State poetry competition today

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,

The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;

Along the sea-sands damp and brown

The traveller hastens toward the town,

      And the tide rises,
the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,

But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;

The little waves, with their soft, white hands,

Efface the footprints in the sands,

      And the tide rises,
the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls

Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;

The day returns, but nevermore

Returns the traveller to the shore,

      And the tide rises,
the tide falls.

*************************************************

This was one
of two dozen poems selected out of hundreds available to students to recite during
the Poetry Out Loud competition at the regional and school levels last month. Poems
ranged from centuries of verse including poets such as Longfellow and
Dickinson to contemporaries such as Illinois’ Lisel Mueller (a fav of mine).

Today,
Friday, March 14, at 1 p.m., is the state competition at the Hoogland Center
for the Arts. The public is invited and encouraged to come out and support
these students as they stand before a crowd and recite memorized verse.

Sound easy?
It is not. High school students’ readings are judged on many criteria, such as difficulty of poem;
clarity, volume and appropriateness of voice (not too dramatic, not too flat);
and if they grasp the poem’s meaning and how well they convey that to the
audience. One mark against their performance can be body movements that
distract the listener. The pinnacle of a successful reading is when a poem
floods the audience’s consciousness so much that everything else is forgotten
but the words, images and meaning of the poem and its profound effect on
emotion and thought.

Here is our regional
winner Annie Kefalas from Decatur (pictured in
this casual shot I took using my phone) who is vying in the state competition today
along with runner-up, Annabelle Emuze from Southeast High School.

Here is the
program from the regional competition that will give you an idea of what the
state competition will consist of. The Springfield Area Arts Council coordinated the contest. The central Illinois regional contest was recorded by WUIS, Springfield’s NPR affiliate. 

Music is played
during judging. Pictured from the regional competition is saxophonist Virgil
Rhodes (a blurry photo, I know, my apologies to Virgil, but I wanted to
acknowledge his artistry).

Poetry Out
Loud is a national contest for teens that challenges them to eloquently recite
poems aloud from memory. (I wrote more about it here.) The Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the
Arts cosponsor the annual competition. Laura Scanlan from the National
Endowment for the Arts will be present at the state contest today, along with
Tatiana Gant from the Illinois Arts Council and representatives from the Poetry
Foundation. 

Finals will
be at Lisner Auditorium, George
Washington University,
April 30 (semifinals will take place on April 29). Admission is free. The
public is encouraged to attend. Semis and finals will also be webcast live
at arts.gov. 

Send poems or blog post ideas to astienstra@illinoistimes.com.

This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2014.