials or
to entertain. Today, contemporary forms of poetry, from graffiti to
slam, enable young people to become engaged in the practice and renew it
by opening the door to a new space for creation. The forms evolve, but
the poetic impulse remains intact. Shakespeare described poetry as the
music that each man carries inside himself and, centuries later, the
jazz musician Herbie Hancock, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and 2014
Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University, has
recalled the affinities between poetry, literature and music in his
lecture on “the wisdom of Miles Davis”.
As a deep expression of the human mind and as a universal
art, poetry is a tool for dialogue and rapprochement. The dissemination
of poetry helps to promote dialogue among cultures and understanding
between peoples because it gives access to the authentic expression of a
language. We see this in the inspiration of people celebrating
intangible cultural heritage, mother tongues and cultural diversity,
where poetry always plays a major role. That is why UNESCO encourages
and calls for the support of authors and translators, the craftspeople
of poetry, so that we might tap into the essence of beauty and
inspiration for peace in their works.
Irina Bokova
