Don Lists Importance Of Poetry On Human Survival

A Professor of Poetry at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE), Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Prof Kotein Trinya, says poetry as one of the  genres  of literature, if utilised will serve as  an agent  for  healing, recovery and reformation of mankind, especially the  ailing people in the society
He opined  that poetry is part of human life which  provides glimpses of beauty that can put the challenges of life in perspective through songs,poems, words and writing
The erudite professor made these assertions while presenting his inaugural lecture at the 19th Inaugural Lecture Series of the university with the topic,”Therapeutic Perspectives of Affective Art”, held at the university auditorium in Port Harcourt, Thursday.
Trinya who is the supervising dean of the Faculty of Humanities and director of the university’s Institute for Distance Learning averred that Poetry abound in our environment both in written and spoken forms, and  characterised  by patterned expressions in  condensed language of metaphors,  rhythm and refrains .
According to him, Poetry which is an aspect of arts engages in social correction and affects both the creator and the receiver in a special way,adding that poem can be a kind of therapy and palliative to the reader and the writer.
“Therapy is conceived here in curative ,preventive   respects ,addressing mental and behavioural wellness as well as physiological wellness that is ultimately achievable from the state of mental balance especially as it is the universal opinion of health authorities that even the organic ailments ,to a prominent proportion ,have their origin in mental disorientations because of the connection between mind and body,” he stated.
Trinya disclosed that a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress and advised people to be mindful of the choice of words spoken, adding that  such words are powerful, influential  and capable of  affecting  peoples lives positively or negatively.
Also speaking ,the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Ozo Mercury Ndimele represented by the Dean, Faculty of Vocational Studies and head of Ndele Campus, Prof Stephen Ofor lauded the lecturer for the lecture and described him as an intellectual scholar.
He said the lecturer had in the course of the lecture, linked Poetry with the daily activities  of human beings ,adding that  “we can use Poetry to solve life’s challenging problems”.