Dear Ralph,
Thank you very much for these, a different perspective from mine but a
worthwhile one. I guess the only real importance I attach to my own poetry
is its ability to change my own life, change my own mind, in often
unpredictable ways.
As to the importance of poetry in general, yes, I think if you impose
anything to rigid here then the poems themselves will slip away. But I do
think poetry's important, if only to help keep a language vigorous and
alive.
Cheers,
Cassie
On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 15:48:56 +1000, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Dear Geraldine and Cassie, I've enjoyed your responses, thinking about
what poetry is and isn't for. I wish I could add something original but will
settle for sharing a couple of quotes that've left me with food for thought.
The first is by Peter Riley, from an interview in Nate Dorward's magazine
and republished in Jacket. The second is by Philip Mead.
>
> "Actually the self-wreck of the Pound enterprise is for me one of the
principal signs that you
> cannot run poetry as a substitute university, a substitute religion, a
substitute
> politics . . . - if it has any right to exist it must find its own
purpose, not serve as a
> short-cut to more rigorous and practical disciplines. The sense of
"importance"
> has to be left out of the equation, otherwise the whole thing runs into
inhumanity
> and waste." (Peter Riley)
>
> (and)
>
> "What I probably should have said was that the usefulness of poetry lies
in its uselessness.... (the) word 'vindication' looks a bit like a flashing
red light to me with all its moral and foresnic associations. Or, it seems
to be the tip of a whole moral ideology ... floating below the surface
there. 'Gatekeepers'? 'Valid'? 'Better'? 'Selves'? etc. This is exactly the
sort of thing that imprisons and offends the free reception of poetry. You
can twist and torture poetry into doing what you describe - it's like Toad
in Wind in the Willows, it'll say and promise anything if you badger it
enough, but as soon as you leave the room, it'll climb out the window and
tear off down the road." (Philip Mead)
>
> Best,
>
> Ralph
>
_______________________________________________________
Say Bye to Slow Internet!
http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|