In bohemian circles, we were very aware that poetry was missing
Hear the voice of Donovan, minstrel of the 1960s, who spoke with longing when he said: “In bohemian circles, we were very aware that poetry was missing from popular culture.” In this lament is the recognition of a wound in society: that poetry, once central to the life of a people, had been pushed aside, silenced by the noise of commerce and the distractions of entertainment. For the bohemians—those wanderers of art, seekers of beauty, rebels against conformity—poetry was not a luxury but the lifeblood of culture, and they mourned its absence like the loss of the sun.
The meaning of his words is clear: without poetry, popular culture becomes hollow. Music, speech, and art may continue, but stripped of poetry, they lack depth, vision, and the power to awaken the soul. Poetry brings mystery into the common tongue, beauty into daily life, and truth into public consciousness. To lose it from popular culture is to lose the mirror in which a people sees its own heart. Donovan and his fellow bohemians recognized this void, and in their songs, they sought to restore it—turning music into poetry once more.
The ancients would have nodded in agreement. In Greece, poetry was at the heart of culture: Homer was not an ornament but the teacher of a nation; his verses carried the values, the myths, and the spirit of a people. In medieval times, the troubadours sang poetry that bound courts and villages alike, weaving beauty into daily life. But in ages where poetry was neglected, societies grew barren in spirit, their voices consumed by mere utility and spectacle. Donovan’s cry echoes this ancient truth: without poetry, culture loses its soul.
History offers a vivid witness in the Renaissance. Before its rebirth, much of Europe’s popular culture was dominated by rigid forms and utilitarian pursuits. Yet when poetry reentered life—through Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare—it infused art, theater, and song with vitality. Suddenly, popular culture blossomed, filled with words that lifted the human spirit. Shakespeare’s plays, spoken in the language of common people, were both poetry and entertainment, and his words shaped the soul of England. Donovan, centuries later, stood in this same tradition: a singer seeking to return poetry to the people.
For Donovan’s time was one of upheaval. The industrial world had given rise to mass media, and popular culture was increasingly defined by profit rather than beauty. Yet among the bohemians—the artists, musicians, and poets of the counterculture—there was a hunger to restore meaning. They longed to weave poetry back into the songs sung on radios, into the rhythms danced to by millions. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Donovan himself carried verses that were not mere lyrics but poems, echoing the bohemian dream that culture must be infused with depth, not stripped to emptiness.
The lesson for us is timeless: we must guard against the loss of poetry in our own lives and cultures. When popular culture becomes shallow, it is not entertainment alone that suffers—it is the spirit of a people. Poetry reminds us who we are; it reveals beauty in the ordinary, it carries truth where prose cannot reach. Without it, life becomes mechanical, and society becomes forgetful of its soul.
Practical is this path: read poetry aloud, let it breathe in your home; seek musicians and artists who carry the flame of verse in their work; write your own lines, however humble, and share them. Bring poetry back into the spaces where it has been forgotten—into classrooms, into gatherings, into the songs of your daily life. For as Donovan teaches, if poetry is missing from popular culture, then culture itself is missing its heart. And when we restore it, we restore not only art but the very soul of humanity.
TDTu Dam
I can relate to Donovan’s sentiment about the absence of poetry in mainstream culture. It seems like today’s popular culture is more focused on entertainment and consumerism, with poetry taking a backseat. But why does it feel like poetry is only celebrated in certain intellectual or artistic circles? Can poetry still have the same societal impact it once did, or has its role shifted to something more personal and less public?
KTKhuat ThuTrang
It’s interesting how Donovan mentions being aware of poetry’s absence in popular culture, especially in bohemian circles. It seems like there was a time when poetry had a more prominent role in shaping culture, but now it feels more like a hidden gem. Do you think that the decline of poetry’s popularity in mainstream culture is a loss, or are there new forms of expression taking its place that still carry the essence of poetry?
PPhanvanlong
Donovan’s statement about the absence of poetry in popular culture raises a great point. It makes me think about how the rapid pace of modern life has made things like poetry seem slow or out of touch with the current cultural moment. Could the shift away from poetry be a result of people seeking faster, more immediate forms of expression, like memes or short videos? Or is it more about the commercialization of culture?
NN35 Truong Nguyen Ngoc
I find Donovan’s reflection on the absence of poetry in popular culture both insightful and a bit sad. It feels like poetry used to be a powerful voice in society, but now it seems less integrated into the everyday lives of people. What happened to that connection? Is it possible that social media or modern music could bring poetry back into popular culture in a more accessible way, or has it truly become something for a select few?
THYen Oanh Tran Hoang
Donovan’s observation about poetry missing from popular culture makes me reflect on how poetry has often been marginalized in modern media. While we have countless music genres, movies, and TV shows, poetry doesn’t seem to receive the same attention in mainstream culture. Why do you think that is? Do you believe poetry can still regain its place in popular culture, or is it simply something that has moved into more niche or intellectual spaces?