Can Poetry Matter?

[blp]

Me thinks that last line needs a tweek

So does the last word of that line, Jozanny. You could even argue the first two do too.

She caught me one a typo

I know. I just meant, in pointing it out, she made some herself.

[Jozanny]

Apropos of nothing, but I thought this might be of interest. I only know who she is because I watch PBS.

http://www.slate.com/id/2196198/

[stlukesguild]

Tennyson mediocre? Surely you jest!

A tad sweeping, I agree, but there is some awfully dry stuff in there, as there is in Wordsworth - and I've been quoting WW in another thread, so that shows I do like his work. It took a particularly passionate tutor to show me the pleasure to be found in the pages of Alfred, Lord T.

Certainly one could not expect poets as productive as Tennyson or Wordsworth to be without their failures. I am reminded of a quote by the Italian Renaissance painter Tintoretto commenting upon his own work: "I have seen Tintoretto who is one minute the equal of Titian and the next less than Tintoretto." Wordsworth is one of the few poets to have carried on for years after having burned out. Both he and Tennyson are best served by a well selected anthology rather than a collected works.

Apropos of nothing, but I thought this might be of interest. I only know who she is because I watch PBS.

http://www.slate.com/id/2196198/

A miniaturist? That alone peaks my interest, as I often agree with the quote, "the minuscule is the last refuge of greatness". At least I know I might avoid rambling pages of confessional poetry... or diatribes upon fashionable themes: gender identity, racism, etc...

[Jozanny]

Apropos of nothing, but I thought this might be of interest. I only know who she is because I watch PBS.

http://www.slate.com/id/2196198/

A miniaturist? That alone peaks my interest, as I often agree with the quote, "the minuscule is the last refuge of greatness". At least I know I might avoid rambling pages of confessional poetry... or diatribes upon fashionable themes: gender identity, racism, etc...

I have a love/hate relationship with slate, but I have to say this critical overview was concise, clear, and I put it away in my reading file. When I watched her segment on television it went in one ear and out. I tend to gravitate toward intricate imagery, prefer longer to shorter, but maybe one of her collections is worth a look.