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Erminia writes:

>Generally I deeply object  (I said that elsewhere on Poetryetc)
>to using the personal pronoun "we" in poetry.


This argument is familiar to me, but just as I felt some people were doing
in the recent discussion of speech / writing, it seems to me you're
exaggerating it to the point of self-parody. Not all uses of the word are
coercive - most of the time they're simply factual. If you dismiss every use
of 'we' you'll get rid of half the poems ever written. (And before you say
good riddance, think for a moment of the consequences when someone else
takes a blowtorch to what's left for the sake of the next critical fad.)

Pronouns are always problematic in poetry because of the oddly impersonal
nature of text itself, but I gotta use words when I talk to you. I do think
the question of community and the extent to which it can be enacted in
poetry is a very important one. Poets need to ask themselves when it's
appropriate to use 'we'. But to give up and say never strikes me as a kind
of kneejerk nihilism that won't get us any nearer the solution. (Sorry - did
I say *us*?)

Best wishes

Matthew