Judy
Give Brum my love.
2009/6/14 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]>
> Ah, David, it's a Christmas every day already. Love the Milton and Fanny
> Howe quotes! Thanks.
> me orf to B'Ham now!!!
>
> 2009/6/14 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
>
> > Yes, Judy, poetry is about dedication, not fame. So many people I come
> > across don't comprehend that: they think of it as a form of becoming
> > 'somebody', poor souls, as if they could assuage their emptiness in
> others'
> > eyes, become 'real' within by becoming 'recognised', they talk of poetry
> as
> > a 'career', as if it were a matter of collecting certificates to hang on
> > the
> > wall to prove 'development'.Milton, all those years ago, put the task of
> a
> > poet succinctly: 'to strictly meditate the thankless Muse', emphasise the
> > 'thankless' in that it's how one should pitch expectation, ask for
> nothing
> > and it'll be a Christmas every time some little does fall one's way. As
> for
> > that reality of being someone, a name, the one, well, to paraphrase Fanny
> > Howe , we are all always a voice within a body that 'doesn't know we're
> > there'.
> >
> > 2009/6/13 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > > I never go a bundle on political message poems, David, but am eager to
> > find
> > > one which manages true poeming whilst seeking to give such message.
> > > Duffy's
> > > failed in several ways, of which the message's clarity would be one [as
> > you
> > > quite rightly note and explain, and which's difficult for USAmericans
> to
> > > figure out unless they know the politics in the UK].
> > > Would be lovely to keep dissecting the poem, as you clearly have done,
> > but
> > > really the bottom line's that EXCELLENT POETRY IS DAMNED DIFFICULT TO
> > > WRITE.
> > > And she, amongst millions of other worthy folk, simply cannot manage
> it.
> > > She has grown her work fairly quickly in the last few years, and I
> > > honestly
> > > believe that actually no one COULD NOT write Excellent Poetry......but
> it
> > > does happen rarely. When it happens, it is instantly known by the poet
> > and
> > > by the poets' readers/hearers. It happens with your poems
> continuously.
> > > It
> > > happened with Yeats, tho I still believe that your work trumps his.
> > >
> > > A nother of my mantras: If writing Excellent Poetry were easy, or even
> > > hardlearned but learnable only, many of us would be doing it [and I
> truly
> > > wish I were one of those doing it]. But, alas, there you have it.
> > >
> > > My profoundest respect is for all of us who pursue poems, writing,
> > reading,
> > > saying, and nurturing. It is why I have come to respect UKers, and to
> > feel
> > > sad that USAmericans are relatively less hooked into poetry. I've much
> > > gratitude to you and many others in the UK for your reverence for
> words,
> > > your unshrieked but constant attention to the power, freedom,
> > magnificence,
> > > uplift, and durability of words.
> > > One day p'raps a Laureate will be equal to the anointing. I rather
> > think,
> > > tho, that the Professor of Poetry at Oxford will come closer to that
> > ideal,
> > > and much sooner. And I wish that Cambridge would initiate a like Chair
> > but
> > > with a more transparent nomination, campaign, and election process as
> > well
> > > as electronic voting.
> > >
> > > That's for the academic side of poemworld. As for the Other Side:
> > That's
> > > for you to herald, and for me to support strongly and
> > > continuously---daunting work, but not at all impossible, and worth
> every
> > > word-breath.
> > >
> > > All best,
> > >
> > > Judy now having ducked the much-wanted rain....
> > >
> > > 2009/6/13 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
> > >
> > > > The other thing, Judy, that distresses me is that Duffy's poem as a
> > piece
> > > > of
> > > > +rhetoric+ is effective, all those links of discs and hiss and piss
> and
> > > > politics (she misses out the word 'fix' though) - she's really rather
> > > like
> > > > a
> > > > contemporary Kipling (a poet she derides somewhat) and that if you do
> > > look
> > > > for political content in it, well, the only politicians deplored
> > > > (inferentially) are Labour, I don't know. It's supposed to be a
> > > 'passionate
> > > > commentary on the corrosiveness of politics on politicians and the
> > > ruinous
> > > > effect on idealism' but bugger me if I can find any of that in the
> > poem.
> > > It
> > > > does though suggest that politics will spoil your appearance on
> Desert
> > > > Island Discs. (Ruth Padel got on that a while back, I wonder ...)
> > > >
> > > > 2009/6/13 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]>
> > > >
> > > > > Reminds, me David, now having trashed your UK Laureate.....<g> ...
> > I'm
> > > > > ready
> > > > > yes ready to read me poems in Leicester. I'll wager that a female
> > > > > USAmerican could sequester some Leicesters, even sell a pamphlet
> or
> > > two.
> > > > > And soom others may well wish to complement-read, if you know
> > > what/whom
> > > > I
> > > > > mean....
> > > > > subtle and humble as always, Judy
> > > > >
> > > > > 2009/6/13 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > >
> > > > > > H'm, Carol Ann Duffy's first poem as Laureate
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/12/politics-carol-ann-duffy-poem
> > > > > > <
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/12/politics-carol-ann-duffy-poem
> > > > > > >and,
> > > > > > I write in all sincerity, congratulations to the outgoing tenant
> on
> > > his
> > > > > > knighthood, the verray parfait Sir Andrew, as well as to the
> > previous
> > > > > > Professor of Poetry at Oxford, good Sir Christopher Ricks.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > A Toast, please.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > David Bircumshaw
> > > > > > "Nothing can be done in the face
> > > > > > of ordinary unhappiness" - PP
> > > > > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > > > > > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> > > > > > The Animal Subsides
> > > http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > > > > > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > David Bircumshaw
> > > > "Nothing can be done in the face
> > > > of ordinary unhappiness" - PP
> > > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > > > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> > > > The Animal Subsides
> http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > > > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > David Bircumshaw
> > "Nothing can be done in the face
> > of ordinary unhappiness" - PP
> > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> >
>
--
David Bircumshaw
"Nothing can be done in the face
of ordinary unhappiness" - PP
Website and A Chide's Alphabet
http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
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