Poets are Born not Made

I read about poetry and poetry a lot!  Makes sense because I’m a poet.  I read a recent quote from a book about reading poetry - it was the Latin proverb “poets are born not made.”

I have thought about that phrase constantly ever since I read it.  What does it mean?

It probably means (at least to me) if you were meant to be a poet then you were born that way - ready to share your words in whatever form but mostly in a poetical one.  Does that mean you can’t become a poet if you weren’t meant to be?

That’s not a question, I can answer.  I have come across many people who say to me some things like “I write poetry,” “I want to publish a book,” “I’m a writer” after they find out I am a poet and writer.  But they don’t have any experience with it in most cases, they’ve just decided that’s what they want to do.  Once in a great while, someone who says these things to me will have some kind of educational background in writing or literature or English.  Generally, no.

For me, though, yes I was born that way, as a Poet.  I’ve been writing stories and poems since I was really little.  Later on as a voice major, I wrote song lyrics.  I have one degree in the arts and studied poetry with a well-known poet at the time, and I’ve taken poetry workshops, etc. etc.  I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t write.  I love everything about it - the entire process including submission and rejection.

Poets are indeed meant to share poems.  Poems, in the long run, always belong to their poets!