Communicator (communicator) wrote,
Communicator
communicator

We want it to be true

I enjoyed this article on the arrogance of poetry. The author argues that poetry, through its use of white space and its separation from ordinary prose, is an arrogant medium. As if someone at a dinner party were to require respectful white silence around their utterances: 'be quiet everyone and listen to me'. The next utterance better be pretty damn meaningful.

Nothing is more annoying than crap poetry. I trust you that each of these difficult words and this strangled syntax is included for a purpose, and I'll try to invest it with the attention it requires.

Another analogy: like a piece of modern art placed on a pedestal or picked out in a public space. Is it simply drawing attention to the fact of our attention? Is it 'worth it'? How mannered does it have to be? That plums in the ice box poem by William Carlos Williams ('this is just to say'): walking the tightrope in my opinion, but just about justifying itself.

The article was a good read for me because he is fairly robust and critical. He sets a standard of skill that justifies the arrogance of poetry and then evalautes whether certain well chosen examples match up to this standard. Harsh but fair. And his own use of language is I think beautiful.
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