Editing Found poetry

{{Short description|Poetry discovered in accidental sources}}
[[File:Blackout Poetry PTSD Veteran Suicides (17101138862).jpg|thumb|A piece of [[blackout poetry]], created by blocking out words from a piece of newsprint]]
'''Found poetry''' is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them (a literary equivalent of a [[collage]]<ref>'Poetic Form- Poets.org' Academy of American Poets</ref>) by making changes in spacing and lines, or by adding or deleting text, thus imparting new meaning.  The resulting poem can be defined as treated: changed in a profound and systematic manner; or untreated: virtually unchanged from the order, syntax and meaning of the poem.

==Concepts==
[[File:Cut up text.jpg|thumb|A [[cut-up technique|cut-up text]] created from lines of a newspaper article about tourism]]
The concept of found poetry is closely connected to the revision of the concept of authorship, in the 20th century, (as [[John Hollander]] put it, "anyone may 'find' a text; the poet is he who names it, 'Text{{'"}}<ref>Hollander, John. Vision and Resonance, Two Senses of Poetic Form. Oxford University Press, 1975. 215.</ref>). See Charles Reznikoff's ''Testimony'', whose source material was courtroom testimonies from the Gilded Age, and whose many iterations were aimed at debunking a national U.S. narrative that denied the country's violent, discriminatory past. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://merriam-webster.com/dictionary/found+poem|title=Definition of FOUND POEM|website=merriam-webster.com}} (First known use of the form)</ref>

Types of common forms and practices of found poetry include [[Free verse|free form]] excerpting and [[remix]]ing, [[Erasure (artform)|erasure]], [[Cento (poetry)|cento]] and [[cut-up]].<ref>'Types of Found Poetry' Found Poetry Review</ref>

== Comparisons and predecessors  ==
Marquive Stenzel describes the [[Dadaism]] movement with its [[readymade]] philosophy as a predecessor for the practice that later became found poetry. [[Dadaists]] like [[Duchamp]] placed everyday practical objects in an environment that was aesthetic and in so doing called into question that object as art, the observer, the aesthetic environment and the definition of what art is.<ref>Stanzel, Franz K. "Texts Recycled: 'Found' Poems Found in Canada." Gaining Ground: European Critics on Canadian Literature. Eds. Robert Kroetsch and Reingard M. Nischik. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1985. 91-106.</ref>

Stylistically, found poetry is similar to the visual [[art]] of "appropriation" in which two- and three-dimensional art is created from recycled items, giving ordinary/commercial things new meaning when put within a new context in unexpected combinations or juxtapositions<!-- Are you sure you can compare visual art to poetry, philosophy aside? -->.

== Examples ==
An example of found poetry appeared in [[William Whewell]]'s "An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics":<ref>Whewell, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZL4aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44&dq=hence+no+force+however An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics], page 44. Cambridge (England), 1819.</ref>

<blockquote><poem>
Hence no force, however great,
can stretch a cord, however fine,
into an horizontal line
which is accurately straight.
</poem></blockquote>

In 1972, [[Bern Porter]] published ''Found Poems'' via [[Something Else Press]]. It features hundreds of found poems selected from newspapers, ads and everyday printed matter, some involving collage techniques, others displayed as readymades.  

In 2003, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' writer Hart Seely found poetry in the speeches and news briefings of [[Donald Rumsfeld]].  In a transcript of a Department of Defense news briefing from February 12, 2002, Rumsfeld ruminated on "The Unknown":<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110605140705/http://www.slate.com/?id=2081042& The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld],  Hart Seely, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate Magazine]]'', 2 April 2003</ref> 
<blockquote><poem>
As we know,
[[There are known knowns]].
There are things we know we know.

We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.

But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
</poem></blockquote>
Hart Seely published Rumsfeld's poetry in the book, ''Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld'' (2003).  American composer [[Phil Kline]] set Rumsfeld's lyrics to music in "Rumsfeld's Songs", a [[song cycle]] released on ''Zippo Songs'' (2004). Pianist Bryant Kong also used Rumsfeld's lyrics on his release "Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Tsioulcas |first=Anastasia |title=Music |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.  |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=2004-07-31 |volume=116 |issue=31 |page=14 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref>

In 2009, on ''[[The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien]]'', the talk show host twice asked actor [[William Shatner]] to deliver the written words of former Alaskan Governor and Vice-Presidential nominee [[Sarah Palin]] in the style of beat poetry. Shatner performed Palin's farewell speech on July 27,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/shatner-does-palin-072709/1139665/|title=Tonights Show – And for our next act …|website=www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com|access-date=2009-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929000352/http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/shatner-does-palin-072709/1139665/|archive-date=2009-09-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> and several of her tweets on July 29.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/shatner-reads-palins-tweets-072909/1140351/|title=Tonights Show – And for our next act …|website=www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com|access-date=2009-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802192612/http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/shatner-reads-palins-tweets-072909/1140351|archive-date=2009-08-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shatner was supported by a [[bongo drum|bongo]] player and [[contrabass]]ist.

Another well-known example of a public figure's speech being converted into found poetry was the baseball play calls of [[Phil Rizzuto]].  Rizzuto was the announcer for the New York Yankees baseball team for some 40 years, and some of his at times rambling or disjointed commentary was collected and reformatted by Hart Seely and Tom Peyer into a collection of Rizzuto's found poetry.  An example is Rizzuto's thoughts on the death of Yankees catcher [[Thurmon Munson]] in an airplane crash:
<blockquote><poem>
"The Man in the Moon"

The Yankees have had a traumatic four days.
Actually five days.
That terrible crash with Thurman Munson.
To go through all that agony,
And then today,
You and I along with the rest of the team
Flew to Canton for the services,
And the family...
Very upset.

You know, it might,
It might sound a little corny.
But we have the most beautiful full moon tonight.
And the crowd,
Enjoying whatever is going on right now.
They say it might sound corny,
But to me it's like some kind of a,
Like an omen.

Both the moon and Thurman Munson,
Both ascending up into heaven.
I just can't get it out of my mind.
I just saw the full moon,
And it just reminded me of Thurman Munson,
And that's it.
</poem></blockquote>
The website Verbatim Poetry<ref>{{cite web|url=http://verbatimpoetry.com|title=Verbatim Poetry}}</ref> has been publishing found poems weekly since March 2009. It emphasizes the poetry found in ordinary places, and employs traditional poetic forms such as the [[Shakespearean sonnet]] as well as [[free verse]]. As of November 2023, it is not accepting submissions.

The Internet's first formal literary journal devoted to found poetry, ''[[The Found Poetry Review]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foundpoetryreview.com|title=The Found Poetry Review|website=www.foundpoetryreview.com}}</ref> debuted in 2011. The quarterly journal featured traditional [[Cento (poetry)|centos]] and poems taken from textbooks, [[Marcel Duchamp]] paintings, [[Charles Manson]]'s trial testimony, [[AOL]] search data, [[Emily Post]]'s etiquette books, Wikipedia articles, Strunk and White's ''[[The Elements of Style]]'', [[Wonder Woman]] comics and more. It is no longer on the web as of 2024.

''Unlost Journal'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unlostjournal.com|title=Unlost Journal|website=www.unlostjournal.com}}</ref> is a biannual online journal that publishes found poetry and collage and other visual art based on found sources. 

Comedian [[Dave Gorman]] frequently creates comical found poems using bizarre or humorous comments that people have left in the comment sections of online news websites on his [[Dave (TV channel)|Dave]] series ''[[Dave Gorman: Modern Life Is Goodish]]''.

In a literary critic [[Galina Rymbu]]'s opinion, «[[Chatbot|Bot]] Conversation»<ref>''Rydkin Y.'' {{cite web|url=http://articulationproject.net/2036|title=Bot Conversation|work=Articulyatsia|access-date=7 January 2021}}</ref> of [[Yuri Rydkin]] is written in the genre of ''found poetry''.<ref>''Rymbu G.'' {{cite web|url=https://godliteratury.ru/public-post/poyeziya-v-internete-mart|title=Eight poetic online publications (March, 2020)|work=[[:ru:ГодЛитературы.РФ|Year of Literature]]|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> His work are screenshots of artistic [[Dialogue system|dialogue]] with [[Virtual assistant|virtual interlocutor]].

==See also==
* ''[[Dictionary Stories]]''
* [[Found object]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

*[https://unlostjournal.com/ Unlost: A journal of found poetry]
{{Appropriation in the Arts}}

[[Category:Poetic devices]]
[[Category:Genres of poetry]]
[[Category:Random text generation]]