 |
 |
I'm with you, Mark. We'll have a play-off between Sharon Olds and Lorna Crozier who both write exceptionally fine erotic verse. As for the men, well, what comes to mind is a strong man competition. We can set up a team like they do in golf - a poet teamed up with a strong man with the poet in trunks and the strong man in a Greco-Roman wrestling outfit. The strong man will pull a truck filled with manure while the poet recites. John Herbert Cunningham -----Original Message----- From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Weiss Sent: August-25-09 12:03 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: PS Re: "Has British Poetry had any significance since Wordsworth?" This got me thinking. We're probably all aware of the decline of public interest in poetry, certainly in English-speaking countries, and the attempts to rescue it by placing it in the protective environment of the university, where it gets to feed on students. And rather week-kneed promotional efforts like National Poetry Month and festivals that only those already interested even notice. What's needed is a larger public relations effort. I'm thinking that a Miss Poetry pageant might be the way to go. If the bikinis are skimpy enough there might be network time in it, despite the predictably awful talent segments (though I imagine that some folks would get off on scantily-clad girls spouting bad verse). And questions of national supremacy could be settled for any given year by a well-paid panel of judges. The whole thing, in fact, could put a lot of cash in the hands of poets and their promoters, given the minipageants that would be needed to support the main event--Miss Teen Poet of Bismarck North Dakota, and the like. The world would be filled with something like poetry. I don't claim any proprietary interest here, and would welcome comments. It would be particularly nice if others could come up with a role for male poets. Mark At 12:46 PM 8/25/2009, you wrote: >"Supremacy" seems a bit strong. Has to do with force of arms? > >This is I think pretty silly. Most verse on both sides of the >Atlantic has been pretty feeble, but that's always so, and a lot of >the big names are pretty hollow. If people still read poetry in 20 >years, let alone 200, what will they make of Billy Collins? > >That said, a few whose absence is noteworthy, and a personal >favorite. Tennyson, Browning, Landor, Hopkins, Hardy, Ford Maddox >Ford. In comparison, you might want to look at some pre-modernist >Americans like Longfellow, Lanier, Markham, Robinson, Lowell (the >first one, but the second aint much either, imho). > >I'm obviously not trying to be encyclopedic here, and, except for >Ford (see his wonderful last book, the serial poem Buckshee), I've >avoided listing the near-contemporary, but you get the picture. > >Mark > >At 12:09 PM 8/25/2009, you wrote: >>I will not say that what you say is not so. My piece was arguing for the >>supremacy of the US influence historically, rather than to dismiss >>certain UK poets whose practice benefitted from High Modernism. >> >> >> >>On Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:32:18 +0100, Sally Evans >><[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> >I think what has happened to British Poetry in the time stated is it has >> >culturally split through the regions and countries that make up the >>British >> >Isles. Scottish poetry was really vibrant in the 20th c so especially >>was >> >Scottish Gaelic poetry. David Jones as an English speaking Welsh poet >>and >> >Basil Bunting as a northern poet are cases in point. >> >Sally Evans >> >http://www.desktopsallye.com >> >http://www.poetryscotland.co.uk >> >http://www.brokenholmes.co.uk >> >tel UK 01877 339449 >> >----- Original Message ----- >> >From: "Douglas Barbour" <[log in to unmask]> >> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >> >Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 4:11 PM >> >Subject: Re: "Has British Poetry had any significance since >>Wordsworth?" >> > >> > >> >> Some rhetorical force, perhaps, but I would wonder nevertheless. >> >> >> >> Even within the possibilities of innovation, I cant see not >>mentioning at >> >> least the major works of Basil Bunting & David Jones. >> >> >> >> Yes, poetry hasn't much 'place' outside of all the poets, but I'm not >> >> sure it has been as present as either fiction or drama since I dont >>know >> >> when... >> >> >> >> And there has been Britain's own more or less 'language' group(s) >>over >> >> the past 40 years or so, with its effect. >> >> >> >> Doug >> >> On 25-Aug-09, at 4:30 AM, Jeffrey Side wrote: >> >> >> >>> New blog post: >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> "Has British Poetry had any significance since Wordsworth?" >> >>> >> >>> This may seem an outlandish question, but I think it has some >>force >> >>> behind it. Of course, the influence of Wordsworth on contemporary >> >>> British mainstream poetry need hardly be stressed, and I have >>written >> >>> extensively about this elsewhere. It is because of this influence >>that >> >>> most of the celebrated British poetry of the Twentieth Century >>tended >> >>> towards mediocrity when compared to American poetry of the >>same >> >>> period..... >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> http://jeffrey-side.blogspot.com/ >> >>> >> >> >> >> 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 >> >> >> >> There are as many fools in the world as there are people. >> >> >> >> Sigmund Freud >> >>