From: david.bircumshaw [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
And all these mean poetry, all are part of its calling. The high, the
middle, the low, which too were once the words for the three strands of
style. The high calling, blue in the distance of the eyes. Looking for the
words on the other side of what. The middle way - where poetry acquires
conscience, ethic and a voice of oppositional virtue. It is the bravery of
poetry, it's speaking against that. And the ordinary, tedious, unfeted base
reality, working over lines, endings, rhythms, breath, its routines learnt
like the ways of wood. Like an eye for the grain.
I enjoyed this post - and Alison's earlier one too. Thanks to both (I
work in a 'plain-faced Midlands college' so it raised a smile too)
I find it interesting that, despite the unease that the word 'vocation'
with its echoes of the Romantic Genius, and strong flavour of Christian
self aggrandisement, there remains a powerful sense that poetry is a
dedication, an imperative and a love, for those who hear (the call?)
Liz
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