Ah, but I didnt say they were, I said I thought he was.
Of course, it doesnt have to be a trap. But what of Gurco;s poetry Ive
read felt like that to me; so interested in getting the form 'right'
that nothing else of interest *to me* was happening.
I would rather read others...
Doug
On 22-Jun-10, at 2:38 PM, Uche Ogbuji wrote:
> 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/
>> >
>>
>> 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.html
>>
>> 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
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> http://www.google.com/profiles/uche.ogbuji
>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
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.html
because I want to die
writing Haiku
or, better,
long lines, clean and syllabic as knotted bamboo. Yes!
Phyllis Webb
|