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I'm a slack bastard, Anny, and I hadn't seen that site. Thanks for directing us to it. I'm an Oppen fan, so enjoyed the 'second half' a lot. & liked some new definitions for me, particulalry the cats' chorus in Simic's one. I used to trot out John Wain's 'Poetry is to prose as dancing is to walking.' But now I have to define dancing to use it >g< Andrew On 26/08/07, Anny Ballardini <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I am sure you all know this page on the Poets' Corner, still I am sending > it > over: > http://www.fieralingue.it/corner.php?pa=printpage&pid=287 > > boringly yours, > > > On 8/25/07, TheOldMole <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > Variously attributed to Emily Dickinson, E. A. Robinson, and probably a > > bunch of other people -- it's poetry if it makes the hair on the back of > > your neck stand up. And if poetry hat unfolds in a conversational style > > can do that, then it passes the test. > > > > But this is still my favorite definition from Italo Calvino, because it > > so successfully answers the two questions -- What is Art? and What is > > Good Art? > > > > Both in art and in literature, the function of the frame is fundamental. > > It is the frame that marks the boundary between the picture and what is > > outside. It allows the picture to exist, isolating it from the rest; but > > at the same time, it recalls--and somehow stands for--everything that > > remains out of the picture. I might venture a definition: we consider > > poetic a production in which each individual experience acquires > > prominence through its detachment from the general continuum, while it > > retains a kind of glint of that unlimited vastness. > > > > Joanna Boulter wrote: > > > Often, when people ask "What is poetry?" they mean "How can I tell > > > whether what I'm writing qualifies?" It's back to Lynda's point about > > > conversational poems -- they don't seem serious enough, and surely if > > > it's that easy anyone can do it. And then of course there's the > > > "That's not poetry, it's chopped-up prose" stance. It's akin to the > > > modern art controversy -- "My 3-year-old can do as well as that!" > > > > > > I have to admit, there are times when I could use an easily-grasped > > > definition, purely in self-defence. > > > > > > joanna > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Corelis" > > > <[log in to unmask]> > > > To: <[log in to unmask]> > > > Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 6:10 PM > > > Subject: Poetry? What's that? > > > > > > > > >> "What is poetry?" > > >> > > >> To me, the question is not nearly so interesting as the fact that > it's > > >> asked and that no one's surprised that it's asked. > > >> > > >> "What is music?" The question would only occur to a few cloistered > > >> aestheticians. It would never occur to most people, even most > > >> musicians and composers, to spend much time worrying about it. And > if > > >> anyone does ask it, it usually doesn't really mean "What is music?" > > >> -- that is, what is its concrete definition, how does it differ from > > >> speech or noise -- but is shorthand for more general questions like > > >> "What does music mean? What is its role in life? What are the > > >> reasons it affects us?" Whereas the question "What is poetry?" is > > >> almost always a way of asking for the concrete definition -- "Exactly > > >> how is poetry different from things that aren't poetry?" "What are > the > > >> criteria by which we call one thing poetry and something else not > > >> poetry?" -- which must precede those more general questions. In > other > > >> words, "everyone knows" what music is, but nobody knows what poetry > > >> is. > > >> > > >> "What is cinema?" The question is famous, but only among a small > > >> coterie of theorists. The average movie goer would find it quite > > >> irrelevant, if not absurd, to try to define what a movie is. > > >> > > >> "What is art?" A question made much of in the art world, I suspect > > >> mostly because public attempts by artists to raise it are an > effective > > >> way of getting media attention. > > >> > > >> "What is the significance that the question 'What is poetry?" is so > > >> often asked and never really answered?" > > >> -- > > >> =================================== > > >> > > >> Jon Corelis www.geocities.com/jgcorelis/ > > >> > > >> =================================== > > >> > > > > > > > -- > > Tad Richards > > http://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/ > > http://opusforty.blogspot.com/ > > > -- Andrew http://hispirits.blogspot.com/ http://www.inblogs.net/hispirits http://www.flickr.com/photos/aburke/