Seeing Literature
Poetry is toiling over words to construct plot twists for the listener to enjoy. Some poets turn out to be full of themselves.
Al-Mutanabbi (المتنبّي) is an incredible poet from the 10th century. He wrote1:
أنا الذي نظر الأعمى إلى أدبي I am the one whose literature can be seen (even) by the blind و أسمعت كلماتي من به صمم And whose words are heard (even) by the deaf.
The original in Arabic on the left, the poetic translation in English on the right.
As 2Pac mentions in “Tradin’ War Stories” (1996) with the lyrics “Pardon my thug poetry, but suckers is born everyday”, rap is poetry over some beats. It tends to be filled with self-regard, to say the least.
J. Cole raps in his song ‘January 28th’ (Dec 2014) with a similar sentiment to his long gone predecessor2:
Can paint a picture that is vivid enough to cure blindness
I’m assuming such conceit has existed for as long as humankind.