Poetry as Special Speech

A possible way of seeing poetry that came to me recently:  special speech.  

That came after maybe some years of Jakobsen's 2-word definition of poetry as "verbal art" had been in my mind.  That definition had, for me, run into the problem of the roles poetry has played on and in different occasions, including those for which they appear in greeting cards, that privilege clarity over creativity, meaning over method.  The use of poetry in such instances doesn't seem to me to be an artful one in the sense that Jakobsen meant, and they seem prevalent enough to me that they should not be excluded.  

This definition, poetry as special speech, has nothing to do with literary merit.  Poems as eulogies, wedding blessings, celebrations of birth and birthdays, and other special events derive their value, I believe, from how they suit the occasions, which goes back primarily to the hopes or expectations of the participants.  The goal of inspiring emotion comes together with the one of establishing connections among members of the community defined by the occasion, it seems to me.  Where literary merit might be connected with innovation, the specialness of occasional poetry may stem from the opposite, from its appeals to the familiar, to convention.  

Poetry defined in part by literary merit may be considered special speech because of its innovation, so, it's special to an audience with a strong understanding of the poetic traditions it responds to.  It does something compellingly new, perhaps, both in departure from and in incorporation of older conventions, and may excite interest based on the interplay of the two.  That sense of the specialness in poetry also brings a sense of community with it--one defined by readers and practitioners--in my opinion.  

The word "speech" I find broad enough to include poetry delivered as writing and out loud, whatever the medium or platform.  Even those devoted to poetry in whole or in part, where it may said to be normal, still, I find, occupy special niches in cultures, so, for me personally, the term remains a helpful one.