I go through phases in poetry. I can toss off verse about anything I like for months on end and know exactly how to fix weak pieces, and then for months I'll be completely blocked and unable to remember how poetry works. I think I'm coming into another knowing-poetry phase. I hope.
Modern poetry and classical poetry have different reasons for being and different ways of expressing things. I honestly like a lot of modern poetry's quirkiness and emphasis on small moments and images to subtly illustrate larger points--"no ideas but in things"--better than a lot of older poetry which seeks to sermonize or to express broad or universal ideas directly. (Not that this is true for all poems of either kind, but it's a trend.) The problem is figuring out which form will fit the idea or image--not everything works in traditional form, and not everything can support a more modern form. I'd like to be able to do both well.
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Date: 2009-05-26 03:13 am (UTC)Modern poetry and classical poetry have different reasons for being and different ways of expressing things. I honestly like a lot of modern poetry's quirkiness and emphasis on small moments and images to subtly illustrate larger points--"no ideas but in things"--better than a lot of older poetry which seeks to sermonize or to express broad or universal ideas directly. (Not that this is true for all poems of either kind, but it's a trend.) The problem is figuring out which form will fit the idea or image--not everything works in traditional form, and not everything can support a more modern form. I'd like to be able to do both well.