Anthony,
You would certainly know the context better than me in that case.
I must say that part of me is with him. When I recite CJ Dennis to
students at school, I certainly enjoy myself, and certainly part of this
is in the physical act of the performance, of moving, of embodying a
character say, but also too (and equally) a delight with showing children
the wonder of language. It is rather in the 'art' of language, that
children need be immersed, which is lacking in schools currently.
Forever giving way to transactional genre, and wot'll get ya a job.
Clayton
Anthony Lawrence wrote:
> >....what has caused me some interest, bordering on concern,
> >was David's argument that these people,
> >having missed the opportunity to learn poetry (by rote) have somehow
> >missed the opportunity of poetry.
>
> Clayton,
>
> I was there to hear David's address too, and I don't think he meant
> that these people missed poetry because they didn't learn it
> by rote. He began his talk using their protest as an anecdote,
> then went on to use his own experience of memorising poems
> to say how that helped him enter the music/the body of poetry,
> which, you may recall, was central to his address: that writing
> and listening to poems is a very physical act.
>
> Anthony
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