Worth noting that some of those mainstream poets of yore were marginal in
their own time--Blake and Keats come to mind.
At 05:30 PM 2/4/00 +0900, you wrote:
>Mainstream in a historical context
>
>Is this business with reputations of the mainstream poets to do with our
>period? I mean that we might deride the two H's because they have overblown
>reputations, but the majority of us do privilege whether we like it or not
>mainstream poets of the previous periods/cultures over the minor poets,
>unless that is we have bibliophilic tendencies and swear by the name of
>Stephen Duck et al. Although I had the chance to purchase Stephen Duck's
>poems, a first edition, I passed over the opportunity after I scanned the
>poetry. I wonder how the list would have responded to the poets of the
>Eighteenth century if we lived then, would we carp on, and end up in a
>satire by Pope to be read in the 21st century as a set text?
>
>Mainstream/mainstream from abroad.
>
>The conservative works of another culture are often read and used by poets
>who write against the mainstream in their own country.
>
>For example the Chinese canon.
>
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