Again I think you could say that such constraints are there in every aspect
of language, from alphabets to phonetics, through grammar, and so on.
It just strikes me that the idea of "trapped" is so often directed
specifically at form by champions of free verse. I don't think I've ever
heard of a bad free verse stylist that they would be better off writing in
form, though I agree with your reasoning, John, that form giveth and it also
taketh away. I sense in the asymmetry of such comments as Douglas's too
little recognition of what it giveth.
--Uche
On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 3:11 PM, John Cunningham
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> I can understand Doug's comment re 'trapped in form'. The form is a
> straight
> jacket forcing us to write to the constraints of the form and thus,
> perhaps,
> forcing us to forego directions we might otherwise explore if using free
> verse. However, the form itself may force us into a concision and
> discipline
> that we would not otherwise discover. Such discovery can prove beneficial
> for the writing of free verse. My particular choice is to employ both as a
> given situation or subject matter may be best dealt with by one or the
> other
> approaches. The more ammunition in our arsenal, the better we are able to
> battle our way out of language impasses.
> John Herbert Cunningham
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Uche Ogbuji
> Sent: June-22-10 3:39 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Lewis Turco Feature
>
> I wonder whether Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Dryden, Yeats, etc. were also
> trapped in form. Not meaning to dispute that good and bad poetry can be
> written in form or not in form. It's just the very concept of "trapped in
> form" that seems strange to me.
>
> Couldn't you just as easily say "trapped in the English alphabet"?
>
> --Uche
>
> On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 10:43 AM, Douglas Barbour
> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
> > Ah yes, Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics; I
> remember
> > it well. It was useful once upon a time for students who wanted to learn
> > something about the trad forms, & Turco certainly covered the lot.
> >
> > His own poetry seemed (& seems, to me) trapped in them, though.
> >
> > It's always that mater of taste I guess: whose poetry would I rather
> read?
> > Olson's say, or Turco's? Or, my choices against his: Levertov, Webb,
> > Adamson, Bunting, to name a very few. Note that all of them can utilize
> trad
> > forms if they want to, but all chose t open form in a variety of
> > extraordinary ways.
> >
> > Doug
> >
> > On 22-Jun-10, at 12:39 AM, Uche Ogbuji wrote:
> >
> > Forgot to also mention that Lewis Turco is the featured poet on The
> >> Nervous
> >> Breakdown this week. It includes a poem "John" and a self-interview,
> both
> >> excellent. The self-interview offers much-needed perspective and
> history
> >> for one of the less heralded branches of modern poetry.The poem, "John,"
> >> is
> >> a contemplation of the utterly grand, and the infinitesimal.
> >>
> >
> > Douglas Barbour
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/ <http://www.ualberta.ca/%7Edbarbour/><
> http://www.ualberta.ca/%7Edbarbour/>
> >
> > Latest books:
> > Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> > http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> > Wednesdays'
> >
> >
>
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.h
> tml<http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.h%0Atml>
> >
> > because I want to die
> >
> > writing Haiku
> >
> > or, better,
> >
> > long lines, clean and syllabic as knotted bamboo. Yes!
> >
> > Phyllis Webb
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Uche Ogbuji http://uche.ogbuji.net
> Weblog: http://copia.ogbuji.net
> Poetry ed @TNB: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/author/uogbuji/
> Founding Partner, Zepheira http://zepheira.com
> Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ucheogbuji
> Articles: http://uche.ogbuji.net/tech/publications/
> Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/uche
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/uogbuji
> http://www.google.com/profiles/uche.ogbuji
>
--
Uche Ogbuji http://uche.ogbuji.net
Weblog: http://copia.ogbuji.net
Poetry ed @TNB: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/author/uogbuji/
Founding Partner, Zepheira http://zepheira.com
Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ucheogbuji
Articles: http://uche.ogbuji.net/tech/publications/
Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/uche
Twitter: http://twitter.com/uogbuji
http://www.google.com/profiles/uche.ogbuji
|