I should mention that I don't endorse all of PS's book either, though it's
witty and has lots of sound advice. And especially not the passage I was
referring to. PS is an editor, which is not the ideal qualification for
writing a book for beginning poets - he tends to say things on the lines of
'Oh God, please not another haiku / villanelle'. Which is understandable if
two dozen land on your doormat every Monday morning, but is not the way to
encourage new writers. And he decided that seagulls were one of the things
he'd had enough of. In fact, he suggested a sort of refutation of the
seagull as an image: whenever you come across the word in a poem, replace it
with 'teapot', and see what nonsense you get. One of his less successful
witticisms, because, after all, the same is true of just about every other
word. As a serious seagull-user, poetically speaking, I find this
particularly annoying - hasn't he ever been to the seaside? There are these
strange white birds everywhere squawking and stealing from dustbins. I live
three or four miles from the sea and they wake me up every morning. I also
find his replacement word rather significant coming from the plain-speaking
British school of poetry David mentions: it seems to be saying let's get rid
of the symbol of distance, travel, adventure, and replace it with something
cosy and domestic. (Barthes described tea as a drink one drinks all one's
life without actually liking it.) Sorry, I'm raving. I must go to bed.
Best wishes
Matthew
-----Original Message-----
From: David Kennedy <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 21 September 2000 14:23
Subject: Tired words
>Although I'm amused by this thread, I'm also a bit bothered by this idea
>that certain words can't or shouldn't be used in a poem. Who says so?
[Peter
>Sansom's book which Matthew Francis refers to is a useful 'how to' guide
but
>in lots of ways seems rather too 'plain speech best speech' - as well as
>completely misunderstanding how poetry works in several key places.] Surely
>the surrounding context of the poem is what decides the matter. And aren't
>we also in danger of ignoring different usages in different countries? I
>intend to go on mollycoddling the feral shards of my discombobulated
>thrummings whenever I feel like it!
>Cheers
>David
>
>
>
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