But Hugh, Hugh
even your quoteed poem doesn't necessarily move everyone to agree. And what
does 'an aural poetry tradition' mean here? They don't 'sound' that
interesting to me, certainly not as your own work, often posted here, does.
Finally:
>
>PS Where the reviewer wrote:- 'Often they depend on
>their subject matter to carry the poem's energy' - one is
>mindful that even Philip Larkin thought subject matter
>more important than technique.
But who gives a damn what Larkin said. He also spent his whole life,
bitterly & nastily, fighting against the 3 Ps of modernism: Picasso,
Parker, and Pound. Sorry, but that betrays such a sad lack of wit as to
make almost anything he says valueless...
(although, almost despite myself, I have to confess he wrote a few real
poems...)
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
(h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
. . . by then I had knownfor many years that in a democracy
it is frequently necessary to enter the polling booth holding
one's nose.
Bernard Levin
