Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Clinton and I am going to be helping you with our learning today and I'm excited to be here.

Today's lesson is called Poetry and Expressing Feeling from the unit Spirituality: How is Art Used in Religion and Beliefs? We will be thinking about how we could give examples of how poetry is important in different religions.

Sometimes learning can be a little bit challenging, but that is good because it means that we can work really hard together as we learn new things.

We have some key words for our lesson today, and the first one is poetry, and this means a lyrical arrangement of words to convey meaning.

Our second word is psalm, and this is the name for a sacred song or hymn.

And finally we have that word hymn, which is a religious song or religious sung poetry as we'll find out later.

So we have two learning cycles today for our lesson.

The first one, how is poetry used in holy books? And the second one, how poetry has been used to express beliefs.

So let's start.

How is poetry used in holy books? This is Danielle and she has a Christian worldview.

Danielle goes to a Roman Catholic church and she enjoys attending services usually on a Sunday.

At the church service, there are readings from the Bible, some of those from the Old Testament and some from the New Testament, and most of them really talking about God.

This is Danielle's Bible.

In the Old Testament part of the Bible, there is a book called Psalms. It's a whole book of poetry and there are 150 different poems in the book.

Some of these were set to music and sung in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem thousands of years ago, and they're still being spoken and sung in churches today.

That's amazing.

So this is poetry and songs that have lasted thousands of years.

So true or false.

True or false: the Christian Bible only has prose and no poetry in it.

You might want to pause this video whilst you talk to the person next to you or have a think about what the right answer is.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look.

Was the answer true or false to this question? It's false.

And why? Because the Christian Bible has many different styles of languages in it, including prose and poetry.

One of Danielle's favourite psalms is number 121, and here are the first four lines from that psalm.

"I look to the hills.

Where will I find help? It will come from the Lord who created heaven and earth.

The Lord is your protector and he won't go to sleep or let you stumble.

The protector of Israel doesn't doze or ever get drowsy." What words do you notice? You might want to pause this video while you think about that or talk to the person next to you.

Welcome back.

So I wonder what words you have noticed and what the words made you think of.

I wonder if, in your discussions, you talked about what some of the beliefs that are shown through this piece of poetry.

So, "I look to the hills.

Where will I find help? It'll come from the Lord who created heaven and earth." So the writer of the psalm uses poetry to write to and about God.

They suggest God is a creator.

God is a powerful being.

And you might have noticed that when you thought about these words.

And the second part of the line says, "The Lord is your protector.

He won't go to sleep or let you stumble.

The protector of Israel doesn't doze or ever get drowsy." And these lines suggest that God is a protector, that he's always watching over his people.

And this is probably why Danielle likes this psalm, don't you think? Danielle says, "I love the poetry of this psalm.

It helps me to know that God is the creator of everything and he will come and help me.

He is my protector, and always watches over me." So poetry is used in holy books to express these deeper meanings, what is believed to be true but in a lyrical way.

Can you do this for me? What is the missing word? Something is used in holy books to express deeper meanings in a lyrical way.

Is it A, history, B, prose, or C, poetry? I'd like you to have a think about that or discuss your answer with a partner.

And you might like to pause this video to give you time for your thinking or talking.

And welcome back.

Shall we have a look to see which is the right answer? It's C, poetry is used in holy books to express deeper meanings in a lyrical way.

Well done if you got that right.

I'm so proud of you.

Now this is Ria and she has a Sikhi worldview.

Ria goes to her gurdwara at the weekends to attend services.

At the gurdwara service, there are readings from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.

The Guru Granth Sahib contains 5,894 hymns called Shabads which are poetry and they are sung.

The Guru Granth Sahib is a collection of hymns, poetry, and Shabads, the words of the Guru.

And you can see a picture there of a Guru Granth Sahib open within a gurdwara and this is looked after really carefully.

So you can see there's a cloth actually to the top.

Can you see the green? Which would cover the holy book when it's not open and actually when it's open, it's often fanned and treated in a very special way.

For Sikh people, this is the living word of God.

Ria believes the Guru Granth Sahib is the living word of God and she enjoys listening to the poetry being sung from it at the services she attends.

So what are the missing words? Both the and the contain poems and poetry.

You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think about your answer or to talk with a partner what those two missing words are.

Welcome back.

Shall we have a look at what those two missing words were? Now these are often sung in both places of worship by those who attend these places of worship.

Did you get it? Bible and Guru Granth Sahib.

Well done if you found and remembered both of those words.

So both of these holy books have poems and poetry within them.

Ria visits her local gurdwara to listen to the poetry of the Guru Granth Sahib being sung.

And we we're now gonna listen to part of the Guru Granth Sahib being sung by one of the priests in her in Ria's gurdwara.

(Granthi singing in foreign language) <v ->Some of you may have visited a gurdwara</v> and have heard the Guru Granth Sahib being sung like we just heard in that clip.

But if not, I hope that gives you a bit of a sense of what it sounds like when Ria visits her gurdwara and listens to her holy book being sung, the poetry being sung in those Shabads.

Ria's Sikh priest, Pradeep, explains to her what the piece of poetry from the Guru Granth Sahib is saying in English.

Let's have a listen to Pradeep now.

<v ->It is saying that we are the daughter</v> and sons of the one God and you are my companion and help me to find the way to meet with the God.

<v ->That was fascinating to see what that piece</v> that we heard being sung means in English.

Pradeep explains to Ria what the poetry teaches him as a Sikh priest.

Everything that Guru Granth Sahib says, it does so in a poetic way.

I get so much inspiration from this passage.

When I listen to this, I understand that we are all children of the one God.

I should love everyone as there's no difference as we are all from the one God.

So I have a question for you.

True or false? True or false: the Guru Granth Sahib teaches Sikhs that they are children of God.

I'd like you to think about this or talk about what you think the right answer is with a partner.

And you might like to pause this video while you do your thinking or have that discussion.

Welcome back.

Let's see what the answer, was it true or false? What did you decide? And it's true.

Why? Because the Guru Granth Sahib teaches Sikhs that they are children of the one God.

And very well done if you got that answer correct.

Can you explain why these statements are both true? Andeep says, "The Bible uses poetry to bring to life important ideas about God, e.

g.

, Christians believe that God is their protector." And Laura says, "The Guru Granth Sahib uses poetry to bring to life important teachings, e.

g.

, Sikhs believe they are children of God." You might like to pause the video while you work on your answer on your own with a partner or in a small group.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look and see what your answer might have looked like.

So there we've got what Andeep and Laura said.

So your answer might have included Andeep and Laura both identify how poetry helps Christians and Sikhs to express important beliefs about God and themselves.

Both holy books use poetry to express deeper meanings in a lyrical way and really well done if your answer or your conversation was looking something like that.

We are gonna go on to part two of our lesson now: how has poetry been used to express beliefs? So this is Iqbal and he has a Muslim worldview.

In his family, they share a love of the poetry of a Muslim who lived over a thousand years ago and Iqbal tells us his name was Rumi and he lived in the seventh century of the common era CE in modern day Afghanistan.

He's still very well known today and his poetry is read all around the world by many different Muslims. So can you help me on this question? Is it true or false? Muslims do not read poetry to understand ideas about God, Allah.

Is that true or false? You might like to talk to the person next to you and whilst you do that, you might like to pause this video.

Welcome back.

Let's see what the answer, was it true or false? Muslims do not read poetry to understand ideas about God, Allah.

That's false.

Why? Because Rumi's poetry is still read today by thousands of Muslims to understand beliefs and feelings about God, Allah.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

Here is the start of Rumi's poem called "We Are as the Flute".

"We are as the flute and the music in us is from thee.

We are as the mountains and the echo in us is from thee.

Who are we, oh thou of our souls, that we should remain in being beside thee?" Which lines do you find interesting or intriguing? What do you think the poet Rumi is trying to tell us about? You might want to pause this video to give you time to talk to the person next to you or in a small group.

Let's have a look in a bit more detail.

So we can see, "We are as the flute and the music in us is from thee." And, "We are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee." So these lines might suggest that all humans have been created by Allah, God, and Allah is like the music in a flute.

"Who are we, oh thou of our souls, that we should remain in being beside thee?" These lines might suggest that all humans should live in harmony with God.

Iqbal likes listening to this piece of poetry.

He likes to use his imagination to think about what the words in the poem mean.

"The poetry uses similes to compare how the strength of human beings all comes from God, Allah.

Rumi expresses how awesome God, Allah is that he should allow human being to come and be alongside him in his presence." So for him that's something amazing.

Let's check your understanding.

Poetry in religion always: A ,uses language that's impossible to understand.

B, uses language that uses ideas to express deeper meanings.

Or C, uses language that always uses comedy.

Whilst you think or talk about which is the correct answer, you might like to pause this video.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look and see which is the correct answer.

Did you get it right? It's B.

Really well done if you got that right.

Yes, of course poetry is there to try and express deeper meanings in a lyrical way.

This is David and he's a Christian.

He has a Christian worldview and he goes to an Anglican church where he enjoys singing hymns.

Hymns are a religious song and it sets to music the lyrics of poetry.

One of David's favourite hymn writers is Charles Wesley and he lived in the 18th century common era, a couple of hundred years ago in England, and he actually started a church movement called the Methodist Church.

Charles Wesley wrote to hymn called "How Can It Be" in 1838.

Here are some of the lyrics of that hymn.

"And can it be that I should gain, an interest in the Savior's blood.

Died he for me, who caused his pain for me, who him to death pursued? Amazing love.

How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me? Amazing love.

How can it be that thou, you, my God, should die for me? David likes singing this song as it expresses beliefs he shares with Charles Wesley and David tells us, "This hymn reminds me of how incredible God's love is that he would send his son Jesus, my Saviour, to die for me.

God is love and singing this hymn stirs up feelings of gratitude in me for all that Jesus has done for me." So I have a practise task now for you, and I'd like you to use these two images as a prompt to explain how poetry has been used to express important beliefs in two different religions.

So the prompt here is to think about Christianity and also to think about Islam.

You might like to stop this video to give you time to talk or think with a partner on your own or in a small group as you work out your answer to this question.

Welcome back and here is what your answer might have looked like.

Poetry is being used by followers of different religions to express their beliefs.

For example, Rumi was a Muslim and he wrote about how everything humans do linked back to God, Allah, through his poetry.

Or maybe you could also have talked about Charles Wesley was a Christian and he wrote poetry which was then set to music, which had called hymns, that expressed his belief in how amazing God's love was for him.

Both Christians and Muslims still read and sing poetry today.

We've got to the end of our lesson today on poetry and expressing feelings.

We've learned about how people have often expressed themselves through poetry as well as prose.

That the poetry of Rumi is an inspiration to some Muslims still today.

And that the psalms of poems found in the Bible that express ideas about God.

And the Guru Granth Sahib is a collection of poetry that is sung today by Sikhs.

Thank you for being with me on this lesson and I hope to see you again.

So I'll say goodbye now.

Goodbye.