The secret is out, and you've found it! My spelling is questionable.
As to the rest--the reason there is passionate disagreement about poetry is
that poets tend to be passionate about what they do--that one meets your
truth test. And I'm not sure that's a bad thing. That the arguments are
repetitious is because neither side (poetic practices these days do in fact
fit into a couple of broad types, altho not too comfortably) thinks that
what the other side does is interesting enough to be worthy of attention.
But there's an imbalance--one side has the power to keep the other largely
unheard. Hence my a b and c, which have nothing to do with the reading or
writing of poetry but everything to do with the culture of poetry, which
you seem to regard as irrelevant and to be disposed of by what you take to
be a stroke of logic. Whitless and uneducated as I am that seems to be a
questionable judgement. Reduce the rest of the social world while you're at
it and maybe we'll have world peace.
t 10:43 PM 8/6/2000 EDT, you wrote:
>
>>Unfortunately only the simplest statements meet that gold standard for
truth.
>
>Baloney. Read Searle & Alston before you make such jibes, please.
>
>>
>>How about "Poetry is rhythmic language, or language set to measure, but
>>some poetry I really don't like because..."?
>
>What do you want, an opener for book reviews in general? You're welcome
>to it, Mark.
>>
>>What you've accomplished is to use a definition usually applied to verse
>>which advances the cause of peace not one wit.
>
>I think the phrase is "not one whit".
>
>>
>>Groups form for several reasons. The three that apply here are I think that
>>a. One finds both irrelevant and abhorrent what another crowd is doing
>>
>>b. One joins with others to protect a position of power
>>
>>c. One joins with others to challenge a position of power.
>
>None of these appear to have much to do with poetry. Hence my suggestion.
>
>>
>>No way to finesse these, Henry. You might better understand why there's a
>>battle if you come to understand why some of us value Williams.
>
>Where do I sign up? I want to join us.
>
>Henry
>
>
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