| Author | Message | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 33106 Registered: 11-1998 |
Dearest All -- Since it is James Dickey's birthday today, I thought you might be interested in reading what was to be his last lecture. Just click on the following link: One Poet's Notes -- Edward Byrne's Blog, editor of the Valparaiso Poetry Review Love, M | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5412 Registered: 05-2006 |
This is very inspiring. The only thing I would add (or subtract) concerns his comments about truth. I think that poetry is forever trying to get at the truth, to turn the rock over and expose the pillbugs, to open the page to the bookmark that someone decades ago inserted, to enter the building through the back door . . . . The process is one of revelation, rather than declaration. The poet doesn't say, "In general, when a rock in the backyard is turned over, you will encounter pillbugs and other bugs." No, the poet simply turns over the metaphorical rock for you and lets you look, or subtly guides your hand so that you can do it. In this pursuit of truth, the poem may make use of untruth, e.g. the surreal, imaginary persona, fictional events, elimination of extraneous detail. But back to Dickey -- inspiring! Fred | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 27162 Registered: 07-2001 |
Fred, a vg list. Reminds me of Colbert asking the difference between a lie and a metaphor. And the last - elimination of extraneous detail - all too often misunderstood or not understood at all by writers... Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 938 Registered: 07-2006 |
Fred, I think the poet tries to fashion a true experience for the reader By any means necessary. Walk carefully-- your shoe is what you shine your shadow with. ~Jessica Goodfellow | ||
| Kathy Paupore
Moderator Username: kathy Post Number: 10859 Registered: 12-2003 |
M, thanks for sharing this. Dickey's comparison to the poet as a herion addict is apt, except our addiction is the words and how we use them. His words bring to mind a quote by Emily Dickinson: Tell the truth, but tell it slant. Kathy You're invited to: Wild Flowers Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.~Robert Frost | ||
| Andrew Dufresne
Advanced Member Username: beachdreamer Post Number: 2071 Registered: 01-2006 |
A very interesting read and thank you M for posting it. ad | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5419 Registered: 05-2006 |
The minute you tell the truth in "slant," you may be creating art, where telling the same truth "straight" is mere exposition or narrative . . . but there is an implied elitism in any but the most moderate forms of Slantism. The elitism comes out of this: communicating in slant is inherently exclusionary. Some will "get it" instantly; some will turn the poem over their minds until light bulbs flash on; some flat out won't understand. If you check, you'll usually find that sharper, more sensitive readers are the ones who most easily grasp the cipher or the oblique. There is really no way around it. So . . . the question becomes: is Poetry big enough, embracing enough, to include both writing with a degree of elitism and writing that reaches right into the mind of Everyman? Fred | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 33130 Registered: 11-1998 |
With regard to your final question, Freddie, I think the problem comes from trying to cast too wide a net. It applies to other genres of literature. For instance, Lisa is currently working to refine her YA novel. This novel is intended and will appeal to young readers of a certain age and certain interests. She doesn't intend for it to appeal to readers of chick lit novels, adult murder mystery novels, western novels, etc. It's nearly impossible to appeal to everyone within the bounds of one genre. Why must poetry? Ted Kooser's book, The Poetry Home Repair Manual, has an excellent discussion of writing for others and selecting your audience. I highly recommend it if you've not read it yet. You're free to choose any level of language you wish. And I think it's okay to be exclusionary so long as you are okay with the ramifications of that decision. And you don't have to always write the same way. Certain poems will seem to ask for certain levels of language. The subject matter often dictates how formal or relaxed you might want to be. So, things change, even from poem to poem by the same author. My own personal philosophy is to choose a certain type of reader who meets a certain range in terms of demographic categories (age, gender, education, etc.) and write that individual poem to them. Whether everyone else gets it or not is really of less concern to me. I don't need to talk to everyone. I need to talk to those who might be interested and who might respond to what I have to offer. Love, M P.S. Here's a small quote from Ted: "One choice of an imaginary reader is as good as another. Yours might be a chicken plucker in a poultry processing plant or a distinguished professor of chorale music. The important thing is to have a sense of the person for whom you are writing and address your work to that person. It needn't be the same imaginary reader for every one of your poems, but with each poem you need to be aware of somebody out there who may have occasion to read it. You'll also want to be sure your imaginary reader doesn't shift from one person to another during the course of a single poem. For a poem to feel all of a piece, it needs to address a consistent imaginary reader." . | ||
| Andrew Dufresne
Advanced Member Username: beachdreamer Post Number: 2081 Registered: 01-2006 |
Just to add to this discussion. I look in the mirror. There's my reader. If I can tell the truth to that one, I can tell it to anyone. It would be horrible to think I was alone. ad | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5421 Registered: 05-2006 |
Actually, Jack Nicholson notwithstanding, the number of people who can't handle the truth is utterly astounding. Sometimes, even I, the author of the poem, have to hide in its shadows, lest I be scalded by the lumen of truth. Fred | ||
| Andrew Dufresne
Advanced Member Username: beachdreamer Post Number: 2084 Registered: 01-2006 |
Yeah, actually, I should have stopped after "There's my reader." Truth can take care of itself. It's too much of a chore for me. ad | ||
| Kevin Thyfault
Advanced Member Username: dragonoffering Post Number: 1253 Registered: 09-2007 |
The truth is cold. It closes the imagined stifles the possibilities of more than itself. A stone is the truth, Poetry is more like a snowflake Wafting on the slant… Beautiful if you look at it in detail and dangerous if you get too much of it! Kevin | ||
| Lazarus
Senior Member Username: lazarus Post Number: 4616 Registered: 10-2005 |
I like this message for poets. It makes me feel like we actually do something important. -Laz |
