Roger Kemenetz in his piece, “Dreams and the Poetic Imagination,” wrote that Wordsworth, one of literature’s great poets, found value in “restorative images” for healing the “impaired imagination” through contemplation of historical dramatic events that Wordsworth referred to as “spots of time.”¹  What Wordsworth learned was born out, I believe, through a study conducted at the University of Birmingham that demonstrated that intentionally recalling memories can lead to forgetting other experiences.  In other words, the study suggested that the recall of more positive memories, or the recall of other memories more frequently, can suppress the negative memory through a process referred to as “adaptive forgetting.”²   

This process signifies a renewing of the mind, much like what we experience through meditation or guided imagery.  The Dalai Lama wrote, “Wishing and praying alone will not transform your mind, but with conviction and reason, reason based ultimately on your own experience, you can transform your mind.”³ The apostle Paul reminds us, “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”⁴

Poetry, whether composing a sonnet or reading an epic verse, can be an excellent remedy for the troubled mind.  Poetry, with its various mnemonic devices, embeds itself in the reader’s mind.  A poem’s natural rhythm synchronizes with the imperceptible tempos of the body, uniting the corporeal and the spiritual into one organism.  Rhyme burrows into the subconscious, creating synaptic nodes that bridge the gaps into memory.  Alliteration forms the steps upon which the images descend into the mind’s darkest recesses.  It is the poem’s vivid, lasting images, however, that renews the mind. 

Images attach themselves to the poem’s devices and are carried deep into the mind.  It is through “conviction and reason,” as the Dalia Lama said, that the poem’s images are burned into memory.  The unpleasant recollections are consumed to be replaced by more desirable thoughts.  This renewal of the mind, for me anyway, is a continual struggle to realize the promise that I am a new creation in Christ.  I was recently reminded of just how vivid some of those unwanted images remain after I had thought they were erased.  The apostle Paul wrote of a thorn in his side that he was given to prevent him from becoming conceited.⁵ Perhaps I have recently felt the thorn in my side; it is therefore critical that I renew my mind every day.  Poetry has been an important part of my healing and will always critical for my mind’s renewal.

 A. E. Fonner

 This renewal of the mind, for me anyway, is a continual struggle to realize the promise that I am a new creation in Christ.

¹ Kemenetz, Roger, Excerpt from “Dreams and the Poetic Imagination,” https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2017/05/18/the-healing-power-of-images-in-wordsworth/, (August 28, 2018)

² Newman, Adrian, “Selective Memory: Replace Bad Experiences with Positive Ones Long-Term,” March 25, 2018,  https://www.doctorshealthpress.com/brain-function-articles/selective-memory-and-mental-health/, (August 28, 2018)

³ The 14^th Dalai Lama, “Training the Mind: Verse 1,” https://www.dalailama.com/teachings/training-the-mind/training-the-mind-verse-1,  (August 29, 2018).

⁴ Philippines 4:8 NIV

⁵ 2 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)