Robin
Just to be clear
I have nothing against fine so-called formalist verse, although I shudder
at the use of the term 'formalist' as if it could only be asserted in the
context of already constructed 'forms,' and as if those who seek new forms
aren't just as formalist, really. But I also tend to agree with Eliot
Weinberger's claims a few years ago (I think the article is in one of the
early issues of Jacket) that an awful lot of the writing by the 'New
Formalists' is just vapid & weak. On the other hand, as just one example,
since way back in the 60s, I have admired the amazing poetry of Marilyn
Hacker. And, interestingly, although most readers would consider someone
like Ashbery a practitioner of 'free verse' (i prefer the term 'open form'
but that's another story), he's also shown himself to be amaster of one of
the most difficult of traditional forms, the sestina.
In other words, things are far more complex than an article like Lind's
even begins to suggest...
Doug
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
(h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
Beauty's whatever
makes the adrenalin run.
John Newlove
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