This is fascinating, Patrick. If one reads backwards an extermination of amateur poets would include the obliteration of Herbert
(both brothers) John Donne, Vaughan, Traherne, Rosenberg, Owen, Stevie Smith, Larkin (of all people - after it wasn't his day job)
William Carlos Williams, Sylvia Townshend Warner, Mr W. Blake (he only ever got paid for the paintings), P.B.Shelley ( his dad's
allowance paid for his books), Keats too ( a legacy of kinds for him) not to mention Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Cesar
Vallejo, Khodasevitch, Khlebnikov, Leopardi, Dante, Milton, Rimbaud, Baudelaire,Verlaine, Anon the Supreme, Emily Dickinson,
Hopkins, Mallarme, Montale, fucking hell, who's left? John Dryden and Pope and B.Jonson as exemplars of what should be?
Even Mr W.S. would be under the cudgel, as, after all, his day job was as a playwright.
This conception of professionalism in poetry is hilarious, it's rampant in Britain and the slight voice of sense says to one - wait
a minute - their books don't sell enough to justify their claims to be professional - they depend instead on sinecure, reputation,
judging competitions etc etc. The books instead end up in remaindered status because hardly anyone bothers to read them because they
are, as Tim implied, BORING.
I dunno.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Spectare's Web, A Chide's Alphabet
& Painting Without Numbers
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick McManus" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 2:09 PM
Subject: Don Paterson -help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Help!-My Saturday 'Guardian 'oct 30th
had an article about Don Paterson 'he calls for the total eradication of
amateur poets'
I was wondering what a professional poet was -any ideas??
cheers Patrick endangered species????
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