Thanks for that, Liz, I'm glad it struck a chord.
Being too well-acquanited with plainfaced Midlands' colleges
best
david b
----- Original Message -----
From: Liz Kirby <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 11:26 PM
Subject: Re: STIMULUS: POETRY AND VOCATION
> 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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