a neat test, Janet, testing those limits....
I recall bpnichol saying the opposite, that good use of nouns & verbs
meant you didnt have to depend on adverbs & adjectives (although of
course it wasnt a 'rule' & he did use both, when called for).
Doug
On 25-Oct-07, at 10:26 PM, Janet Jackson wrote:
>> Getting rid of nouns and writing a whole poem that depends on adverbs
>> as
>> much as most poems depend on nouns would be an interesting exercise,
>
> ok, here goes... no nouns or verbs allowed...
>
>
> awkwardly
> tentative
>
> confidently
> passionate
>
> vigorously
> brazen
>
> somehow
> stinky
>
> angrily
> numb
>
> succinctly
> alone
>
>
> Is this sentimental? yeah, I think it is. Sneeringly sentimental,
> and trying to be clever for the sake of it. (I can say that, I wrote
> it.)
> Originally I used only adverbs but decided adjectives were necessary
> to make it a poem at all. I had no desire to add nouns, but verbs
> kept trying to creep in masquerading as adjectives (eg 'broken'
> 'swallowed').
> It is extremely abstract. I don't like it at all.
> Nouns may be optional, but perhaps we can't write well without verbs.
>
> Janet
> --------------------------------------------
> Janet Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
> www.myspace.com/poetjj
> www.proximity.webhop.net
>
> The songbird in its cage
> Sings not for joy, but rage!
> --Italian proverb
> --------------------------------------------
>
>
Douglas Barbour
11655 - 72 Avenue NW
Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
Latest book: Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
It's the first lesson, loss.
Who hasn't tried to learn it
at the hands of wind or thieves?
Jan Zwicky
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