That's interesting about Snyder, Joe, as he was once a fine reader. He
came t U of A back in the late 70s (I think it was) & gave a
mesmerizing reading; to one of the largest audiences we'd ever had
here, anyway.
Maybe before he went slick etc...?
Can you say how Berryman & Rukeyser were terrifying?
Doug
On 10-Feb-07, at 7:57 PM, Joseph Duemer wrote:
> The most memorable poetry readings I've attended, though, were given
> by John
> Berryman & Muriel Rukeyser, both shortly before their deaths. Each was
> terrifying in a different way. The worst poetry readings by famous
> poets I
> have attended were by Elizabeth Bishop & Gary Snyder. Bishop was so
> shy it
> was painful to watch her; Snyder was simply slick & superficial. I wish
> Snyder hadn't given up writing in English -- he might have had a
> chance if
> he hadn't tried to import Japanese syntax into his native language,
> winding
> up with an arrhythmic patios. But when he ruined his language he
> ruined his
> thought as well. His work from the sixties is beautiful, though.
Douglas Barbour
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The stars wheel over
The Cross drops its image
Into the watertank.
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