tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post4533408572891566010..comments2024-03-22T05:48:33.690-07:00Comments on Uncensored John Simon: WHAT IS POETRY?John Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876490457067235124noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-34065744020261473962015-06-01T21:45:17.304-07:002015-06-01T21:45:17.304-07:00Poetry is that form of writing that begins where e...Poetry is that form of writing that begins where every other form of writing leaves off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14914586823260324330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-76092637856815951202015-06-01T21:45:05.921-07:002015-06-01T21:45:05.921-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14914586823260324330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-82038985082079432362015-06-01T21:44:43.018-07:002015-06-01T21:44:43.018-07:00True enough, the "prosy" nature of moder...True enough, the "prosy" nature of modern poetry, A superb collection from the 70s, ANOTHER REPUBLIC, contains some of the very best examples of this type of poetry, and encompasses a wide spectrum of international practitioners<br /> of the art.It is a very interesting development in the art form, and as far as I know, no one has really tackled the issue of how and why poetry seemed to evolve this way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14914586823260324330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-44361110635729631692015-06-01T21:38:43.709-07:002015-06-01T21:38:43.709-07:00Poetry is that form of writing that begins where e...Poetry is that form of writing that begins where every other form of writing leaves off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14914586823260324330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-38528848760668085442015-01-13T20:12:28.336-08:002015-01-13T20:12:28.336-08:00Has anyone figured out what the new background is?...Has anyone figured out what the new background is? It's like a beehive in Timothy Leary's backyard. Come on Simon, let's change that crap. Wacko.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-33836191475009650772015-01-07T12:19:03.938-08:002015-01-07T12:19:03.938-08:00I like J. A. Cuddon’s definition of poetry because...I like J. A. Cuddon’s definition of poetry because it is the most straighforward. This seems paradoxical. One might think a definition of poetry could be a poem itself. <br /><br />This once popped into my head:<br /><br />A poem formally <br />Gives new breath<br />To notions that normally<br />Bore one to death. <br /><br />And I just had this thought:<br /><br />Isn't each poem just trying to say <br />I love you in a different way?<br /> <br />A real poem, though just words, seems to engage all the senses. I think of Plutarch's description of Cleopatra on her barge. Shakespeare uses almost the same words, but what a difference!<br />Scott Whittakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03968186273740791074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-25093398052998434322015-01-07T03:19:48.945-08:002015-01-07T03:19:48.945-08:00Poetry is literary jewelry making or gemstone cutt...Poetry is literary jewelry making or gemstone cutting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-14278874951703197842015-01-07T03:17:34.349-08:002015-01-07T03:17:34.349-08:00Poetry is where every note counts. Nothing superfl...Poetry is where every note counts. Nothing superfluous remains, nothing is wasted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-69093216181424224672015-01-07T03:15:22.288-08:002015-01-07T03:15:22.288-08:00Poetry is evocative with epiphanies.Poetry is evocative with epiphanies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-75906567999783670842015-01-07T03:13:03.396-08:002015-01-07T03:13:03.396-08:00Form is usually malcontent. Form is usually malcontent. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-19850181768486187422015-01-07T03:12:03.107-08:002015-01-07T03:12:03.107-08:00Poetry is 'less is more'.Poetry is 'less is more'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-50976923623886005692015-01-05T10:38:58.083-08:002015-01-05T10:38:58.083-08:00It is interesting to contemplate the American word...It is interesting to contemplate the American words "Dick" and "Head", which certainly apply here. Mr. Simon NEVER agrees with Mrs. Kael, and for obvious reasons. Mrs. Kael barely missed being a suspect in the game "Clue" (if she would have only named herself "Kale"), and Mr. Simon has never forgiven her for that blunder. I may be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure it's a solid theory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-9242372919812726412015-01-05T10:25:15.116-08:002015-01-05T10:25:15.116-08:00“Form is content”? With all due respect to Simon a...“Form is content”? With all due respect to Simon and Marmalade, content IS form. How many times did we have this argument up at Yale? I believe it was in the mid 40’s when John Hersey and I got into a fist fight (one of many) over this exact question. Hersey throws back a shot of single malt and says to me, “form is content, you SOB, and your mother wears army boots . . .” (It wasn't yet a cliche in 1945) Well, needless to say I bristled a bit, and I said right back at him, “No it’s not, and my mother’s in the Navy, kind Sir!” After that, it was like a tornado hit the bar; tables and chairs were flying around. Glass was breaking everywhere. It was December, and I remember distinctly because Yale had just kicked Harvard’s keister in football for about the 10th time in a row.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-75127729238161512902015-01-03T06:34:57.430-08:002015-01-03T06:34:57.430-08:00“When you look at the work of most modern poets, i...“When you look at the work of most modern poets, indeed those most respected and even venerated, what you tend to get is largely a thing that differs from prose only in line breaks, which, together with enjambment, make for something shorter but similar to the paragraphs in prose.”<br /><br />So true -- I'm a huge fan of Richard Howard's work, though I consider the bulk of his poetry to be prose poems. But I'd be terrified to say that to him in person!noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-66489681848430017272015-01-02T21:18:43.694-08:002015-01-02T21:18:43.694-08:00Perhaps it's a bit impolite as well as impolit...Perhaps it's a bit impolite as well as impolitic of me to conjure up the ghosts of critics past, but when Mr. Simon writes, "A bad novel is still a novel, a poor story still a story. But an unworthy poem is doggerel or, at best, verse, but not to be dignified as a poem," I can't help but be reminded of a paperback I own titled "Movie People" (Lancer Books, 1973). "Movie People" features transcribed talks given by various people involved in some way with the film industry, including directors Francis Ford Coppola and Sidney Lumet. The final chapter was a talk given by Mr. Andrew Sarris, who offered the following anecdote:<br /><br />"And yet the artist is often fearful of the critic. I remember an exchange when Pauline Kael and myself were on a panel at Lincoln Center with Ernie Pintoff. He started to say, 'One of the problems we poets face...' and Pauline bristled. 'I wish you people wouldn't call yourselves poets until we critics call you poets.' Poor Ernie Pintoff, about six foot three, wilted. And everyone hated Pauline for crushing this poor artist. I thought about that later. A poet doesn't have to wait until someone calls him a poet. All he has to do is write a poem. He may be a bad poet or a good poet, but he is still a poet."<br /><br />I take it Mr. Simon would disagree, and on this particular point, would side with Ms. Kael over Mr. Sarris. (Or would he?)MisterBuddwinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17121831316136762751noreply@blogger.com