0:00:07.039,0:00:11.069
Muhammad Ali spent years training[br]to become the greatest boxer

0:00:11.069,0:00:13.520
the world had ever seen,

0:00:13.520,0:00:17.149
but only moments to create[br]the shortest poem.

0:00:17.149,0:00:21.250
Ali captivated Harvard's [br]graduating class in 1975

0:00:21.250,0:00:24.680
with his message of unity and friendship.

0:00:24.680,0:00:27.371
When he finished, [br]the audience wanted more.

0:00:27.371,0:00:29.060
They wanted a poem.

0:00:29.060,0:00:32.962
Ali delivered what is considered[br]the shortest poem ever.

0:00:32.962,0:00:35.661
"Me, we."

0:00:35.661,0:00:38.271
Or is it "me, weeee"?

0:00:38.271,0:00:39.481
No one's really sure.

0:00:39.481,0:00:45.471
Regardless, if these two words are a poem,[br]then what exactly makes a poem a poem?

0:00:45.471,0:00:48.101
Poets themselves have struggled[br]with this question,

0:00:48.101,0:00:51.605
often using metaphors to approximate[br]a definition.

0:00:51.605,0:00:53.680
Is a poem a little machine?

0:00:53.680,0:00:54.765
A firework?

0:00:54.765,0:00:55.821
An echo?

0:00:55.821,0:00:57.010
A dream?

0:00:57.010,0:01:01.352
Poetry generally has certain[br]recognizable characteristics.

0:01:01.352,0:01:05.551
One - poems emphasize language's[br]musical qualities.

0:01:05.551,0:01:08.481
This can be achieved through[br]rhyme, rhythm, and meter,

0:01:08.481,0:01:09.979
from the sonnets of Shakepeare,

0:01:09.979,0:01:11.542
to the odes of Confucius,

0:01:11.542,0:01:13.852
to the Sanskrit Vedas.

0:01:13.852,0:01:16.556
Two - poems use condensed language,

0:01:16.556,0:01:20.492
like literature with all the water[br]wrung out of it.

0:01:20.492,0:01:23.872
Three - poems often feature[br]intense feelings,

0:01:23.872,0:01:25.875
from Rumi's spiritual poetry

0:01:25.875,0:01:29.312
to Pablo Neruda's "Ode to an Onion."

0:01:29.312,0:01:33.883
Poetry, like art itself, has a way[br]of challenging simple definitions.

0:01:33.883,0:01:36.303
While the rhythmic patterns [br]of the earliest poems

0:01:36.303,0:01:40.163
were a way to remember stories[br]even before the advent of writing,

0:01:40.163,0:01:42.703
a poem doesn't need to be lyrical.

0:01:42.703,0:01:44.251
Reinhard Döhl's “Apfel”

0:01:44.251,0:01:46.649
and Eugen Gomringer's "silencio"

0:01:46.649,0:01:50.160
toe the line between visual art[br]and poetry.

0:01:50.160,0:01:53.556
Meanwhile, E.E. Cummings wrote poems[br]whose shapes were as important

0:01:53.556,0:01:55.420
as the words themselves,

0:01:55.420,0:02:01.909
in this case amplifying the sad loneliness[br]of a single leaf falling through space.

0:02:01.909,0:02:05.569
If the visual nature of poetry[br]faded into the background,

0:02:05.569,0:02:07.989
perhaps we'd be left with music,

0:02:07.989,0:02:10.600
and that's an area that people[br]love to debate.

0:02:10.600,0:02:12.669
Are songs poems?

0:02:12.669,0:02:16.189
Many don't regard songwriters as poets[br]in a literary sense,

0:02:16.189,0:02:18.689
but lyrics from artists like Paul Simon,

0:02:18.689,0:02:19.788
Bob Dylan,

0:02:19.788,0:02:21.159
and Tupac Shakur

0:02:21.159,0:02:23.829
often hold up even without the music.

0:02:23.829,0:02:27.049
In rap, poet elements like rhyme,[br]rhythm, and imagery

0:02:27.049,0:02:29.529
are inseparable from the form.

0:02:29.529,0:02:32.359
Take this lyric from the Notorious B.I.G.

0:02:32.359,0:02:34.727
"I can hear sweat trickling [br]down your cheek

0:02:34.727,0:02:37.019
Your heartbeat sound [br]like Sasquatch feet

0:02:37.019,0:02:39.801
Thundering, shaking the concrete."

0:02:39.801,0:02:43.298
So far, all the examples we've seen[br]have had line breaks.

0:02:43.298,0:02:48.045
We can even imagine the two words[br]of Ali's poem organizing in the air -

0:02:48.045,0:02:50.258
Me, We.

0:02:50.258,0:02:53.304
Poetry has a shape [br]that we can usually recognize.

0:02:53.304,0:02:57.209
Its line breaks help readers navigate[br]the rhythms of a poem.

0:02:57.209,0:02:59.628
But what if those line breaks disappeared?

0:02:59.628,0:03:02.118
Would it lose its essence as a poem?

0:03:02.118,0:03:03.433
Maybe not.

0:03:03.433,0:03:05.237
Enter the prose poem.

0:03:05.237,0:03:07.989
Prose poems use vivid images[br]and wordplay

0:03:07.989,0:03:11.271
but are formatted like paragraphs.

0:03:11.271,0:03:15.343
When we look at poetry less as a form[br]and more as a concept,

0:03:15.343,0:03:18.149
we can see the poetic all around us:

0:03:18.149,0:03:19.378
spiritual hymns,

0:03:19.378,0:03:22.249
the speeches of orators like[br]Martin Luther King, Jr.,

0:03:22.249,0:03:23.179
JFK,

0:03:23.179,0:03:24.590
and Winston Churchill,

0:03:24.590,0:03:27.429
and surprising places like social media.

0:03:27.429,0:03:33.140
In 2010, journalist Joanna Smith tweeted[br]updates from the earthquake in Haiti.

0:03:33.140,0:03:36.091
"Was in b-room getting dressed[br]when heard my name.

0:03:36.091,0:03:38.811
Tremor. Ran outside through sliding door.

0:03:38.811,0:03:42.531
All still now. Safe. Roosters crowing."

0:03:42.531,0:03:46.061
Smith uses language in a way[br]that is powerful, direct,

0:03:46.061,0:03:48.261
and filled with vivid images.

0:03:48.273,0:03:50.723
Compare her language to a haiku,

0:03:50.723,0:03:55.823
the ancient Japanese poetic form [br]that emphasizes bursts of brief intensity

0:03:55.823,0:04:00.684
with just three lines of five, [br]seven, and five syllables.

0:04:00.684,0:04:03.632
The waters of poetry run wide and deep.

0:04:03.632,0:04:05.504
Poetry has evolved over time,

0:04:05.504,0:04:07.193
and perhaps now more than ever,

0:04:07.193,0:04:12.854
the line between poetry, [br]prose, song, and visual art has blurred.

0:04:12.854,0:04:15.234
However, one thing has not changed.

0:04:15.234,0:04:18.664
The word poetry actually began[br]in verb form,

0:04:18.664,0:04:23.604
coming from the ancient Greek poiesis,[br]which means to create.

0:04:23.604,0:04:28.144
Poets, like craftsman, still work with[br]the raw materials of the world

0:04:28.144,0:04:29.992
to forge new understandings

0:04:29.992,0:04:36.075
and comment on what it is to be human[br]in a way only humans can.

0:04:36.075,0:04:41.525
Dartmouth researchers tested this idea[br]by asking robots to pen poetry.

0:04:41.525,0:04:45.024
A panel of judges sorted [br]through stacks of sonnets

0:04:45.024,0:04:49.054
to see if they could distinguish those[br]made by man and machine.

0:04:49.054,0:04:53.012
You may be happy to know that while[br]scientists have successfully

0:04:53.012,0:04:56.035
used artificial intelligence [br]in manufacturing,

0:04:56.035,0:04:57.035
medicine,

0:04:57.035,0:04:58.575
and even journalism,

0:04:58.575,0:05:01.255
poetry is a different story.

0:05:01.255,0:05:04.805
The robots were caught red-handed[br]100% of the time.