 |
 |
Yes, Judy, poetry is about dedication, not fame. So many people I come across don't comprehend that: they think of it as a form of becoming 'somebody', poor souls, as if they could assuage their emptiness in others' eyes, become 'real' within by becoming 'recognised', they talk of poetry as a 'career', as if it were a matter of collecting certificates to hang on the wall to prove 'development'.Milton, all those years ago, put the task of a poet succinctly: 'to strictly meditate the thankless Muse', emphasise the 'thankless' in that it's how one should pitch expectation, ask for nothing and it'll be a Christmas every time some little does fall one's way. As for that reality of being someone, a name, the one, well, to paraphrase Fanny Howe , we are all always a voice within a body that 'doesn't know we're there'. 2009/6/13 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]> > I never go a bundle on political message poems, David, but am eager to find > one which manages true poeming whilst seeking to give such message. > Duffy's > failed in several ways, of which the message's clarity would be one [as you > quite rightly note and explain, and which's difficult for USAmericans to > figure out unless they know the politics in the UK]. > Would be lovely to keep dissecting the poem, as you clearly have done, but > really the bottom line's that EXCELLENT POETRY IS DAMNED DIFFICULT TO > WRITE. > And she, amongst millions of other worthy folk, simply cannot manage it. > She has grown her work fairly quickly in the last few years, and I > honestly > believe that actually no one COULD NOT write Excellent Poetry......but it > does happen rarely. When it happens, it is instantly known by the poet and > by the poets' readers/hearers. It happens with your poems continuously. > It > happened with Yeats, tho I still believe that your work trumps his. > > A nother of my mantras: If writing Excellent Poetry were easy, or even > hardlearned but learnable only, many of us would be doing it [and I truly > wish I were one of those doing it]. But, alas, there you have it. > > My profoundest respect is for all of us who pursue poems, writing, reading, > saying, and nurturing. It is why I have come to respect UKers, and to feel > sad that USAmericans are relatively less hooked into poetry. I've much > gratitude to you and many others in the UK for your reverence for words, > your unshrieked but constant attention to the power, freedom, magnificence, > uplift, and durability of words. > One day p'raps a Laureate will be equal to the anointing. I rather think, > tho, that the Professor of Poetry at Oxford will come closer to that ideal, > and much sooner. And I wish that Cambridge would initiate a like Chair but > with a more transparent nomination, campaign, and election process as well > as electronic voting. > > That's for the academic side of poemworld. As for the Other Side: That's > for you to herald, and for me to support strongly and > continuously---daunting work, but not at all impossible, and worth every > word-breath. > > All best, > > Judy now having ducked the much-wanted rain.... > > 2009/6/13 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> > > > The other thing, Judy, that distresses me is that Duffy's poem as a piece > > of > > +rhetoric+ is effective, all those links of discs and hiss and piss and > > politics (she misses out the word 'fix' though) - she's really rather > like > > a > > contemporary Kipling (a poet she derides somewhat) and that if you do > look > > for political content in it, well, the only politicians deplored > > (inferentially) are Labour, I don't know. It's supposed to be a > 'passionate > > commentary on the corrosiveness of politics on politicians and the > ruinous > > effect on idealism' but bugger me if I can find any of that in the poem. > It > > does though suggest that politics will spoil your appearance on Desert > > Island Discs. (Ruth Padel got on that a while back, I wonder ...) > > > > 2009/6/13 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]> > > > > > Reminds, me David, now having trashed your UK Laureate.....<g> ... I'm > > > ready > > > yes ready to read me poems in Leicester. I'll wager that a female > > > USAmerican could sequester some Leicesters, even sell a pamphlet or > two. > > > And soom others may well wish to complement-read, if you know > what/whom > > I > > > mean.... > > > subtle and humble as always, Judy > > > > > > 2009/6/13 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> > > > > > > > H'm, Carol Ann Duffy's first poem as Laureate > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/12/politics-carol-ann-duffy-poem > > > > < > > > > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/12/politics-carol-ann-duffy-poem > > > > >and, > > > > I write in all sincerity, congratulations to the outgoing tenant on > his > > > > knighthood, the verray parfait Sir Andrew, as well as to the previous > > > > Professor of Poetry at Oxford, good Sir Christopher Ricks. > > > > > > > > A Toast, please. > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > David Bircumshaw > > > > "Nothing can be done in the face > > > > of ordinary unhappiness" - PP > > > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet > > > > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk > > > > The Animal Subsides > http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html > > > > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > David Bircumshaw > > "Nothing can be done in the face > > of ordinary unhappiness" - PP > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet > > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk > > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html > > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk > > > -- David Bircumshaw "Nothing can be done in the face of ordinary unhappiness" - PP Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk