It's very loose language to talk of 'great' poets. In the long view of
time perhaps it can make sense, but the list of great American 20th
century poets is as questionable as their putative British
counterparts. Great poets, like wines, have to be laid down a very
long time, longer indeed than wines. It is also of interest why the
question of nationality is foregrounded: does it matter? And if so,
why? Obviously the great English language poets of the deep past were
English then British as the language was mainly spoken in these
islands, but so what of it all, why do some commentators on American
poetry so often obfuscate everything with nationality when the US is
so gloriously a nation of people from other places?

Best

Dave

2008/12/9 andrew burke <[log in to unmask]>:
> I quote from http://magmapoetry.com/20th-century-poets/ :
>  Did Britain Produce ANY Great 20th Century Poets?
>
> Written by Rob Mackenzie at 5:57 pm
>
> Laurie Smith's article in *Magma 42*<http://magmapoetry.com/archive/magma-42/>,
> '*The New Imagination*<http://magmapoetry.com/archive/magma-42/articles/the-new-imagination/>',
> explores whether truly great poetry might soon emerge in the UK for the
> first time in many years. It's an excellent article – well researched,
> controversial, and passionate.
>
> At one point in the article, Smith asks why all the "indisputably" great
> 20th century poets are either American or Irish. He cites:
>
> *T.S. Eliot
> Ezra Pound
> Wallace Stevens
> Robert Lowell
> Sylvia Plath
> W.B. Yeats
> Seamus Heaney*
>
> He suggests various British possibilities. On most lists would be:
>
> *Edward Thomas
> Wilfred Owen
> W.H. Auden
> Dylan Thomas
> Ted Hughes*
>
> and some would make a case for:
>
> *Basil Bunting
> William Empson
> Philip Larkin
> W.S. Graham
> R.S. Thomas*
>
> However, Smith feels their influence has been more limited than their
> American and Irish counterparts (he details why in *the
> article*<http://magmapoetry.com/archive/magma-42/articles/the-new-imagination/>).
>
>
> Do you agree with Laurie Smith's lists? For instance, does Ezra Pound,
> undeniably a great editor, also qualify as a great poet? Is Sylvia Plath's *
> Ariel* collection sufficient to justify her inclusion (her other work may be
> accomplished, but is it 'great?')? Are Edward Thomas and Wilfred Owen among
> the very best Britain has to offer?
>
> And if you were asked to pick the seven most influential poets of the 20th
> century, who would you choose? How many UK poets make the grade?
>
> The article goes on to examine the possibility of great UK poetry emerging
> in the years to come, but that's for another post…
>
> --
> Andrew
> http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
>



-- 
David Bircumshaw
Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
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Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk