Comments on: Why We Read Poems

By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:24:12 +0000

Allen Grossman thinks we read poetry to be instructed, a common view among the ancient Greeks; Galen, in the second century, felt that the Muse should “agitate and enchant and enrapture her hearers, but not teach them.” Pound: “to make glad the hearts of men.” The Alexandrians maintained that poetry was meant to entertain. In the Middle Ages, the writing and appreciation of verse in Latin served a primarily pedagogic function. Surely there are several reasons “why we read poems.”
best,
mr

By: john

john — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:47:05 +0000

Thanks Don!
Isn’t it a dandy quote? Much better in Miss Moore’s words.

By: Don Share

Don Share — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:56:42 +0000

“I think he wouldn’t make so much of the great American language if he were plausible; and tractable. That’s the beauty of it; he is willing to be reckless; if you can’t be that, what’s the point of the whole thing?”

By: John Blackard

John Blackard — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:55:31 +0000

Hi, Daisy–
You said, “I thought: That might be the only thing I miss from my childhood—not being allowed to do what I wanted, and getting away with it anyway.
This might have something to do with why I’m a poet.
In writing, aren’t you always trying to see what you can get away with? ”
Coincidentally, I’m reading Tony Hoagland’s great book of essays about the craft of poetry, “Real Sofistikashun” right now. He describes the metaphorical act as a kind of getting away with something:
“It’s a mystery hand going into a black mystery box. The head says, ‘Fetch me a metaphor, hand,’ and the hand disappears under a cloth. A moment later, the hand reappears, metaphor on its extended palm.”
A little further along in the essay “Tis Backed like a Weasel”, Hoagland says “… a metaphor is intrinsically a breaking away from fidelity and continuity, an allergic reaction to too much reality.” Imagination as auto-immune system fighting back the infection of too much reality? I like that we have a natural ally/ co-conspirator.
John Blackard
http://www.johnablackard.com

By: john

john — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:46:16 +0000

I shouldn’t try to quote without the Donald Hall interview at hand, but I’ve always loved that line of Marianne Moore’s re: Dr. Williams — “he is willing to be reckless. He wouldn’t make so much of the great American language if he were plausible, or tractable.” (Please forgive lumpy paraphrase.)
“Willing to be reckless” and “getting away with something” aren’t necessarily the same, though they overlap. Your characterization has an element of sneakiness, which intrigues and provokes, not unpleasantly.