In the grand scale of things, it doesn't matter. I just thought it would
interest people--which it seems to have done.
On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:49:13 -0400, Mark Weiss
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I was referring to your main argument.
>
>What a lot of fuss about so very little. Even if you were right, how
>much does it matter to Cris Cheek, Peter Riley, Peter Manson, Maggie
>O'Sullivan, Tom Leonard, or Lee Harwood whether Britain participated
>as fully as some other places in a brief moment in poetry?
>
>Mark
>
>At 06:37 PM 8/25/2009, you wrote:
>>I didn't say the Poe thing was my main point, that was a concession.
I
>>could probably find lots of evidence that Poe influenced the
symbolists
>>but it would be a distraction to my argument, which is that British
>>poets had little to do with the development High Modernism.
>>
>>
>>On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:41:35 -0400, Mark Weiss
>><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> >That din't appear to be your main argument. It's also highly
>> >debateable. You might want to look at the first volume of
Rothenberg
>> >and Joris' Poems for the Millennium for a more ecumenical
perspective.
>> >
>> >Mark
>> >
>> >At 05:35 PM 8/25/2009, you wrote:
>> >>I concede to you on this particular point. Poe wasn't influenced by
>>the
>> >>French--they were influenced by him! Symbolist poetry was
reliant on
>> >>his 'Philosophy of Composition'. They also were influenced by his
>> >>imagery and poetic ideas which led to a conception of a "pure
>>poetry".
>> >>
>> >>Still, my main argument stands: High Modernism was largely a US
>> >>development.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:02:27 -0400, Mark Weiss
>> >><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >This may be ignorance on my part. What French poets' value
did
>>Poe
>> >> >recognize? Les Fleurs du Mal wasn't published until a decade
after
>> >> >Poe's death. Most of Hugo's poetry also postdates Poe. How
>>available
>> >> >in the US was what had been published by 1849?
>> >> >
>> >> >Baudelaire's translations of Poe's stories, by the way, are
>>wonderful.
>> >> >
>> >> >Mark
>> >> >
>> >> >At 01:49 PM 8/25/2009, you wrote:
>> >> >>I don't know if Whitman's admiring Tennyson necessarily
supports
>> >>the
>> >> >>idea that in some way Whitman's poetry, is Tennysonian,
and,
>> >> >>therefore, particularly British influenced. To me it does not
>>appear to
>> >> >>be. It seems to be more akin to folk-song and rural story-
telling
>> >> >>traditions.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>Poe's poems may be better in French but his acuity in
recognizing
>> >> >>French poetry's value is more important in terms of the
American
>> >> >>development of what we call High Modernism.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>And Yeat's, of course, was influenced, also, by the French
>>Symbolists.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:11:12 -0700, David Latane
>> >> >><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >I think the reports of British poetry's demise have been
greatly
>> >> >>exaggerated; there's a reason Whitman referred to Tennyson
>>as "The
>> >> >>Boss." Poe is notoriously better in French translation; to place
>>him
>> >> >>above Yeats strikes me as ridiculous.
>> >> >> >I've encountered various manifestations of the "westering"
>>motif--
>> >>we
>> >> >>Americans love it of course, but there's something abject in it
>> >>appearing
>> >> >>so frequently among the British, when the poetic
achievement of
>>so
>> >> >>many 20th and 21st-century British poets is so high.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >David Latane
>> >> >> > http://www.standmagazine.org (Stand Magazine, Leeds)
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >--- On Tue, 8/25/09, Jeffrey Side <[log in to unmask]>
>>wrote:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >From: Jeffrey Side <[log in to unmask]>
>> >> >> >Subject: "Has British Poetry had any significance since
>> >>Wordsworth?"
>> >> >> >To: [log in to unmask]
>> >> >> >Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 6:30 AM
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >New blog post:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>"Has British Poetry had any significance since Wordsworth?"
>> >> >>
>> >> >>This may seem an outlandish question, but I think it has
some
>>force
>> >> >>behind it. Of course, the influence of Wordsworth on
>>contemporary
>> >> >>British mainstream poetry need hardly be stressed, and I
have
>> >>written
>> >> >>extensively about this elsewhere. It is because of this
influence
>>that
>> >> >>most of the celebrated British poetry of the Twentieth
Century
>> >>tended
>> >> >>towards mediocrity when compared to American poetry of the
>>same
>> >> >>period.....
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>http://jeffrey-side.blogspot.com/
|