given a choice which would you preferr

[Gerard Quain]

an epic fifteen verse poem that goes no-where, or a shorter to the point poem :smilewinkgrin:

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Obviously the shorter poem because, by your description, it's the better poem. A better question would be "would you rather read a good epic poem or a good short poem," though it's still a problematic question.

[Lykren]

Agreed. Also, a quibble - a fifteen verse poem is hardly 'epic'.

[cacian]

I don't get 'epic' poems. One might as well write a story.
Shor and sweet makes more of an impact then a long widing poem.

[ennison]

You can go nowhere very succinctly!

[MementoMori]

I prefer short poems that speak volumes. Something like Blake's The Sick Rose.


I don't get 'epic' poems. One might as well write a story.


The original epics were oral poems. They were composed metrically to aid memorisation and, presumably, to sound aesthetically pleasing when performed. When writing became prevalent the more popular poems, like the Illiad and the Odyssey, were written down. Subsequent literate poets, like Virgil, admired Homer's works so much that they wrote their own poems in a similar manner. Virgil's epic, in turn, was admired and emulated by his successors. The 'point' of later epics is that the poet admires the work of his predecessors and seeks to recreate it in a manner more relevant to his own era, innovating as he sees fit.

[NarpleLorry]

I don't get 'epic' poems. One might as well write a story.
Shor and sweet makes more of an impact then a long widing poem.


I'm assuming you haven't read any of Byron's work.

[Delta40]

Or would you read 200 short poems with the chance of finding something worthwhile or 1 great epic poem?

[MorpheusSandman]

I don't get the OP's question... if given a choice between bad-and-lengthy and bad-and-short, I'll take the latter, so obviously I'd take good-and-short over bad-and-long. Great, lengthy poems, however, can be transcendental: Paradise Lost, The Aeneid, Don Juan, Intimations of Immortality, Rime of the Ancient Marriner, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, The Changing Light at Sandover, etc.


I don't get 'epic' poems. One might as well write a story.
Shor and sweet makes more of an impact then a long widing poem.Errr, epic poems ARE stories... all narrative poems are stories. They're just stories in verse. Ever read Paradise Lost? Pay attention to how Milton shapes his syntax across the lines and it should become clear the aesthetic advantages a great poet gains by writing a story in verse.

[Ser Nevarc]

I don't get 'epic' poems. One might as well write a story.

:skep: