Context: we tend to trust Orwell--he earned it. Bly gave us Iron John
and tarts around in a cape.
But seriously, it's a very inapt comparison. Bly writes to declare
himself better than an oil company, and seems incapable of
self-examination. Orwell reports the event as an instance in
complicity and a lesson, to himself as to the reader, in the workings
of empire.
Mark
At 07:38 PM 3/28/2006, you wrote:
>Which puts me straight in mind of Orwell's "Shooting an elephant" -
>one of the greatest essays I've ever read...
>
>Cal
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
>poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Mark Weiss
>Sent: Wednesday, 29 March 2006 11:33 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: A serious query, was Re: PS. Re: Help! The grass is singing
>
>
>Roethke is still read, and some poets are passinate about him, but
>he's no longer central to anyone's concerns as far as I know.
>
>I have no idea how anyone can fail to see Bly's consistent profound
>self-serving and dishonesty. Years ago I heard him read what was one
>of his signature poems, about coming upon a sea lion that was dying
>of the effects of an oil spill. For seven days he came back to look
>at the beast, describing its agony in excquisite detail. On his last
>visit it was dead, and Bly had a Wordsworthian epiphany. Me, I was
>thinking, why thre fuck didn't he get a gun and put the poor thing
>out of its misery, or at least inform the ASPCA? Ah, but then he
>wouldn't have got the poem. I'd contend that my question is
>inevitable unless one wears blinders.
>
>Mark
>
>At 07:10 PM 3/28/2006, you wrote:
> >Thanks Jill,
> >
> >I ask because as I read the works talked about by people here, I
> >often find myself lost. Why has Roethke slipped away? Why do people
> >so dislike Robert Bly? I tend to forget the poet and read the poem.
> >To use a crass analogy, all sportspeople have an 'off' day. Some
> >perform consistently, some in sporadic brilliance, some in an arc of
> >sustained brilliance. It's all the same game though.
> >
> >Cal.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
> >poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jill Jones
> >Sent: Wednesday, 29 March 2006 11:03 AM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: A serious query, was Re: PS. Re: Help! The grass is singing
> >
> >
> >Hi Caleb,
> >
> >I was getting at the kinds of poems that use big, sometimes
> >lazy/obvious images,
> >often as a grounding metaphor for the poem. A few years ago there
> >seemed to be a
> >lot of sequences in Australian that worked like that. I just didn't
> >believe them
> >in the way I was being asked to by the poem. And it all seemed overblown.
> >
> >BTW, I know that in this respect, I'm using 'Deep Image' a bit
> >inaccurately but
> >in the way it is used a bit inaccurately around here, in my experience.
> >
> >I don't have problems with images, as would be obvious. I work a lot
> >with visual
> >artists as well. And I'm no stranger to sequences.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Jill
> >
> >
> >Quoting Caleb Cluff <[log in to unmask]>:
> >
> > >> Deep Image line (oh image is big big big for a lot of them)
> > >
> > > Could you clarify that for me a little Jill?
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> >
> >
> >
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