waves against the shore; the whisper of palm trees swaying in the wind. Put into words, it forms endless opportunities of self-expression, which in turn leads to self-healing. People find comfort in reading or listening to the soft repetitions of sounds. Inspirations are brought out of us by hearing words that ignite a fond memory or passion. The true beauty of this natural healing power is that each soft word and every stimulating prose is interpreted differently by all. Over the years, more and more physicians have been using this method of medicine. Today, this is called poetry therapy, and despite what any skeptics may have to say, its use has proven repeatedly to be effective when other treatments have failed.
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             Poetry therapy, or poetry used for healing and personal growth, can be traced back to primitive man, who used religious rites in which shamans and witchdoctors chanted poetry for the well-being of the tribe. Also, in ancient Egypt, words were written on papyrus and then dissolved into a solution so that the words could be physically ingested by the patient and take effect as quickly as possible.
             The first Poetry Therapists on record was a Roman physician by the name of Soranus in the first century A.D (Jung 14). He would prescribe tragedy for the manic and comedy for the depressed. In America, this method was first put to use in 1751 in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Hospital, founded by Benjamin Franklin, was home for the mentally disturbed. Here the patients were encouraged to write poetry, which was published in The Illuminator, their own newspaper (Longo). For many years, the link between poetry and medicine was not recognized. ...